Rustic fresh strawberry galette with cornmeal crust
| May 10, 2010 | Posted by ameliaps under dessert, spring, strawberries, strawberry, sweets |
Once you have smelled fresh small strawberries from the field in May you can never again go back to those water-logged plasticky giant GMO strawberries from the grocery store!!!
The best way to eat them is fresh, quickly cleaned with a cloth, from the basket, on the field.
Of course, they are delicious cooked down into jam and preserved for the winter.
One other way to savor them is to wrap them in short pastry and bake them into a tart…does not have to be perfect…just a quick dough wrapped around the fruit, made into a rustic galette. It comes together in no time and it is fun to make individual ones. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla, honey or lavender ice-cream (and/or a dallop of sweet whipped cream).
The hearty crust gets extra crunch from the whole-grain cornmeal. The crumbled cookies absorb the strawberry juices and a thin layer of jam protects the bottom of the crust so it does not becom soggy.
Make sure to let the tartlets rest before slicing into them, so the juices do not run out.
By the way, “galette” is the French word for a free-form tart.
You can of course adapt this recipe and use any kind of (soft) fruit that is in season: blueberries, blackberries, peaches, plums, apricots, pears…
Rustic fresh strawberry galette
The dough is adapted from an old Cooking Light recipe
Serves 8
Dough:
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
¼ cup whole grain cornmeal (the coarse kind)
¼ tsp salt
½ cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup buttermilk
Filling:
1/3 cup strawberry jam
½ cup finely crumbled shortbread cookies or graham crackers
3 to 4 cups fresh strawberries
1 Tbs granulated white sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp grated lemon zest
Topping:
1 large egg white
1 Tbs milk
1 Tbs turbinado sugar
Prepare dough: In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, cornmeal and salt; pulse 3-4 times. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. While processor is running, slowly drizzle buttermilk into the crumbs. Continue processing until dough comes together into a ball.
Remove dough from processor and form ball, incorporating any stray crumbs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour (overnight is fine too).
Prepare galette (I made 4 small galettes instead of one big one): Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Remove dough from refrigerator and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll out dough into a 14 to 15-inch wide roundish circle (it doesn’t have to be perfect).
Spread jam on dough, leaving about a 1½-inch border around the edges. Sprinkle shortbread cookie crumbs on top of fig jam. Place berries, cut side down in a decorative fashion on top of crumbs. Overlap some of them to make sure all crumbs are covered, making two layers of strawberries. Mix sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest, and lightly sprinkle the tops of the strawberries with the mixture.
Gently fold edges of dough back over the strawberries (all the way around).
Whisk egg white and milk in a small bowl. Brush edges of dough with egg wash, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes before serving.
Print 
PDF
This looks absolutely gorgeous! There are no strawberries around here yet (at least, produced locally), but I just cannot wait! I have little nets to protect mine from the mean and hungry birds!
beautiful….strawberry galette is my new favorite spring dessert.
I love the simplicity of a galette. Yours is beautiful, as usual. I just bought my first 2 pints of strawberries from the farmers market today and mmm mmm!
Looks fabulous, Amelia! I was just ranting about those tasteless behemoths vs. local grown gems yesterday. Another beautiful, inspiring food from Z Tasty Life! And the photos are lovely as always.
xoDana @ http://www.onehauteplate.com