Nectarine, pistachio and cardamom galette

Pistachio frangipane, cardamom glazed nectarines, and buttery shortcrust pastry will always be a winning combination. Whip up this easy-to-make galette for your next summer soireé

Serves 8

Preparation time 40 minutes

Cooking time 35 minutes

Aside from learning that goats have toenails, one valuable pearl of wisdom I garnered from interviewing Julius Roberts was to never underestimate the greatness of a galette. It has all the impressiveness and romanticism of a tart, with its rosette arrangement of fruit and frilly pastry skirt, but without the sweat-inducing precision required for latticed raspberry number or lemon meringue pie. Its rustic asymmetry is what gives it charm, so it pays to be a little skewiff with your crimping and haphazard with the fruit arrangement. After all, the French make the rules.

Although they can be savoury, this galette is the sweet kind – tart, thin slices of nectarine are arranged on a layer of pistachio frangipane before finishing with a fragrant cardamom glaze. The whole tart is tucked into bed with a duvet of shortcrust pastry sprinkled with brown sugar for a caramelised, crunchy crust. It's the perfect finale to a summer supper and guarantees to silence your guests as they tuck into a warm slice topped with cold creme fraiche. A moment of respite from hostessing-with-the-mostessing.

Although you can use shop-bought shortcrust pastry in this recipe, making your own is deceptively straightforward – it comes together in a matter of minutes. The buttery flavour and crumbly texture of homemade pastry simply cannot be rivalled with Jus-Rol, so roll up your sleeves and give it your best Paul Hollywood.

Ingredients

Cardamom syrup:

  • 20 cardamom pods
  • 25g sugar
  • 20ml water

Pistachio frangipane:

  • 125g pistachios, blitzed into a fine powder
  • 50g butter, softened
  • 50g light brown soft sugar
  • 1 large egg

Pastry: 

  • 250g plain flour, plus more to dust
  • 200g cold butter, diced
  • 70g light brown soft sugar
  • 2 eggs, 1 yolk only, 1 whole egg beaten to glaze
  • 2 tbsp demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Galette:

  • 5-6 nectarines, thinly sliced into half moons
  • ½ lemon, juiced
  • 1 tbsp cornflour or potato starch
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • Creme fraiche, to serve

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Start by making the cardamom syrup. Bash 20 cardamom pods with a rolling pin and add to a saucepan with the sugar and water. Place on a medium heat until bubbling and slightly thickened. Take off the heat and leave to infuse.
  2. To make the pastry combine the flour, butter and sugar in a large bowl and mix together with your hands until it forms breadcrumbs. Add in 1 tbsp water and the egg yolk and continue to mix until the dough forms a ball. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge.
  3. To make the pistachio frangipane beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until soft and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to mix. Fold in the ground pistachios and mix until it forms a smooth paste.
  4. Add the thinly sliced nectarines to a large mixing bowl with the cornflour or potato starch, sugar, vanilla bean extract and 1 tbsp brown sugar. Mix gently with a wooden spoon, ensuring not to mush the fruit.
  5.  Take the pastry out of the fridge and roll it out into a 35cm diameter circle between two pieces of baking parchment dusted with flour. Take a circular object like a bowl or colander around 30cm in diameter and place it over the pastry sheet. Using the blunt end of a knife or prong of a fork, draw around the bowl to mark a circle onto the pastry, making sure not to cut through it.
  6. Spread the pistachio frangipane evenly over the 30cm circle. Arrange the nectarine slices over the frangipane, working from the outside into the middle until the entire circle is covered with fruit.
  7. Fold over the edges of pastry to overlap the fruit, working your way around the circle until all the edges are tucked in. Brush the pastry edges with egg wash over and sprinkle over the demerara sugar. Slide the galette with baking parchment underneath onto a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for around 35 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
  8. Once the galette is out of the oven, reheat the syrup and brush it over the nectarines to glaze them. Slice into eight and serve with a dollop of cold creme fraiche.

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