Welcome to the new and improved Snixy Kitchen! If you've been here before, you'll notice things look quite a bit different. About a week ago, I spilled the beans about the redesign and today I'm finally rolling it out for y'all! And we're celebrating with a slice or two or three of this decadent gluten-free apricot galette with lavender caramel sauce drizzled on top. I can't stop, I won't stop with the caramel or the lavender.
I am stoked (and nervous) to share my labor of love with you! As I mentioned before, I designed and built this all by myself. Without any background knowledge, training, or experience with web development. If you look up "newb developer" in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of me (why are you looking that up, you weirdo!). So if something breaks or looks wonky on your screen, please please please use the contact form to let me know! I'm doing this all by trial-and-error and clearly don't have the skills yet to anticipate every scenario.
There's research about expert versus novice performance in chess players that's been studied and generalized to basic problem-solving and definitely applies here (My advisor would be so proud that I'm citing him here! Schoenfeld, 1985). The basic idea is that expert problem solvers, like expert chess players, are able to recognize particular situations (ex. chess board configurations) as being of a specific type that allow them rapid access to the appropriate solution techniques. In the early studies on chess players, novices and experts were shown typical midgame chess board positions, and when later asked to reproduce them on nearby chess boards, the experts were far more successful than the novices. In a second study, they were shown random nonstandard chess-board configurations (ie. illegal positions), and the experts didn't perform any better than the novices. In a world of web development where I don't have schema for any of the "typical types of problems," I'm definitely a novice. Practice, baby, practice.
You might notice a few formatting changes over the next couple of weeks, as I bring all my old posts up to snuff - please bear with me! For the record, I couldn't have done it without the help of a few key players who answered way too many questions for me when I got stuck and frustrated (and I'm not pleasant when I'm frustrated) - Thanks Mikey, J, and Dane! I'm going to bake you a galette soon, promise.
Today's actually a momentous day for celebrating; I ran my first 5k this morning! Lucas says Angi and I crushed it in our race; if the definition of "crushed it" is "finished in under 40 minutes without walking not even one second," then yes, we crushed it. And then celebrated with a sweaty champagne toast over the finish line. Next stop: 10k. Angi and I set the long-term goal of running the Nike Women's Half Marathon so we can get a Tiffany's necklace over the finish line. Priorities. Emphasis on long-term - we've got a ways to go.
Two weeks ago, my dad brought down a flat of ripe apricots from their backyard tree. I can't figure out why we don't get apricots that plump and flavorful down here in the Bay; Our produce market is lined with bin after bin of juicy sweet stone fruit, but the apricots just don't hold a candle to the ones from Chico. Just like my late grandma, apricots are my favorite stone fruit; I ate that entire flat in 48 hours. So when my mom came down three days later, I placed a second order and turned them into this gluten-free apricot galette to send with her for my dad as a Father's day treat. This galette serves 6-8 slices (if you're like me, you'll randomly cut it into 7 slices, because...why not?), but according to my dad, it serves 4. Four massive slices that only someone with a bottomless pit as a dessert stomach could handle. I know where I get my sweet tooth from.
This gluten-free apricot galette is hands-down the best galette I've ever eaten. The crust is all at once crispy, moist, flakey, and sugary. Spoon some warm lavender caramel sauce on top and you've got a sweet combination that's to die for. In the past two weeks, I've made two more of this exact galette because when you find something this good, you just can't help yourself. Scoop ice cream on top and go to town.
Here's the one thing I've learned: this galette is best when stored in an air-tight container and eaten within 24 hours of being baked, while saving the caramel drizzle for right before serving. If left with the caramel on top for more than a couple of hours, your perfect crust will get soggy and oh, what a shame that would be! For the crispy leftovers, just heat them at 400°F for 10 minutes, then under the broiler for 2-3 minutes. The idea that there will be leftovers though is completely preposterous.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 batch gluten-free pie dough, follow instructions up to step 9
- 10 ripe, but not mushy apricots, sliced into eighths
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon dried lavender
- 2 tablespoons of milk
- 1 gluten-free galette dough, recipe below
- ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried lavender
- 200 ml (⅚ cup) heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1½ tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon fleur de sel
INSTRUCTIONS
Pie Dough
- Prepare your pie dough following the instructions up to step 9. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Once your dough has chilled, lightly dust a sheet of parchment paper with sorghum flour. Remove the dough from the fridge and let it rest for 5 minutes. Carefully roll into a 12-14-inch round on the floured parchment paper, dusting with sorghum flour and flipping or rotating the dough to keep it from sticking, and repairing any cracks as you roll. Optional: cut any jagged edges off for a smoother look.
