Galettes were my introduction to the world of pastry and are still one of my favourite things to make. These single-crust pies are so easy that most kids can make them with very little supervision — and the fact that they are supposed to look rustic is a bonus for those who don’t feel confident making a pie crust. The possibilities for filling a fruit galette are endless, but I’ve chosen mixed berries because they bake up so well and are so pretty. Added bonus? You can bake these galettes with fridge and pantry staples you likely already have on hand: frozen berries are great and the pastry just uses a few items. Once you’ve made one galette, you’ll be hooked!
This is an excellent entry-level dessert for novice bakers. Since the dough circles won’t be perfect and the berries will leak some juice out onto the baking trays, they will all look a little mismatched, but they are meant to be “rustic” (this is what I call anything I make that doesn’t turn out perfectly!). Whenever I make these with my boys’ cooking club, nobody cares how they look — the boys think they are delicious and the parents are impressed that their child made pastry from scratch!
Excerpted from In the French Kitchen with Kids by Mardi Michels. Copyright © 2018 Mardi Michels. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved. Photographs Copyright © Kyla Zanardi.
ingredients
Pastry
Filling
Assembly
To Serve
directions
This recipe requires a chill time of 1 hour.
For the pastry, whisk the flour, salt and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the cubed butter and using your fingertips, lightly rub the butter into the flour until it resembles large breadcrumbs with some pieces the size of small peas. You can also use a pastry blender for this job. Make a well in the middle of the flour mix and add the egg. Using a wooden spoon, mix the egg into the flour until they are completely combined.
Add the cream and mix until the dough is firm enough to form a ball when you press the mixture together with your fingers. It might be a little crumbly, but form the dough into a ball and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 3 days, in the fridge. You can also freeze the dough, tightly wrapped in plastic, for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge before you roll and bake.
For the filling, combine the berries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice (if using) and zest in a small bowl. Stir to coat the berries thoroughly and set aside. Tip: If your berries are quite large, you can cut them in half. If you do that, you might not need as much of the lemon juice, since cut berries may give off more juice.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
Divide the pastry into eight pieces and roll each piece out to a rough circle about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter. If necessary, trim the rolled-out shapes with a pizza cutter so they are more or less round. Place the circles of dough on the parchment-lined baking trays. They should not be touching.
Use a ¼ cup measure to divide the berry mixture evenly between the dough circles. Place the berries in the centre of the dough and use the bottom of the measuring cup to flatten them slightly. You should leave a border of about 1 ½ inches around the edge.
Working with one circle at a time, fold the uncovered edges of dough up and around the filling, working your way around the circle. You’ll end up with pleated edges that are a little rough and you might need to trim some uneven parts to ensure you don’t end up with a thick area of just crust.
For assembly, brush the edges of each galette with a little egg wash and sprinkle the pastry with sugar.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the berries are cooked. Remove from the oven and place the galettes on wire racks to cool slightly.
To serve, serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or Chantilly cream.