We adapted this easy, free-form tart from Rowan Jacobsen’s Apples of Uncommon Character: Heirlooms, Modern Classics, & Little-Known Wonders. The pastry is tender, crisp, and rustic, with an open filling of sweet apples over tangy cranberry jam. It’s a perfect dessert for a holiday dinner or the ideal centerpiece for afternoon tea on a chilly day. Dress it up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Game plan: In this recipe, we’ve substituted the suggested orange marmalade, other preserves, lemon curd, or peanut butter for old-fashioned cranberry sauce. And rather than sprinkling the galette with bourbon-soaked raisins, we’ve upped the fancy factor by using Cognac-soaked cherries instead.

  • Yields: 1 galette
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Total: 1 hr 45 mins

Ingredients (14)

For the crust:

  • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar (also known as confectioners’ sugar)
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold salted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 egg, cold

For the Cognac-soaked cherries:

  • 1/4 cup fresh or frozen cherries, pitted
  • 1/2 ounce Cognac

For the cranberry sauce:

  • 8 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon packed finely grated orange zest (from about 1 medium orange)

To assemble:

  • 2 large apples, cored and halved
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Instructions

For the crust:

  1. Combine the flour and powdered sugar in a food processor and pulse for 1 to 2 seconds. Add the butter and pulse a few times until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg and pulse once or twice until just combined. Set aside.

For the Cognac-soaked cherries:

  1. Meanwhile, soak the cherries in the cognac. Set aside to infuse.

For the cranberry sauce:

  1. Place the cranberries, sugar, and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the cranberries are starting to fall apart and the liquid has become thick and syrupy, about 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the zest. Set aside to cool.

To assemble:

  1. Dump the dough from the food processor onto a floured surface and gather it into a ball. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap, press it down into a disk, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  3. Unwrap the chilled dough and place it on a well-floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the disk from the center outward until it forms a circle of at least 12 inches. (Perfect roundness is not required or even desired.)
  4. Spread the cooled cranberry sauce thinly over the surface of the galette, leaving a 1- to 2-inch rim.
  5. Slice the apples, but keep the halves together. Place them on top of the tart, skin-side up, and nudge them to fan them out slightly.
  6. Fold the edges of the pastry over the edges of the filling to create a rim. Start with a corner of the pastry, then do a side, then a corner, and so on, each overlapping the corner of the previous fold. You should end up with a shape a bit like an uneven stop sign. The tart should stay open in the middle.
  7. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute, until bubbly. Brush the exposed rim of the tart with a bit of the sugar-butter. Pour the rest over the apples. Sprinkle the infused cherries and pecans over the top.
  8. Bake until golden brown and crispy.