mango + white peach galette with coconut cream + a cookbook announcement!

Chase Happiness.

What fantastic words to live by. 

When I was surfing the radio the other morning, I caught the tail end of a discussion on this topic, and I have not been able to get these two words out of my head since. In the same category as following you heart and dreams, this particular phrase really hits home to me. I feel like I can say with a big smile on my face that I have subconsciously always lived my life like this, more so in recently years, and I want to make sure that when I look back on my life, this phrase will have defined much of it.  

Chasing happiness is such a wonderful thing, because it does not only about the big and the grand, it can also be about finding those little moments in your day that put a smile on your face. And sometimes, all those little happy moments are what lead us to the bigger ones. 

Like eating a fresh white peach and mango galette with right out of the oven (small happy moment)

Or, writing on a cookbook that is going to be released in the Summing of 2014 (giant happy moment) 

Yep. That was my way of announcing to you that for the past few months, I have been keeping a big, huge, ginormous, happy secret from you. For the past few months, I have been working on my first cookbook that is going to be loaded with the same kind of goodness that you get here. 

I guess it goes without saying that writing a cookbook has always been a dream of mine. I always thought that writing a cookbook would be the ultimate tangable object to define my life in the kitchen. I've been chasing that happy dream for years, and here we are. Wow. I could not be more excited.

 

My book, title is still in the works, is going to be published in the Spring of 2014 by Skyhorse Publishing. It is going to have a party theme (you know I love a good party). It's going to have the same kind of healthy indulgent recipes you find here, but with a focus on entertaining. Fun party food, dinner party menus and tips, and ton and tons of inspiring photos. I cannot wait to share it with you. In the meantime, I will be sure to be giving lots of updates on the book here, including sneak peaks of some of the recipes, as well as plenty of instagrams and behind the scene photos. 

So today, in celebration, I made you a galette. A galette is a fancy word for a not-so-fancy pie. It's rustic, it's rough around the edges, it's crazy delicious. It is about 10 times easier to make than a pie, and pretty much fool-proof. If you know me, you are well aware of my love for pie ... but I have to tell you something .... these easy-going galettes may have won my heart over.

Go! Chase happiness. Eat some pie (or a galette). Let's celebrate! 

mango + white peach galette with coconut cream

I've been working on a gluten-free and vegan crust, and this version is so simple and really nails it. There are very few ingredients, you just need to make sure if you have a good basic gluten-free flour blend on hand (I love this one by Bob's Red Mill). If you prefer, white or wheat flour can be substituted for the gluten-free all-purpose. You are also free to sub out regular butter for vegan butter here. For the fruits, make sure you are using ones that are not too soft/ripe (use ones that are still a bit firm) or else the galette might turn out mushy. Lastly, be sure to put your coconut milk in the fridge (upside down) at least the night before so you can enjoy the coconut cream with the galette.

Serves
about 6 people

Ingredients

1 cup of gluten-free, all-purpose flour
¼ cup of almond flour
1 tablespoon of coconut palm sugar
½ a teaspoon of salt

6 tablespoons of vegan (earth balance) or regular butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 tablespoons of ice water

3 white peaches, pit removed and sliced
1 mango, peeled and sliced
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of almond flour
1 tablespoon of coconut palm sugar
2 tablespoons of greek yogurt (I used a coconut milk yogurt)
a pinch of salt
optional - a small handful of coconut shavings 

for the coconut cream:
1 can of full fat coconut milk (be sure to place the can upside down in the fridge overnight)
a tablespoon or two of powered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 

Method

Make the dough:

• Place a bowl and the butter in the freezer for about 10 minutes, while you prepare your ingredients. 
• Remove the bowl and butter from the freezer and combine the first four dry ingredients. Then, work the butter in using a pastry cutter or a fork. You will want to work quickly because you want the butter to stay cold. 
• Add in the vanilla and the ice water and work it in with your hands, but do not over mix. Form the dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, cover, and put it in the refrigerator for at least one hour. You can also make this a day or two ahead of time. 

Roll out the dough, and form the galette:

• Pre-heat the oven to 400º. 
• Prepare the fruit by tossing the sliced mango and peach with the lemon juice, almond flour, sugar, yogurt, and salt.
• On a floured surface, roll the dough out to a circle. The edges can be rough, it does not have to look perfect. Transfer the dough to a parchment lined baking sheet. 
• Add the fruit to the center, piling it high. Be careful to leave enough room along the edges so that you can fold them over. You might have a little extra fruit, depending on the size of you fruit and your dough (any leftovers will be nice to snack on). 
• Then fold the edges up towards the center, pleating as you work around the circle. Do not worry if it looks messy, this is the best part about galettes, it's okay for them to have a rustic look. 

Bake the galette, and make the coconut cream:

• Place the galette in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the edges start to brown. 
• While the galette is baking, make the coconut cream. Open the can of coconut milk and strain the liquid from the solid. You can discard the liquid or save it and drink it (it's coconut water!). 
• Place the solid coconut into a bowl with a mixer (you can use a stand or a hand mixer for this). Whip on high for about 1 minute. Then, while the mixer is running, add in the powered sugar (make sure it is sifted to avoid clumping). Then add in the vanilla. Continue to mix on high until the coconut milk is the consistency of whipped cream. (**Just a little note here, depending on how long your coconut milk was in the fridge, and the type of coconut milk you used, it might not get it to the exact consistency of whipped cream .... but it still is tasty with the galette). 

Remove the galette from the oven and serve:

• Allow the galette to cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack before cutting into it and serving.
• It is served best warm with a spoonful of coconut cream, and/or some ice cream. You can store the galette for about 5 days in the refrigerator, and reheat in the over on a low temperature when you want to serve.