Ingredients
Ingredients (serve 2 people):
For the galette:
• 2tbsp all purpose flour,
• 1tsp sugar,
• 1 pinch of salt,
• 1tsp fennel seed, crushed in a mortar,
• 1tbsp vegetable shortening,
• 1/2 tsp white wine.
For the butterscotch sauce:
• 1/2 tbsp sugar,
• 1/2 tbsp + 1tsp water,
• 40g butter,
• Couple of grains of soya lecithin (optional, see note),
• Ca 1/2 tbsp cream,
• Ca 50g blue cheese like Gorgonzola.
To serve:
• 1/2 tbsp blue cheese like Gorgonzola,
• 1 ripe plum at room temperature,
• Few lavender flowers.
Instructions
Start by doing the galettes. While your oven is warming to 180 C/356 F,
in a bowl, mix together flour, sugar, salt and the crushed fennel seed.
Knead in the shortening pinching it between your fingers, add the white
wine and work the dough a bit more until it has been absorbed by the
flour. Press then the crumbs all together and divide it in two equal
parts. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper and roll the two pieces of
dough in a circle of at least 9 cm/3.5 inches. Bake them in the warm
oven for about 10 minutes or until the border will take a nice golden
colour.
Now for the butterscotch sauce, in a small saucepan put
the sugar and 1 tsp of water; let it caramelise until a nice dark
colour is achieved but be careful not to burn it or otherwise it will
turn unpleasantly bitter (in case a slight bitterness is developed, a
little addition of salt later can compensate for it). Add now the tbsp
of water and the butter (as well as the lecithin if using) and stir
until the caramel will be dissolved. Let it simmer for a couple of
minutes to let the butter brown and develop its nice nutty aroma. Whisk
in the cream and the cheese little by little. Keep on tasting the sauce
since the amount of cheese you will need strongly depends on the cheese
of your choice. While adding the cheese, keep the sauce warm but do not
let the cheese cook too much or it will lose its characteristic aroma.
Once satisfied, keep the sauce warm.
Wash
the plum, cut it in two to remove the central seed and slice it thinly.
When the galettes will be ready, let them cool down briefly on a wire
rack and spread on them some blue cheese. Mound a little nut of the
cheese in their centre, and arrange the slices of plums in a rosette
motif overlapping over it.
Crush slightly the flower of lavender
between your fingers, sprinkle them on over the slices of plums, and
pour some of the sauce over the centre of each galette. Serve the rest
of the sauce on the side.
This tart is better when eaten warm.
Note:
This butterscotch sauce might not have enough water the keep the
emulsion stable over reheating. Both times I tried to make the sauce
when I had to warm it up from cold, the fat started separating. In this
case, pour the fat in a container and keep warming the sauce whisking
with a whip. When the sauce will look stable and warmed through, just
whisk in the reserved fat little at a time.
To make the emulsion more stable, you can whisk in 1/2 a teaspoon or so of water.