Santa Rosa plum Galette - Possibly the best dessert ever!

With the very last of our Santa Rosa plums off the trees, we're enjoying a break from the frantic pace of picking, sorting, selling and processing fruit. The bird scare machines are taken down and stored away, windfall fruit has been cleaned up and discarded, and we're back to our normal summer routines of irrigation, summer pruning, canning and freezing for our own use, and even taking a little time to relax on the porch to enjoy sunsets like this gem above.

We have long enjoyed making simple rustic tarts (galettes)in fig, apricot, and plum varieties. So with plums winding down and a bit of time on our hands we decided to reward ourselves with our favorite, Santa Rosa plum galette. This amazing dessert is quick and easy to make and can even be frozen for baking later (think a cold winter day where you long for the fresh fruit taste of summer). We provided a link to this recipe in a 2011 post but that link no longer works. So here are instructions below:

Making the crust

For the crust, you can use your favorite pie crust recipe. Here is our current version:

1+1/2 cups flour (we use half whole wheat pastry and half white flour)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp corn meal
1/4 tsp salt

Combine the above in a bowl and chill the bowl in the refrigerator.

Prepare:

1+1/2 sticks unsalted butter cut up into tiny cubes; keep very cold in the refrigerator.
3/4 cup of ice cold water (For a flakier crust, you can substitute cold vodka for up to half of the water.)

This recipe yields enough for two crusts, each of which rolls out to about 10" or so in diameter.

To absorb excess juice from the plums, spread 1 T. sugar and 1 1/2 T white flour evenly in only the middle of the rolled out crust, leaving a 2"-3" rim around the edges alone. Slice the plums into thin wedges and arrange them in the floured area, then add 2 to 3 T. more sugar. Lastly fold the edges of the crust inward  partially covering the filling.

Ready to bake

Bake in a 400 deg. oven for 40 min. or until nicely browned. For added decadence serve with vanilla ice cream!

We had to eat some right out of the oven.

The inspiration for this came from Mary Jo Thoreson, pastry chef at Chez Panisse Restaurant. For more complete instructions, her recipe is on page 3 at this link.

The heat is on, the cots and peaches are off

We've put in long days the past week as the cots and peaches came on fast. The good news is that temperatures were mild so both we and the fruit held up fairly well. The bad news is that we are now in the middle of a multi-day hot spell that will likely ruin any cots still on the trees.

Apricots, especially our Royal Blenheims, are very delicate and prone to damage from heat. This is often a problem since our hilltop location tends to stay warmer than valley areas at night. And since Royals ripen first from the inside, when we get several days of high heat the apricots build up too much heat inside and suffer from "pit burn," decay around the pit. Heat and drying winds also cause the skin to shrivel.

We are still trying to salvage some cots still on the trees, but with each additional hot day more are damaged and unsaleable.

Shriveled apricot skin caused by 100+ degree
temperatures and dry north wind

Peaches set a new record for a short season, ripening so fast that we got them all off in only three pickings over one week instead of the usual 6-7 pickings over two weeks. Despite the loss of some cots we are feeling satisfied that we've made good use of most of the crops so far, filling orders for many appreciative customers and restaurants. So we are now moving on to picking plums and figs.

One pleasant surprise is how well the trees appear to be holding up to their third dry year in a row. I know they will be looking stressed in another month or so, but for now their leaves are open and full even on this 103 degree afternoon. Despite very dry soil and having only very limited drip irrigation available, they have put on near normal (which is to say explosive) growth and are a vibrant green. 

We hope for early fall rains to bring them relief.

Apricot trees show 3'-4' long shoot growth despite the dry winter

Peach trees are thick with lush growth

Harvest has started!

Just a quick announcement here to let everyone know we have begun picking our Royal Blenheim apricots and Springcrest peaches. Beauty plums will start around June 6th and Santa Rosa plums around mid-June.

Our cot crop this year is much lighter than average and many have cosmetic defects due to untimely spring rains (but flavor is outstanding as usual). From what we have heard most growers have few to no cots on their trees so we may not be able to satisfy everyone. 

Be sure to email or call us before driving out, especially if you want a large quantity. We will open our gate for sales each afternoon from 2pm until 7pm starting Wednesday, June 4.

Thank you!

Bill Spurlock and Fern Henry
Sunny Slope Orchard
3574 Cantelow Rd
Vacaville, CA 95688
707-448-4792