Rhubarb, Pistachio & Honey Galette with Orange & Gin Gluten Free Pastry
i developed this recipe for Booths for one of the live cooks i did for them. I liked it so much it’s now become one of my go to desserts using a variety of different fillings but always with a version of this gin pastry and always with a version of chopped nut inside.
I know it’s partially to do with the pastry , which i’ve fallen in love with, but it’s also the filling of pistachio and rhubarb with the tinge of orange.
Who could ask for more?
If you start to make this pastry, you’ll soon find out that not only is it really easy, but it’s also a vessel for lots of different flavoured gins. Think Gin and you can think about using the flavoured gin to enhance whats inside your pastry.
Any flavour gin works depending on the filling, and the flavour combination, but pretty much any flavour.(avoid liquors).
The gin makes the pastry extra short, meaning that it’s extra crumbly and crisp when cooked, no bad thing. It’s the crispy pastry that i love on this dish which goes really well with a soft inside like this one, rhubarb.
Peaches, fresh or tined are great too, carrying on the soft fruit theme, and don’t over look a raspberry or two.
Adding nuts to the inside of this galette is also a game changer.
I’m partial to a pistachio or two or even some chopped walnuts, but which nut you use is up to you , go crazy and have fun with your flavours.
Don’t think that gluten free is the only way to go with this pastry either. I used gluten free flour just because i wanted to show that you don’t have to miss out on great flavour and foodie fun.
If you’re using flour with gluten, leave out the Xanthan Gum Powder.
Xanthan Gum Powder is a magic ingredient when gluten free baking, a teaspoon or two of this and it cuts down on the crumbling. So cookies or cake baking becomes a little easier.
Or should i say that it makes the eating of cookie a little less crumbly.
Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life.
Short crumbly gin pastry
What You Need
Gluten Free Plain Flour x 560gm
Golden Caster Sugar – 150gm Plus extra for sprinkling.
Salted Butter 250gm – Straight from the fridge and cut up into small pieces
Xanthan Gum Powder x 2tsp – See Tip Box
Gluten Free Baking Powder x 1 ½ tsp
Gin – 6-10 tbsp – See Tip Box
The Rind of 2 x Large Seville Oranges
Pistachios – Shelled & roughly chopped x 200gm
Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb x 1 Bunch – Cleaned & chopped up into ½ inch pieces–See Tip Box
Madagascar Vanilla- 1 tbsp
Runny Honey – 8tbsp
Large Egg x 1 – For Egg Wash
Rested pastry
To Serve
Mascarpone x 1 Pot
The Rind of 2 x Large Seville Oranges
Rolled out and rustic
How It’s Done
Place the flour, 100gm castor sugar, baking powder & xanthan gum powder & orange peel from two oranges in a food processor and blend for 10 seconds.
While the food processor is still running, add all the butter, one piece at a time. Keep the processor running until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
Add two tablespoons of gin while the processor is still running. Keep adding tablespoons of the gin, one at a time, until the pastry comes together into one lump. – See Tip Box
Wrap the pastry in cling film and set aside in the fridge until needed.
Cover oven proof trays with non-/stick kitchen paper and heat the oven to 180c.
Cut the pastry into eight pieces and roll them into balls.
Roll out each piece of pastry into rough circles and place them onto the baking trays.
Share the chopped pistachios between all the pastry circles, placing them in the centre so you have little piles of nuts in each one.
Spoon 1 tablespoon of the honey on top of the nuts
Share the pieces of rhubarb out between the tarts so they sit on top of the nuts and then roughly fold the rest of the pastry up and around the centre piles leaving a gap in the centre so you can see the rhubarb–See Tip Box
Break the egg into a cup, give it a whisk with a fork to loosen it up and then liberally brush the pastry tops of the pies.
Sprinkle lots of the golden castor sugar on top of the rhubarb and around the pastry on top of the egg wash.
Place the trays with the galette into the hot oven and bake until each of the pies are a deep golden brown and the middle is piping hot – See Tip Box
To ServePlace the mascarpone into a medium bowl, along with the zest of two of the oranges.
Mix together really well and then dollop on top of the galettes just before serving.
Orange rind makes the pastry even more flavoursome.
Tip Box
Gin – How much gin you use in the pastry will vary depending on a lot of factors, so it’s difficult to tell you exactly how much to use.
Xanthan Gum Powder – If you have to bake gluten free, this is a tiny box of magic powder you’ll be wanting to use in all of your baking. Its helps to bind the flour instead of gluten in normal flour.
Pastry – 1) If you don’t have a food processor, no problem. Add the same dry ingredients to a large bowl and then cut in the cold butter with a knife until you get breadcrumbs. Once this is done, use the gin to bind together.
Rhubarb – 1) If there are any leaves on the rhubarb, get rid of them. Rhubarb leaves are very poisonous.
Cooking- All ovens are different so adjust cooking time accordingly
