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My daughter asked me today when it is going to be warm outside again. Please note that it is the first week of November in Minnesota so realistically the answer is NEVER.
But the closeups of these cakes make me feel warm inside. So does wine.
Top: Chocolate coffee cake with pistachios, crushed coffee beans, and cacoa nibs
Bottom: Strawberry cake filled with strawberry rhubarb butter
Do you like pie? But also like being lazy? Then I have just the dessert for you: the galette. Some people refer to this dessert as rustic. But let's just say what it really is: the most ugly and beautiful, goopy, and imprecise dessert you will ever make.
The crust is simple. It can be filled with nearly anything. It is cooked on parchment directly on a baking sheet. The filling can seep through the crust, onto the parchment, still look pretty and not ruin the flavor in the least bit. It is truly magical.
Crust
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cold butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3 to 4 tbsp ice water
Rhubarb Peach Filling
2 cups chopped rhubarb
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp flour
1-2 peaches, sliced
Make the crust: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
Mix in the cold butter and shortening until the dough is crumbly.
Sprinkle ice water over the mixture 1 tablespoon at a time while tossing with a fork. After adding 3 tablespoons of water, gather the dough together into a ball. Add more water if it crumbles and won't hold together.
Flatten into a disk, wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.
Make the filling: place rhubarb and sugar in a bowl and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Combine with flour.
Assemble: Preheat the oven to 450°F. Roll out dough to about 14" in diameter. Fill with rhubarb mixture and place peach slices on top. Fold the edges of the dough into the center in a logical or haphazard way. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling.
Did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a rhubarb inspired feast? Probably not. I did, though, and the meal was wonderful. It included steak, shrimp, chicken, an amazing caramelized onion dip, rhubarb barbecue sauce, rhubarb and mint drinks, and, of course, some rhubarb cookies and rhubarb sorbet made by yours truly.
Rhubarb Cookies
from Heat to Oven
Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 375° degrees. Combine rhubarb and 3 tablespoons granulated sugar in a small bowl.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Incorporate the cream until dough starts to come together. Drain the rhubarb then add it to the dough.
Using a #50 scoop, scoop dough onto a parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and bake until edges become golden, 11 minutes.
I made a glaze to add more flavor to the cookies. I do not have precise measurements but the glaze is essentially a rhubarb sauce with powdered sugar.
Make the glaze: Cook sugar, water, and lemon juice in a pot until sugar dissolves. Add chopped rhubarb to sauce and continue to cook until rhubarb is tender. Let cool then puree in a blender.
Add powdered sugar until the glaze reaches desired consistency.
Cookies
1 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped medium
1/2 cup plus 2 T granulated sugar, divided
2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 oz cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup plus 2 T heavy cream
Glaze
equal parts sugar, water to two parts rhubarb
lemon juice to taste
powdered sugar
