Fig and Cheese Galette

Yeap…another fig recipe. Sorry, but I still am harvesting the sweet beauties and this new recipe is my favorite dessert to bake right now. A delicate and not overly sweet treat. My figs are small so I used like 14-16 of them, at least! But use store ones if you don’t grow them and if they are big; cut the figs in thirds.  It goes together pretty quickly if you use your stand mixer to blend up the pastry crust. My old recipes used goat cheese but cream cheese is a less tangy choice and reminds me a bit of cheesecake. I softened my cream cheese in the microwave. Don’t worry if there are some tiny lumps in the filling after beating but do soften it close to room temp for best blending results.  One time I used an egg wash on it and one baking version I didn’t. More sugar sticks onto the crust if you use the egg wash. Just saying it helps but if you don’t want to you can get away with not doing that step.

Fig and Cheese Galette

Crust:

1 c plus 2 Tbsp. brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 Tbsp. sweet rice flour

1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

6 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Line a 15 inch pizza pan with parchment paper.  Can use a thick cookie sheet; preferably with edges. Done it both ways.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes.  Then roll out and put on the parchment lined pan; put back in the fridge while you prepare the filling.  You can make this crust and refrigerate it for hours or a day; will need to warm up for a bit before rolling out. Get it out first and let it stand a bit. No microwaving though!

Filling:

12-16 small figs or 6-8 larger ones

8 oz light cream cheese, room temperature

1-2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg

½ tsp. cinnamon

Sprinkle nutmeg (optional)

Zest of a lemon

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1 medium or small egg; beat up to make an egg wash

1 Tbsp. coarse or turbinado sugar

Directions: Cut your figs into halves or if large, thirds or quarters.

Cream cheese filling: put softened cream cheese in medium bowl. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, optional nutmeg, lemon juice; blend with whisk, add egg and blend well. Zest the lemon with either a fine grater or better yet a loop zester that will give you longer strands. I like to do it onto a sheet of wax paper; add to well blended filling.  It is smart to zest your lemon before you want to juice it for the filling and crust.  If you have time chill the filling for 10-15 minutes before compiling the tart.

Get out the tart crust and pour the cream cheese filling in the center. Leave 1.5 inches of plain crust around the edge, put fig halves gently all over the cheese filling, cut side up, leaving no big gaps, not touching them but with a bit of filling between them. Fold up the edges of your crust and pinch together to create the galette shape. Try not to let it crack at the bottom; pinch and fix those cracks! Use a pastry brush to brush the crust with the egg wash. Sprinkle the coarse sugar over it all including the crust.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in a 375 degree oven.  The crust should be lightly browned and filling almost bubbling. Let your tart rest a bit; don’t serve hot but a warm slice will be awesome.  Slice and top with a big dollop of crème or yogurt if you like that sort of thing.  We ate it plain – which is actually my favorite way to appreciate the flavors of this awesome tart. I am wondering if coffee ice cream might go great here… Enjoy! fig tart slice

fig tart cutBrown Rice Flour Mix (same as King Arthur All Purpose GF blend)

2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch – not potato flour!

1/3 c tapioca flour

The crust recipe is from Annalise Roberts great cookbook, GF Baking Classics, Second Edition.

Cloud Bread – Yup…That’s Its Name!

Finding or baking decent gf bread can be problematic.  Poor texture, weird flavors, big holes the middle of the loaf, leaden brick like baked products, high prices and lots of ingredients which must be compiled exactly according to the recipe.  It adds up to a fair amount of stress as to just having a sandwich.

A year ago I made some really interesting bread called “cloud bread” (also called oopsie bread) and it has no flour, no oats nor any grains.  I was intrigued when I saw this cloud bread popping up in my support group messages and just had to try it. My recipe has five ingredients but three should be in your pantry already.  It was very easy, quick and yes; tasty.  So it made a super bread for a ham and cheese sandwich and a ham/turkey and cheese sandwich.  I ate one warm out of the oven, also enjoyable. Great with a little jam or jelly on top.  Posted it back last March and sharing again so you who missed it can give it a try.

I added a couple toppings which add a lot to the flavor and look of it.  I recommend them but it sure can be made plain.   You have to use full fat cream cheese to make it work, only a few tablespoons so don’t get all freaked out over that issue!

Cloud Bread/Rolls

3 eggs, separated

3 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. honey

Pinch salt

Toppings; sesame seeds and a tbsp. of chopped fresh rosemary

 

Directions

Beat the egg yolks with the cream cheese until it is very smooth, lemon yellow. Add the baking powder and honey, beat in.

Beat the egg whites until foamy, add a sprinkle of salt. Beat until stiff peaks form.  Fold together with the yolk mixture until mostly blended together.

While the egg whites were beating I lined a big baking sheet with parchment paper and sprayed it lightly with Pam.  Heat oven to 300 degrees. Some people heat the pan in the oven before spreading the dough; I didn’t bother but feel free to preheat your pan.

Using a big spoon spread the bread mixture on in six big circles spaced 1-2 inches apart.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and or finely chopped fresh rosemary. Bake until golden brown between 20 and 30 minutes.  Using a spatula separate them from the parchment paper. Let cool.  Store in a ziplock bag overnight; they will get soft and be ready for sandwiches.  Keep them in the fridge. I put slices of wax paper between them to avoid sticking.  shoe fly pie, hash 012They keep about 3 days there and a week in the freezer.  Wonderful for sandwiches: I used one for the top and a second one as the bottom of the sandwich.  Did I mention they are virtually no carbs in this bread? Yeap; great for my low carbing friends!

Originally posted in spring of 2016. Minor changes, none to the recipe.