- Transfer the rolled-out disc of dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet. To do so, place a parchment-lined baking sheet over top the rolled out dough and lift to flip the dough onto the new sheet of parchment paper. Peel off the parchment paper used for rolling and discard it. Transferring to a clean parchment for baking prevents the crust from baking and sticking to any dough remnants left on the parchment paper used for rolling out.
Galette
- Pulse the sugar and dried lavender in a food processor until the lavender is finely ground.
- Arrange the sliced apricots on top of the rolled-out crust, leaving a 2-inch border around the outside.
- Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the lavender sugar over the apricots.
- Gently fold the dough on the edges back over the apricots, pleating the edges as you go, leaving the center exposed. Use any dough you cut off to patch any holes.
- Brush the edges lightly with milk and sprinkle the remaining sugar over the crust. Make sure you don't have any sugar on the pan surrounding the galette or it'll end up burning up (a little burnt sugar is totally normal, you'll be able to break it off and it won't impact your final flavor).
- Bake until the apricots are bubbling, about 45 minutes. Turn the broiler on and bake for another 3 minutes, until the crust browns nicely (watch carefully so it doesn't burn!).
- Prepare the lavender caramel sauce.
- Right before serving, drizzle caramel sauce over the top. Slice and serve warm or room-temperature. With or without a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream:)
Honey Lavender Caramel
- Read all the directions before getting started. Stuff happens so fast so you want to make sure you're prepared for what's coming next. The times in this recipe are estimates and will depend on the side of pot you're using, so use the temperatures as your guide. Also, make sure that you have an accurate candy thermometer - 5 degrees off will drastically change the texture of your caramels from soft and chewy to more like sugar daddies. Here's a helpful article on how to calibrate your candy thermometer.
- Begin by making lavender sugar. Pulse the sugar and lavender in a food processor until the lavender is finely ground.
- In a small saucepan, heat the heavy whipping cream and vanilla over medium heat until it just begins to simmer. Reduce the heat to low to keep it warm while you prepare the rest.
- Heat the sugar and honey in a separate small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until the sugar dissolves and it starts to boil, about 4 minutes. (I recommend between a 1.5-quart and 2.5-quart saucepan; any larger and you'll have a hard time using the candy thermometer as it won't full submerge in the caramel).
- Stop stirring and clip a candy thermometer to the edge of the pot. Let the sugar boil without stirring at all, until it reaches 305°F, about 3-5 minutes. While it boils, grab a clean wooden spoon or rinse and dry the one you were stirring with before.
- Add the butter and kosher salt and fleur de sel, and slowly stir in the warm whipping cream. Be careful, as it will react and sizzle quite a bit when you start adding the cream. The temperature will also drop when you add the cream.
- When the sizzling calms down, return to medium low heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes.
- Immediately transfer to a heat-proof bowl. If the caramel solidifies at all while you wait to serve, don't worry, you can just pop it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and it'll soften up again.
Alanna -
This makes me so happy! What a handsome galette; the crust looks perfect and the lavender caramel drizzle sounds EPIC with those gorgeous apricots. I'm so glad you like the crust recipe. Your new site design looks amazing - congratulations!!!
Sarah Menanix -
Oh man, this crust makes ME so happy, Alanna - thank you for the recipe! I've now made it so many many times and all of my friends swear it's best crust they've ever had (gluten-free or not). I've about eaten my body weight in galette now.
And thank you for the sweet words about my site - *blush*.
