Bring out the sensual side of baking with pastry chef and food writer Malika Ameen’s new cookbook. Her South Asian heritage inspires the earthy flavors, herbs, spices and ingredients found in her award-winning recipes. Bake outside your comfort zone with Sweet Sugar, Sultry Spice. This bright winter citrus galette is the cure for the cold-weather blues.
One of chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s most famous dishes is his roasted carrots with orange juice and cumin. It’s one of my favorite vegetable dishes ever. Just thinking of it makes my mouth water — and made me wonder if the same pairing of orange and cumin that is so sublime in a savory dish could work just as beautifully in a sweet one. The answer is yes. This is one of my favorite recipes in the book: slightly bitter caramel, flaky, melt-in-your-mouth pastry, bright oranges, and just the slightest touch of smoky, earthy cumin. It might sound odd, but wait until you try it. It’s sweet alchemy.
Store: The baked galette can be refrigerated overnight and reheated.
Ingredients
Galette Dough
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 9 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, divided
- 3 to 5 tablespoons ice water
Cumin Caramel
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 3 tablespoons water
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon finely grated blood orange zest, or the zest of any orange
Assembling the Galette
- 2 1/4 pounds assorted winter citrus, such as navel, cara cara, and blood oranges
- 3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons water
- Pinch kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted
Directions
For the dough
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. With a pastry cutter or your hands, cut 3 tablespoons of the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal. Add the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and cut it into the mixture until it forms pea-size chunks. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of ice water into the mixture and toss with your hands just until the dough holds together. If there are some dry patches in the dough, drizzle on additional water and toss until a dough forms. Press the dough into an oval approximately 6 inches by 4 inches. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 1 hour in the fridge.
For the cumin caramel
In large saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Brush down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush to be sure there’s no sugar left there. Cook over medium heat until the mixture caramelizes and is a light amber color, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cumin. Add the butter, cream, salt, and orange zest and stir to combine. Allow to cool and thicken.
For the galette
Lightly flour your work surface. Line a baking tray with a nonstick baking mat or parchment paper. With a rolling pin, roll out the galette dough into a 12-inch round. Transfer the dough onto the prepared baking tray and place in the refrigerator. Chill the dough while you prepare the oranges.
Trim ½ inch off the top and bottom of each orange. Working carefully over a small bowl, cut the skin from its flesh, top to bottom, being sure to follow the curves down. Once the peel is removed, begin segmenting the orange by cutting away the flesh from the membrane on both sides. The orange segments should easily come out. Repeat this with the remaining segments. Place all the orange pieces into a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl and push down on them lightly to strain out excess moisture. Allow to stand for 10 minutes. Pat the oranges dry with a paper towel and separate the segments and slices. Toss the orange segments with the cornstarch and then stir them into the cooled cumin caramel.
Spoon the caramel-orange mixture onto the center of the chilled galette dough, leaving a 2½-inch border of dough. Fold the border in to partially cover the oranges, leaving a 5-inch opening in the middle. In a small bowl, prepare an egg wash by whisking the egg with the water and salt. Brush this egg wash onto the folded-over dough. Sprinkle the dough with the turbinado sugar, if using. Layer the orange slices over the opening of the galette, overlapping them slightly. The oranges should extend about ½ inch beyond the opening; they will shrink during baking. Brush the orange slices with the melted butter.
Chill the galette in the freezer until the dough is firm, 15 to 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Bake the chilled tart for about 1 hour, turning the pan halfway through baking, until its juices are bubbling and the crust is a deep golden brown. Let cool. Serve at room temperature.
