French Galette de Perouges (Perouges village Sweet)

Topped with caramelized sugar, which provides a nice crunch, this “galette” is made from a very buttery, yeasted dough. Just a smidge of lemon peel adds another dimension to this speciality of the small, walled, medieval village of Perouges in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France.

The small, Medieval, wall-surrounded village of Perouges sits on a hill top in Provence and holds a secret in the old village center. We discovered the secret as it emerged on a large wooden board from a small bakery, that looked more suited to baking custard tarts in the 15th century but the baker was decidedly at least 1900’s as indicated by his bakery attire. This local delicacy - and no, it isn’t a pizza, though it looks just like one - would be great to make for April Fool’s Day to give the eaters a “sweet” surprise when they took a bite!.

Simple in its construction but confusing as it looks so much like a cheese pizza, we were skeptical, though I would have just as happily volunteered to sample a French cheese pizza. Perhaps a better descriptor for this galette would be a “Sweet Pizza”, and then we could call it “Sweetza”, a friend suggested. Yes, that name would be very apt but the French might take offense.

With the earliest evidence of human occupation going back as far as 2500 B.C., the first evidence of building on the village hill dates from the 12th century. Now, that is one old town, let alone the galette recipe!

The Galette de Perouges is very simply a sweet, buttery yeast dough rolled to be very thin with a crispy edge, then butter and sugar slightly caramelized, on top. Tasty enough to have us trod the wobbly walk on the jagged cobble stones of the village, we were content and sweetly fortified for our walk back thru the charming streets.

French Village Galette:

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/3 cup lukewarm water
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature, plus a dab to grease the bowl
1 large egg
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Pinch of fine salt (if using salted butter, eliminate this pinch)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

-Pour 1/3 cup water into a small dish, then sprinkle the yeast on top. Give it one stir then set aside for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to dissolve.

-In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup or 1 stick) of the butter with the egg, lemon zest, salt, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Pour in the yeast mixture and then slowly add the flour, mixing with a wooden spoon (or the mixer’s dough hook) until you have a soft and elastic dough (about 8 minutes.) The dough will be sticky and somewhat difficult to create a smooth ball due to the amount of butter in the mixture. Look at the picture below and form it into the best ball that you can.

-Place the dough ball into a lightly buttered bowl, cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm spot until grown in size, at least 2 hours. (Because of the large amount of butter, this is a very enriched dough so it will not rise as much as most bread doughs do.)

-Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

-On a parchment-paper-lined surface, cut to the approximate size of your baking sheet, roll the dough into a 9 - 10 inch circle about 1/2 inch thick. Press on the edges or turn under to make a 1/2-inch wide slightly raised border. Sprinkle the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar over the dough and dot with the remaining of butter.

-Transfer the assembled “galette” still on the paper to the baking sheet and bake until golden and caramelized, 15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, cut into pizza-shaped wedges and serve warm.

-Serves 4 - 6

Mix dough ingredients and knead, then shape into a rough ball and place in a buttered bowl. Cover and let rise.

Roll dough into a circle on a piece of parchment paper.

Create a border all around the edges of the circle by pinching or turning the edges under.

Sprinkle the top with the remaining sugar and dot with remaining butter.

Bake until golden brown and the sugar is somewhat caramelized.

Slice into wedges and serve warm!

Serving the Galette to tourists in the village of Perouges.

First encounter of this unusual sweet treat - the original in the original village where it was created!