Miss Maya's "Gorgeous" Winter Berry Galette
Whenever I'm asked to bring a dessert to any gathering I usually make a couple of galettes. Galettes are "a symbolic cake eaten the Twelfth Night in some regions of France. North of the Loire, around Paris, it is a round cake made with flaky pastry. In the south of France, it is made with a yeast dough. In both kinds a symbolic bean is baked in the dough."
I make galettes because they're positively stunning to look at, the dough can be made ahead of time and it's one of the simplest dessert recipes I know. Galettes can be sweet or savory. You can "stuff" them with anything you'd top a pizza with and anything you'd fill a pie with.
A galette's flaky, buttery crust is the perfect foundation to show off the seasons best harvests. When making dessert galettes you can use slightly bruised fruits but only if they're at their peak of flavor.
I made this berry galette for Thanksgiving dinner. My four year old niece Maya thinks every gathering is a party thrown in her honor and that all presents, hostess gifts and offerings of any kind are for her. Upon seeing the Winter Berry Galette she declared it hers, "No one can touch it. It's too gorgeous".
When it came time for dessert the galette was missing. She'd hidden it in a bathroom cabinet. "We can't eat it Mama, it will be too sad". It took four negotiators and one My Little Pony to talk her down.
Yield: Two 8-inch galettes
Serves: Each galette serves 6-8
Ingredients
For the Dough |
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| 3 | tablespoons plain yogurt |
| 1/3 | cup ice water (with ice) |
| 1 | cup all-purpose flour |
| 1/4 | cup yellow cornmeal |
| 1 | tsp. sugar |
| 1/2 | teaspoon salt |
| 7 | tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into small pieces) |
| About 1 quart of fresh fruit per Galette | |
| 1 | Egg, beaten |
| Course Sugar to taste |
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Stir the yogurt and the ice water (strained of ice) together in a small bowl and set aside. |
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Put the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt in a large bowl, tossing them once or twice. Work the butter into the flour mixture aiming for pieces that range in size from bread crumbs to small peas. The smaller pieces will make the dough tender, the larger ones will make it flaky. |
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Sprinkle the yogurt/water mixture over the dough, one tablespoon at a time. |
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With your hands, gather the curds of dough together. The dough will be soft. Do not overwork the dough. Divide the dough in half and shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least two hours or freeze up to one month. |
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Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Put dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll in into an 8-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. If it's sticky, throw a little extra flour on it, your hands and the rolling pin. Transfer dough to baking sheet. |
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Top your galette with any combination of sweet or savory ingredients. Miss Maya chose a quart of mixed berries; strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. |
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Leave the outside 2-3 inch border un-topped. Fold uncovered border of dough up over the filling, allowing the dough to pleat as you work your way around the galette. The dough will "pleat" and fall naturally. Let it. |
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If you're preparing a sweet or dessert galette, brush the crust with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar just before baking. |
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Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until pastry is golden and fruits are bubbly. Transfer baking sheet to a cooling rack and let stand ten minutes or so. Slide galette on to a serving dish. Serve warm or room temperature. |
Tip: This dough is fool proof and can be made several days ahead and refrigerated or frozen. Top savory galettes with just about anything you'd top a pizza with.
Dessert galettes need not be complicated—think fruit pie fillings—lightly sweetened sliced apples and pears, halved figs with huckleberries and strawberry rhubarb are some of my favorite combinations. Galettes can be served warm plain or ala mode but are best served at room temperature all by themselves.