Plum Galette (French Plum Tart)

This easy plum galette features juicy fresh plums tucked into a buttery, flaky crust with an optional hint of warm spice. A beautiful rustic plum tart!

All souls sing, some more softly. ~DM Jenkins

Every time I bite into a juicy, ripe summer plum, I'm flooded with joy and astonishment. They do something to me. Like most ripe stone fruit, my favorite way to eat them is standing over the kitchen sink, juices falling where they may. If they're not juicy, they're just not ready.

Eating them this way transports me right back to my childhood, and for a moment, I feel like a kid again. It's a glorious feeling, and I highly recommend it. Good for the soul. It's hard not to feel as if plums love us. ✨

If the plums manage to last very long around here, I'll make this easy Plum Galette-a rustic plum tart with a buttery, flaky crust and juicy plum filling. My friend Jill's buckwheat crust recently inspired me to add a little buckwheat flour to the dough. It's entirely optional, but adds a lovely nutty, earthy flavor. To save time, make the dough ahead and refrigerate until you're ready to bake.

Plum Galette Recipe Ingredients

• All-purpose flour: Forms the base of the buttery tart dough; you'll need a little extra for rolling and dusting. For a nuttier, more rustic flavor, substitute a small portion with buckwheat flour.
• Sugar: Lightly sweetens both the tart dough and juicy plum filling.
• Salt: Enhances the flavor of the buttery crust and balances the sweetness.
• Cold butter: Creates a rich, tender, flaky tart crust; keep it cold for the best texture.
• Fresh plums: The star of the tart! Choose ripe, flavorful plums that are still firm enough to slice. See the notes if your plums are very ripe or juicy.
• Flour: Helps absorb the plum juices as the tart bakes; cornstarch or arrowroot powder can be substituted.
• Chinese five-spice: Adds a subtle warm, aromatic note that pairs beautifully with plums; cardamom is a lovely alternative, or simply leave it out.

How to make Plum Galette

Make the galette dough. Pulse the flour, sugar and salt together in a food processor. Add the cold butter and pulse until coarse, like sand. Here I’ve added a little buckwheat flour, which gives a rustic nutty flavor; this is optional.

Add cold water a little at a time, pulsing until it clumps into a shaggy ball.

Place on a sheet of parchment paper, form into a disk, wrap it up, and refrigerate for 45 minutes to 3 days, or even freeze! Refrigerating not only makes the dough easier to work with but also allows the flour to hydrate fully.

When chilled, loosen it from the parchment, re-flour the parchment and start rolling it out from the middle to the edges, turning as you go. You’ll end up with something roundish, about 13-14 inches in diameter. Having the parchment well-floured will allow you to pick up those edges easily without tearing.

You can leave the edges rough like this, or tuck them in for a smoother look like below. So I’ve turned the edge over about 1/8 -1/4 inch. No need to be perfect here. In fact, please don’t be. Keep it rustic. It’s way more fun. 😉 Place it on a sheet pan.

Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of flour (or almond flour) on top of the galette crust. This will help hold those flavorful juices inside. Put this whole thing in the fridge, just like this.

Then quickly make the plum filling. Cut plums into 1/2-inch thick wedges. This will be tricky if they are very ripe. Just do the best you can. Please see notes for extra juicy plums- I treat them differently than you see here.

Sprinkle the plums with sugar, flour (or cornstarch), a pinch of salt, and a pinch of your choice of cardamom or five-spice ( both are optional). Mix carefully.

Spoon them over the floured galette dough, leaving a couple of inches of room around the edges.

Then make some rough folds before pinching and folding over to one side.

So below, see how I’ve pinched the folds closed. I like to give a little shake to get the plums into the edges, then arrange the top. Again, no need for perfection here. Brush the dough with an egg wash or cream wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake on the middle rack in a 375°F oven until nicely golden and bubbling, about 45 minutes or so. Check at 30 minutes, rotating if your oven temp is uneven. When it comes out, your tart will be golden and the plums will be bubbling and fragrant. To give the galette a more glazed look on top, heat some jam (like plum, apricot, or peach) and brush over the top for an extra glazed appearance.

Remember to let it cool at least 20 minutes before diving into it. I swear this is the hardest part of the recipe. 😉 I find it really easy to slide off the parchment right onto the cooling rack if no juices have spilled out.

