Have you every made a galette? I have to admit I’m not the best pie baker. I don’t practice enough and so my pie crust is seldom flaky, my crust edges never look fancy or pretty. So when I started looking into making a galette, this option seemed perfect for someone with my skill level when it comes to making pastry. If you’re also intimidated by making a perfect, in-the-pie-tin pie, this is the recipe for you.
What is a galette?
Galette is a French term for flat, free-form, crusty pies. They don’t have to look perfect, which takes a lot of pressure off right there. When I came across a recipe on Williams Sonoma that uses a food processor to do all the hard work AND it made enough dough for three galettes, two of which I could save for later, I knew I’d found my start.
I chose blackberries for this recipe but since they’re a bit tart even when they’re at their peak, I used a mixture of blackberries and blueberries, three times the blackberries to one amount of blueberries. Some nice lemon zest and juice for freshness.
The only other addition to the berries and lemon is a little sugar and flour.
I didn’t get a picture of the dough in the food processor but really, that step could not be simpler. You’ll, by the way, think that you’ve got way too much flour in the processor and that it’s never going to work, but several chunks of butter and some drizzles of ice water later, the food processor does its business and the dough starts to come together. I then turned it out and divided it into 3 equal pieces. I used my kitchen scale, but you can also eyeball it. Then on a floured surface I rolled out one of the pieces into a 13-inch “round”. As you can see, it doesn’t have to be perfectly round.
Then fold the dough in half, place on a parchment lined baking sheet and unfold it. Add your fruit to within two inches of the edge.
Fold the edge up over the filling, forming loose pleats. Brush the top of the dough with egg white and sprinkle with more sugar over the crust and fruit.
Less than 30 minutes later, you have a beautiful pie that with a flaky, tasty crust and the fruit mixture makes its own syrupy sweet goodness, thanks to the sugar and flour.
You can obviously make this tart with any berries, whatever mixture you like. I made another galette the very next day and the dough that had been refrigerated overnight may have been even more flaky than the one I made the day of processing. Bring your refrigerated dough to room temperature for about 20-30 minutes, until it’s pliable enough to roll out.
Recipe note: The printable recipe will yield 3 disks of dough for 3 galettes, but the fruit listed is enough to fill one galette. You will mix the dough, divide into 3 disks and save two for later. Make one now with the amount of fruit listed.
Berry Galette {Foolproof and Easy}
Ingredients
For the flaky pastry dough
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 24 Tbs. unsalted butter, cut into cubes (3 sticks)
- ¾ cup ice water
For the Berry filling
- 4 cups blackberries blueberries or a mixture
- Lemon zest from one large lemon
- 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 3 Tbs. flour
For finishing before baking
- 1 egg white whisked
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar- large crystals turninado or natural brown sugar looks nice but not necessary
- 2 teaspoons cold butter cut into tiny cubes or grated
Instructions
- Mix the dough
- In a food processor, combine the flour and salt and pulse briefly to mix. Scatter the butter over the top and pulse just until the mixture forms coarse crumbs about the size of peas. Drizzle the ice water over the flour mixture and pulse just until the dough starts to come together.
- Transfer the dough to a work surface, divide into 3 equal pieces and press each into a flat disk. Set 1 disk aside and wrap the remaining 2 disks in plastic wrap for future use (see note below).
- Preheat an oven to 425°F. Use middle oven rack. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out into a 13-inch round. Fold the round in half, transfer to the prepared sheet and unfold the round.
- Fill and bake the galette
- In a small bowl, mix the sugar and flour together. In a medium bowl, add the berries, lemon zest and lemon juice. Toss the sugar/flour mixture in with the berries and stir lightly until well mixed. Spoon the filling onto the dough, leaving a 2-inch border uncovered around the edge. Fold the edge up and over the filling, forming loose pleats. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the crust with egg white, then sprinkle sugar over the crust and top of the berries. Now dot the 2 teaspoons of butter cubes (or grated butter) over the top of the fruit. You don't need a lot of this, but doing so will help the fruit achieve a nice sheen after baking.
- Put the galette in the 425F degree oven and immediately turn the oven down to 400F degrees and bake for 25 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is golden brown. (During last 5 minutes, if the crust is really brown before the filling bubbles, place a piece of aluminum foil over entire galette until the end of baking so crust doesn't burn.)
- Transfer the galette to a wire rack and let cool slightly. Cut into wedges and serve.
- Cook's note: the two extra disks of dough are a bonus! Use to make other fruit galettes quickly during the week. Extra disks can remain in fridge for up to 5 days, or refrigerate for up to 2 months. I found the disk that had been refrigerated overnight was even more flaky than the one I made immediately.
- Extra tip if your fruit filling is very wet, like juicy mid-summer strawberries- Before piling on the fruit, dust the galette dough with just a tiny bit of semolina flour or breadcrumbs before adding the fruit. This will ensures the crust won't get soggy.
Notes
- The two extra disks of dough are a bonus! Use to make other fruit galettes quickly during the week. Extra disks can remain in fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 2 months. I found the disk that had been refrigerated overnight was even more flaky than the one I made immediately.
- Extra tip if your fruit filling is very wet, like juicy mid-summer strawberries- Before piling on the fruit, dust the galette dough with just a tiny bit of semolina flour or breadcrumbs before adding the fruit. This will ensures the crust won't get soggy.
Recipe adapted from Williams Sonoma.
Love this… so delicious!! I brush melted marmalade (mixed with a bit of water) over it to “gloss” it up and enhance the presentation. Yummy!
Absolutely amazing! This is soo easy to make and yet it is down right perfect. Nice recipe Sally, Im adding it to my recipe book.
Simply outstanding! I served this warm, although I bet it would taste just as delicious cold. The filling blended so nicely, It truly melted with each bite. Cant wait to make this again!
What an excellent recipe! I visited France a few years back and tried a galette there, so I was very pleased to find this recipe. It came out great and tasted as delicious as the one I had in France. Merci beaucoup for this great recipe!
Just a quick FYI: the notes on storing the extra dough state “Extra disks can remain in fridge for up to 5 days, or refrigerate for up to 2 months.” I assume you meant to say FREEZE for up to 2 months.
Thank you for the recipe, I’m batching up a bunch of single serving beef pot pies for my eldercare client this weekend, and this dough looks like winner!
Thanks for the correction, Jeanette! You’re right, I meant “freeze”. I’ll go in an correct this right now. I’m honored that you’re using the dough for some important people. Our elders deserve the best! I’m confident this recipe will be delicious for them.
This has become my go-to method for using up fruit of various kinds. I love how you get extra disks that you can freeze for a future easy dessert.
Keri- Right? One of my favorite parts of this recipe is the extra to freeze for later.
What a beautiful dessert! I didn’t change anything in this recipe and it came out so wonerfu!! It is is easy and quick to make. definitely will make it again.
This looks amazing! I can’t wait. I’m making this today!