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A unique take on traditional honey and apples


I'm not a fan of traditional Rosh Hashanah honey cake. I find it too cloyingly sweet. I wanted to find a way of incorporating both apples and honey into a dessert. I came up with this Ombre Apple-Honey Galette. A galette is a free form tart. Perfect for those who don't want to fuss with pies. 

You'll need 5 different varieties of apples if you want to make the Rainbow/Ombre effect I produced here. You'll need two of each kind of apple. Look for dark red apples, pink apples, red-orange apples, yellow apples and green apples. A very sharp paring knife and about 20 minutes of concentration and you will be ready to assemble.

I used my favourite galette dough as the base. Impossibly flaky and delicious it is a versatile dough. I mixed some ground almonds, honey, egg and flour to make a honey paste (frangipane) as the base for the apples. The dough is folded up around the apples in a very casual way. Nothing precious here. Sprinkle it all with some cinnamon sugar and then into a hot oven.

The colours do fade a bit when baked, but the taste is so delicious. I brushed it with a honey glaze when it was still warm, for extra shine.

Wishing you all a sweet and healthy New Year. Shana Tova.

- Cindy Feingold, Salt and Serenity

Ombre Apple Honey Galette

Makes one large galette, serving 8-10 people. You will need a kitchen scale to weigh out all dough and frangipane ingredients. 

Honey frangipane recipe from Sweet Paul Magazine

Galette dough:

  • 54 grams sour cream
  • 94 grams ice water
  • 213 grams all-purpose flour
  • 50 grams cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 124 grams cold unsalted butter, cut into 6-8 pieces

Honey Frangipane:

  • 100 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 84 grams honey 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
  • 1 large egg 64 grams almonds, ground 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

Apples:

10 apples, choose a variety of different colours and shades. (I used 2 Royal Gala (red), 2 Pink Lady (pink), 2 Envy (orange), 2 Golden delicious (yellow)  and 2 Granny Smith (green)

Topping:

  • 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 large egg, whisked well (for brushing dough)

Honey Glaze:

  • 63 grams honey
  • 15 grams water

Make dough: Stir the sour cream and ice water together and set aside.  Place the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse to combine.  Drop the butter pieces into the bowl and pulse 8 to 10 times, or until the mixture is speckled with pieces of butter that vary in size from breadcrumbs to peas.  With the machine running, add the sour cream mixture and process just until the dough forms soft moist curds.

Turn the dough out of the food processor and gently knead on the counter. Shape into a rough rectangle. Dust top and bottom of rectangle with all-purpose flour. Place dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll into a 12x16 inch rectangle. If at any point the paper sticks to the dough, peel it off and dust with more flour. It does not have to be a perfect rectangle. 

Chill dough. The dough can be kept in the fridge for 2 days or wrapped well and frozen for up to a month.

Make honey frangipane: Place butter and honey into a medium bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat until creamy. Add cinnamon, egg, ground almonds, and flour. Mix until well combined. Cover and set aside. Frangipane can be made two days ahead and kept chilled. Bring to room temperature before using. 

Arrange apples by colour on a baking sheet. Start with deepest red, pink, orange, yellow and green. You will need 15 apple halves for this recipe.

Cut each apple in half vertically. Use a small spoon or melon baller to remove core. Remove the stem if still attached. Place apple half cut side down and slice into 1/8-inch thin slices. You will need a very sharp paring knife to do this. Take your time. Keep slices together and place back on baking sheet. Continue until you have 3 halves of each of 5 apple varieties.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove dough from fridge, peel off top parchment paper and lay dough, with bottom sheet of parchment, on rimmed baking sheet. Spread dough with honey frangipane. Leave a 1-inch border. 

Arrange apple halves on frangipane. Start with a row of 3 halves of the darkest red and work your way down. Pink in the second row, orange in the third row, yellow in the fourth and green in the final row. 

Fold edges of pastry over ends of apples to form a border. No need to be tidy about this. We’re going for a rustic vibe. Mix sugar and cinnamon together, Sprinkle all over the apples. Brush crust with beaten egg.

Bake on middle-lower rack for 25 minutes. Place on upper middle rack for another 20 minutes. Pastry should be browned and apples tender. It might need an additional 5-10 minutes, depending on your oven. 

Remove galette from oven and set on a wire rack to cool. In a small saucepan, bring honey and water to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. While galette is still hot/warm, brush apples with honey glaze. Let cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. Galette is best eaten day it is made. A scoop of vanilla ice cream on top is not mandatory, but highly suggested.