Serving Suggestions

Serve on its own, or with vanilla or cardamom ice cream, it is the perfect pairing!

Storing your Plum Tart

Leftovers will keep on the counter, covered, for 3 days, or refrigerated for up to a week.

More tarts and Galette RecipeS

• Pear Galette with Walnut Crust
• Farm Style Peach Skillet Pie
• Rustic Strawberry Galette with Seeded Rye Crust
• Apricot Tarts 
• Roasted Fig Tart

If you make this, let us know what you think, and please share any adaptations or notes below! xoxo

Sylvia

Plum Galette (Rustic French Plum Tart)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 4 reviews

• Author: Sylvia Fountaine
• Prep Time: 40
• Cook Time: 50
• Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Yield: 8 1x
• Category: Dessert, galette, tart
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: French
• Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

This easy plum galette features juicy fresh plums tucked into a buttery, flaky crust with an optional hint of warm spice. A beautiful rustic plum tart! This recipe is adapted from Bon Appétit.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1/2x1x2x

Galette Crust

• 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (see notes) plus more for rolling.
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons cold butter, 1/2 cup, plus two tablespoons, cubed
• 1/4- 1/3 cup ice cold water

Plum Filling:

• 1 1/2 lbs plums (see notes for really ripe)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour (or cornstarch)
• pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon 5-spice or cardamom,(optional)

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Instructions

1. Make the Tart Dough: Place flour, salt and sugar in a food processor. Pulse until combined. Add the cubed butter. Pulse repeatedly until it becomes like coarse sand. Turn the food processor on, and add the water a little at a time… and just add water until the dough clumps into a shaggy ball. Turn it off and place galette dough on a well-floured piece of parchment paper large enough to roll the dough out. Divide into 3-4 balls, flatten them and place them on top of one another. Flatten into a one-inch thick disk (6 inches wide). Wrap it up and refrigerate for 40 minutes or up to 3 days.
2. Preheat oven to 375F
3. Mix the filling: Cut plums in half and cut into 1/2 inch thick wedges. If your plums are extra juicy, you may need to just cut them away from their pits, on their side on a cutting board. Just do the best you can. If your plums are extra juicy ripe, falling apart plums- see notes.  Place in a bowl, toss with the sugar, salt, flour and optional spice.
4. Roll. Remove the dough from the fridge, unstick it, re-flour the parchment  and roll it out on the parchment, from the middle outwards, turning, rolling into a 13-14 inch round. You really want to make sure there is a little flour under those outer edges. To get a cleaner edge, fold 1/8 of an inch up. (See photo.)
5. Fill. Spread out 2-3 tablespoons flour over the crust to soak up juices.  (See photo.) Place the whole thing, parchment and all, on a sheet pan.  Spoon plums into the center of the floured-coated galette dough.
6. Fold. Create rough folds in the dough- see photos, bringing all the edges up before folding to one side and pinching. Give a little shake letting the plums settle into those edges. Arrange the top to your liking.
7. Brush the exposed galette dough with an egg wash (1 beaten egg with 1 tablespoon water) or with cream (or half and half) and sprinkle the dough and plums with 1 tablespoon coarse sugar.
8. Bake on the middle rack until golden and bubbling, 40-50 minutes, checking at 30 minutes and rotating if need be. Get the crust deeply golden.
9. Let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before serving. Serve with ice cream. 😉

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Notes

Feel free to replace ⅓ cup AP flour with  buckwheat flour

If your plums are extra juicy and difficult to cut – do not mix them in the bowl with the flour and sugar they will disintegrate. You want to handle them as little as possible. Sprinkle the galette dough with 3-4 tablespoons flour and 1/4 cup sugar. Some folks add ground almonds (3 tablespoons) here to help mop up the juices even more. Spoon the plums in the center leaving 2-3 inches on the edge. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, pinch salt and optional spice. Fold edges up and continue with the recipe.

If you like using less sugar than called for in desserts but end up with an overly tart galette, pour a little maple syrup over the baked tart to help mitigate the tartness.

Nutrition

• Serving Size:
• Calories: 315
• Sugar: 24.2 g
• Sodium: 294 mg
• Fat: 15 g
• Saturated Fat: 9 g
• Carbohydrates: 43.8 g
• Fiber: 2.2 g
• Protein: 3.4 g
• Cholesterol: 38.2 mg