Apple and Goat Geese Galette with Honey-Vanilla Sauce

I was traipsing though the grocery store yesterday, uncertain if I was going to make a mini Black Forest cherry cake or some sort of apple thing for my dessert. I have always liked the flavors of apple and goat cheese together, and when I went to check out the goat cheese selection, I saw that in addition to the usual herbed and peppered varieties, they had this:

Honey vanilla goat cheese.

Oh my GOD. Thank you, Woolwich Dairy, Inc. for bringing us this wonderful flavor!

When I saw the honey vanilla goat cheese, I knew that I had to pair that with a Granny Smith apple. I had read several apple galette recipes that included a layer of frangipane beneath the apple slices, and I thought that this honey vanilla goat cheese would be a wonderful substitution, so I decided on an apple galette. I immediately grabbed the goat cheese and headed off to the freezer section for a box of puff pastry - no time to make my own today - and hurried back to my tiny kitchen.

Top it with a simple vanilla sauce spiked with honey, and you've got this:

Apple & Goat Cheese Galette with Honey-Vanilla Sauce

Makes four 4 in. galettes

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet of puff pastry
• Honey-vanilla goat cheese
• 1 Granny Smith apple, cored, peeled and sliced into paper-thin slices
• 1 T butter, melted
• 1 T honey

For the Honey-vanilla sauce:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 T honey

Make the honey-vanilla sauce:

1. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add them to the cream in the top of a double boiler and heat until warm, not boiling. Let simmer for 15 minutes, then remove the bean pod.
2. Whisk together the egg yolk and 2 T of honey. Add a small amount of the warm cream to the egg, whisking fully. Slowly add the warmed egg mixture to the cream in the double boiler, whisking well.
3. Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to bubble a bit around the edges.
4. Remove from heat and refrigerate.

Prepare the galette:

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. Thaw the sheet of puff pastry for about 45 minutes. 
3. Cut out four 4 in. rounds from the pastry by using a bowl as a guide. Lay a slightly smaller bowl on top of the rounds and press down to leave an indentation in the pastry. This will be the lip of the galette.
4. Spread goat cheese on the pastry and top with overlapping slices of apple.
5. Mix together the honey and melted butter and brush on top of the apple slices and the edges of the pastry.
6. Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges start to brown.
7. Drizzle the honey-vanilla sauce on top and eat warm

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