My daughter MK developed this strawberry galette recipe and has been baking versions of it every weekend for the past several weeks. I am so lucky! I love galettes and included two—one sweet, one savory—in my cookbook. Because you don’t trim the edges of the crust, which may go to waste, and you can fill a galette with whatever fruit (or vegetable) you have on hand, this rustic open pastry reduces wasted food.
Let your kids help with the cooking. When they grow up, they will cook for you and if you write a food blog, they may also provide you with original, tested recipes to post. Oh and they will also be able to feed themselves.
The galette pastry
We almost always have semolina on hand for homemade pasta (so good!). Semolina adds flavor, color and texture to MK’s pastry recipe. You’ll want fine semolina. This is a very good brand.
Assemble the galette filling after you have prepared and chilled the pastry dough and just before rolling it out. Combining the fruit with the sugars—macerating the berries—draws out juice and you don’t want too much of it to pool in the mixing bowl.
In my recipes, you’ll never find the instruction “Wrap pastry in plastic wrap and chill.” To chill pastry, pat the dough into a flat disk and chill it between two plates, one inverted over the other. Invert these same relatively (if not completely) clean plates over the baked galettes to store them.
MK’s optional egg wash
In the summers while a student, MK baked most of the cookies, scones and pastries at Ada’s, a not-for-profit café in Palo Alto that hires adults with developmental disabilities. Because she’s a pro, she insists of brushing her pastry with egg wash (1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water) followed by a sprinkling of sugar. This does look amazing but omitting the egg wash saves money and time (I’m cheap and lazy).
The galette filling
MK usually makes these galettes with strawberries and rhubarb. I love that combination but when I noticed blueberries at the farmers’ market on the weekend (and couldn’t find rhubarb), I bought those to go with my strawberries. Cherries or peaches or raspberries would also work.
I had intended to bake these galettes immediately after I bought the berries but didn’t get around to it for a couple of days. By then the strawberries looked a bit sad, their flesh softening and color fading. In other words, they were still perfect for a fruit filling! If you have berries past their prime and at risk of going to waste, do the right thing: Make pastry.
Save your scraps for soda
If desired, while prepping the fruit, save any bits for brewing fruit scrap soda. Because this galette recipe won’t render enough scraps to prepare much soda, store the bits in the freezer until you have amassed a cup.
To make the soda, pull those scraps out of the freezer, allow them to thaw on the counter and combine them in a jar with sugar and water. The bacteria and yeast present on the fruit (they don’t die in the freezer) will eat the sugars, emit acids and gasses and produce a bubbly, tasty, refreshing and practically free drink. (Go here for the full fruit scrap soda recipe.)
Galette assembly and baking
I love baking pastry (and everything) in cast iron because it cleans up so easily. You can also use a prepped baking sheet.
Strawberry Blueberry Galette with Semolina Pastry
Ingredients
Pastry
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup semolina flour, finely ground
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- ¾ cup butter, chilled and cut into ½-inch pieces
- 7 tablespoons ice water
Filling
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 3 cups chopped strawberries
- 2½ cups blueberries
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
To make the pastry
- If using a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar and salt a few times until combined. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the mixture resembles large peas. If making the pastry by hand, whisk the flour, sugar and salt together in a bowl and then cut in the butter with either a pastry blender or two knives.
- Slowly add the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. In the food processor, pulse a few times; by hand, mix with a fork. Continue adding water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough easily sticks together when you pinch a large piece. If it crumbles, add more ice water but not so much that the dough becomes sticky.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and form into a ball. Cut in half. Without overworking the dough, form each half into a rough ball and flatten each ball into a disk. Place each disk on a plate and invert another plate over it. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator or 20 minutes in the freezer.
To make the filling
- Prepare the fruit filling just before rolling out the dough and filling it. Do not let the fruit sit in the bowl for long as it will become very juicy.
- In a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar with the lemon zest with your fingers. Add the brown sugar and cornstarch and mix thoroughly with a fork. Add the fruit and lemon juice and combine well.
To assemble the galette
- Place a disk of dough on a floured work surface. Dust the dough with flour. Roll the dough into an 8-inch circle, ⅛-inch thick. Place the rolled dough in a cast-iron pan or greased baking sheet. Repeat with the second disk. Fill each center with half of the fruit filling, leaving a 2-inch border of pastry along the edge. Gently fold the dough up and partly over the filling, making an edge about 1½ inches wide.
- Chill the galettes in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Bake the galettes for at least 40 minutes, rotating the pans half way through baking, until the crust is golden brown and the filling bubbly. Cool for an hour before cutting and serving to allow the filling to set. Store leftovers covered with an inverted plate at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Check out my award-winning cookbook!
- Taste Canada silver for single-subject cookbooks
- Second-place Gourmand cookbook award in the category of food waste
- Shortlisted for an award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals
Learn more about my book here.
Time for all these fabulous fruits!
Fortunately, Strawberries never go bad at our house! But I love to make Galettes even though! Can you explain how you make soda out of the trimmings pls? I eat some, I discard some which I don’t reuse… yet.
MK’s recipe caught my berries at the right time, thanks for the yummy inspo~
Delicious looking galette! Can you use vegan butter instead? Such as earth balance?
Thank you! Yes, vegan butter will work. I also sometimes use coconut oil in pastry. Chill whatever fat you use. You may need a bit more cold water if you try the coconut oil.