Vegan Lavender Peach Galette

There is something freeing about making a galette. The open-face pies nudge you towards embracing imperfection and the unfathomable appeal of rusticity.

And still, the result is nothing short of glorious.

Maybe it is the flaky, crispy crust or perhaps it is the fruits painted in their own juices, I haven’t taken the time to dig deeper into the magic of galettes.

What I do know is this - the freeform pies preserve the delightful texture of tender summer fruits. It is why I religiously bake them every summer, starting with my gluten-free strawberry and apple galette of 2015.

With peaches that beg to be eaten over a sink flooding the market, I decided on making a vegan lavender peach galette this year. I didn’t add much else in the way of flavors, letting the sweet juices of peaches melded beautifully with a whiff, just a whiff, of lavender shine through.

How to Make Vegan Lavender Peach Galette?

Galettes are forgiving. You don’t have to fuss over a proper pastry shape, and yet you whip-up a delicious dessert. Since my shapes are generally far from perfection, I recommend any one new to the world of pies to start with this vegan lavender peach galette. You’ll have heaps of fun making it!

First, make the pastry. 

Sift any flour you prefer, I used quinoa flour and all-purpose flour, and mixed it with salt and icing sugar. Rub in chilled and solidified coconut oil with your fingers till the flour looks like bread crumbs. Then little by little, add ice cold water to bind the dough together.

Quick notes:

There are three tricks to making a buttery, flaky, and delicate pastry.

The first is ice cold water and oil. If you want, you can chill the flour too.

The second is not overworking the dough. Instead of kneading, slowly pull it together to form a ball. In the end, it should feel a tad moist and sticky, not dry.

The third is to refrigerate the dough so that the oil ( or the butter), which tends to melt while you work the dough, solidifies again. Flatten the dough, wrap it in foil or cling wrap and let it rest for at least an hour. You can keep it for a couple of days in the refrigerator or in the freezer for even longer.

By the by, instead of oil, fell free to use chilled cubes of butter. If your butter is salted, forgo the salt in the dry ingredients. 

Next, make the filling.

Peaches are the unbeaten winner when it comes to taste. From the sweetest melody to an acidic punch, they have a plethora of flavors. The ones I used were so saccharine they barely needed any help for the galette filling.

So, in a tiny fistful of sugar, I rubbed in dry lavender with my fingertips till the sugar was fragrant with a floral bouquet of the purple flower. This I tossed with slices of peaches and cornflour and let it macerate for ten minutes as I worked on the pastry base. 

I like to sprinkle a bit of almond meal on the base of the tarts, just to make sure the pastry doesn't get soggy at the bottom. Almond meal soaks in the juices of the fruit and gives a wonderful nutty flavour too.

Quick Notes

Do adjust the sugar amount as per the taste of your peaches. You can even dust a bit of it on top right before you bake the galette, though this is entirely optional.

Don’t cut the peach slices too thinly or you’ll bake the gorgeous summer fruit to a pulp, an egregious crime. 

Lavender is potent. Use only pinch to infuse the sugar, and the galette will have a lovely floral note that mellows you down with every inhale.

Last, bake the galette.

I wanted to make one galette for each soul in my abode. So, I cut the chilled dough in four pieces and then rolled each one out by sandwiching a section between two sheets of wax paper. You can skip the division and make one 9-inch galette out of the entire dough.

I failed miserably at making a perfect circle. Clearly.

If you, too, are worried about the pastry shape, don’t because the edges of the galette are folded over the peaches.

Slide the vegan lavender peach galette in the oven and bake till the bubbling fruit is wrapped in a buttery, crumbly, and golden crust.

Quick notes:

I didn’t want the bother of cleaning my work surface. Hence, the diligent use of wax paper. If you don’t have them, flour your prep area and then roll out the dough.

It’s hot and humid here, meaning everything melts faster than you can blink. So, while I rolled one part of the dough, filled it with peaches, and folded the edges, the rest were chilling. 

If your corner of the world is blistering hot too and you’re dividing the dough like me, refrigerate the others. It’ll keep the pastry from coming apart. Though mine still did a bit!

Variations of vegan lavender peach galette

Galettes are rustic bowls of rapture that can go in any direction your taste buds desire. So, if you don’t have lavender, simply leave it out or pack a wealth of flavor by substituting it with rosemary, like in my peach and rosemary pie.

If you prefer regular pastry, omit the quinoa flour and use butter instead of coconut oil. My galettes were baked with regular sugar as I ran out of raw sugar. You can add any that works for you. Just bear in mind that coconut sugar, if that’s what you pick, will change the color of the galette.

Fancy a different stone fruit than peaches? Plums are a great option. I’ve made a gluten-free galette with them. Or go for an apple marzipan galette. Honestly, any fruit will suffice, galettes are flexible like that.

If you wish, you can even go for savory variation like I did with my sweet potato and carrot galette.

Serving the Vegan Lavender Peach Galette

I prefer desserts that have a hint of natural nectar far above those that are overly sweet. The vegan lavender peach galette takes the cake and the bakery on that front. Combined with scoops of vanilla ice cream, the galette still warm from the oven was a dream come true!

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