Sunday, July 22, 2012

Cherry Galette


An abundance of cherries I did have. My eyes were larger than my stomach when I bought them all. I wasn't quite sure what to bake with the extras I had since I rarely bake with fresh cherries. The pitting and the mess are somewhat annoying to me. Even though I have one of those fancy pitters with a splash guard, the juice still tends to splatter quite a bit. Okay, I'll stop complaining about a little juice splatter. This galette ended up being worth the tiny inconvenience of the cherry juice mess. 

Last weekend I made my first galette and I haven't been able to get it out of my head. This particular galette was a savory one that smelled and tasted fantastic, but I figured a sweet one would taste just as swell. This particular cherry recipe ended up being pretty juicy and leaked a bit onto the pan. So, make sure you use a pan with somewhat of a siding on it so it doesn't leak all over your oven. It will make your life easier. Also, let the galette cool completely so the filling can set and be easier to slice. I hope you get a chance to make this cherry galette or any kind of galette for that matter. You won't be sorry! Enjoy.

Cherry Galette

Instructions:

For the galette
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 pound (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter diced
2 tablespoons ice water

Cherry filling:
3 1/2 cups pitted fresh cherries
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 to 3/4 cup sugar (adjust this according to the sweetness of your cherries)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp cardamom
1 tsp lime
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small bits

Egg wash:
1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons water
sanding sugar, optional

Directions:

Make the dough: Whisk together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Sprinkle bits of butter over the flour mixture and using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with the biggest pieces of butter the size of small peas. Add ice water and with your fingertips, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Pat the lumps into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.




Cherry filling: Stir together the cherries, cornstarch, cardamom, sugar, salt, lime and almond extract gently together in a large bowl.




Prepare galette: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. On a floured work surface, roll the dough out into an 11-inch round. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. Spread the cherry mixture around on the galette leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the border over the filling, pleating it to make a circle. The center of the galette will be open. Brush the crust with the egg yolk glaze and sprinkle with sanding sugar if you wish to, which I did.




Bake the galette until it's golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for about 20 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve at room temperature.

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