Alanna -
Really?!?! Well that makes my week - thanks for saying so! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one eating my weight in pie-like substances around here. :)
Erika -
Yes, the scroller bar is showing up now! Great job!
And oooh. If you go fancy, I have to recommend the Pass and Provisions. I've only ever been to Provisions (the "casual," less pricey side) and it was still fabulous. I got some mushroom pasta + bread service that was great and I hear their pizzas are wonderful too! Or Kata Robata for high-end Japanese food. But let's be real, I'm not eating at fancy places most of the time. Some of my staple favorites are Local Foods, Aladdin's, and Sushi Wabi if you just need a quick, delicious bite somewhere. Oh and Radical Eats is an awesome vegan place that you might like!
And you should try Cloud 10 Creamery or Fat Cat Creamery if you're looking for ice cream! (Disclaimer: I haven't actually been to Fat Cat yet but I hear it's amazing!)
Sarah Menanix -
This is awesome! Thank you! I'll check this list out with my husband and let you know where we end up going:)
Erika -
Oh my GOOD GOSH this is gorgeous. And I want in on these gorgeous apricots! Here I was thinking that Houston apricots can't hold a candle to California apricots (specifically, SF), but now that I know they can get even better...Chico better watch out! I love your beautiful photography and that awesome gif!
Congrats on finishing your first 5K successfully along with your new beautiful website! Just one comment--not sure if it's just me, but I'm on Chrome right now and the scroll bar that's usually on the far right is missing for me (i.e. I can only scroll up and down the page using my mouse). Not sure if that's just me though! The layout is COMPLETELY lovely!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you so much! Come out to Cali for some summer apricots:)
And thanks for catching that!! I think know why that happened and I've (hopefully) fixed it in my CSS now, so hopefully it should work now? (Might require clearing your cache to see it). I always scroll with my trackpad, so I never would have discovered that.
Also, we'll be in Houston in September (that's where my husband's from) - got any killer restaurant recommendations???
kristy @ the wicked noodle -
What a STUNNING dessert!! I love rustic-looking desserts and this one is just gorgeous!!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you! I love how simple galettes are too - no fussing with getting pie crust edge to look perfectly crimped.
Kelly - Life Made Sweeter -
This is such a gorgeous galette Sarah! The apricots sound amazing with the caramel sauce! Great job on the site redesign, it looks amazing and so impressed that you did this yourself :)
Sarah Menanix -
You're too sweet! I'm super stoked to finally have it all done and to get to share it with everyone:)
Jess @ whatjessicabakednext -
This galette looks divine, Sarah! Love apricot desserts, they always remind me of the summer! Loving the sound of that lavender caramel sauce- so unique! :)
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you so much, Jessica! Apricots are definitely the fruit I could easily a few dozen of in one day - that and summer strawberries.
Trisha -
love love love! looks so delicious and the lavender is such a nice touch x
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you! I'm a little bit addicted to adding lavender to my desserts these days!
Kelly -
This is amazing! I cannot believe you did it all yourself. I am absolutely in awe. I can absolutely attest to how amazing the galette is and I am happy to have a gluten free crust in my arsenal now!
Sarah Menanix -
Aw - thanks! I'll have to make it for you fresh again so you can taste it the first day without the caramel sauce soaking into the crust over night. Dessert and appetizer party soooon! Yup, just added dessert to our party.
Kirbie -
wow, the redesign is beautiful! I especially like the changing action shots.
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you! It means so much to hear people like it after all this time behind the screen working away at it:) Maybe this is the feeling people get when others tell them their baby is beautiful? Haha.
Diane -
New layout looks soooo good! Amazing that you taught yourself to do all of this. And I can vouch for how delicious this galette is. I think this is the best crust I have ever had in my life.
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks! Let's have another baking date soon please:)
Sheri Nix -
Love the new look!! And I love this recipe!!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks mom! Maybe you can make it this week....and I'll eat it? Haha.
Tina -
Love love LOVE the new look of the blog!!!! And, of course, this recipe looks amazing as well <3
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks girl! xoxoxoxo.