Galette Dough

By norsegal8

Makes enough for two 8-inch galettes The cornmeal in this wonderfully buttery dough not only gives it a lot of crunch, it makes it crisp enough to stand up to soft and syrupy fillings and sturdy enough to be rolled to extreme thinness. You can use this dough to line a tart pan, but it is particularly well suited to rustic tarts called galettes - flat, open-faced, free-form tarts whose edges are folded over the filling like the ruffled top of a drawstring purse.
The dough is made quickly either by hand or in a food processor and produces enough for two galettes.

Ingredients

• 3 Tbls. sour cream (or yogurt or buttermilk)
• 1/3 cup (approximately) ice water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 7 Tbls. cold unsalted butter, cut into 6-8 pieces
• Makes two 8-inch galettes

Preparation

Step 1

To make the dough by hand: stir the sour cream and ice water together in a small bowl and set aside. Put the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and stir with a fork to mix. Drop the butter pieces into the bowl, tossing them once or twice just to coat them with flour. With a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour, until the butter pieces are no larger than small peas. Smaller pieces will make the dough tender, larger ones will make it flaky.

Sprinkle the sour cream mixture over the dough, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork to evenly distribute it. After you have added all of the sour cream, the dough should be moist enough to stick together when pressed (if not, add cold water 1 teaspoon at a time until you have a soft malleable dough).

To make the dough with a food processor: combine ingredients in the work bowl of your food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse to combine. Drop butter in and pulse 8-10 times, until butter pieces are pea sized or smaller. With the machine running, add the sour cream mixture and process just until the dough forms moist soft curds.)

Turn the dough out of the bowl. Divide it in half. Press each half into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.