Strawberry and raspberry galette
Buttery, flaky crust and sweet seasonal fruits
Published originally on my blog on 1 June 2014
I have been enjoying fresh strawberries for over a month now. It’s always the greatest feeling each year when I see the first ones appear at the market and I want to take home with me each and every little basket I lay my eyes on. I become a glutton, munching on them every chance I get, mostly with just a sprinkling of sugar.
After a while, I reluctantly begin to add them to desserts. Tarts, cakes, galettes and of course ice creams. When they mingle with butter, cream, sugar, flour and eggs, their taste becomes a little muted but never muddled.
Then I begin the process of jam making. That’s a huge deal to me when it comes to strawberries. I want to preserve the little red beauties for weeks and months to come, keep them for when the memory of the fresh berries has long fainted and I desperately need to it to be revived.
My go-to recipe is this one and this year I deviated from my regular way of making it. I lightly mashed the strawberries and allowed them to simmer for fifteen more minutes to get that traditional jam texture and feel. S was complaining, as he prefers the preserve-like type of jam with the whole fruits floating in the sweet liquid, but of course he proceeded to finish the first jar in a matter of days.
A couple of days ago I made this galette with strawberries and raspberries. It’s not very photogenic, but I couldn’t help but sharing it because it tastes so damn good. It’s easy, quick and the best treat ever.
It has a buttery, flaky crust, with a little crunch at the bottom from the addition of ground hazelnuts to the base to soak up some of the fruits’ juices, and the light sprinkling of demerara sugar over the rim of the pastry not only adds a caramel-y sweetness but texture as well. The sweet and tart berries release their juices during baking and become almost like jam, and the apricot glaze makes them shiny again and adds that little bit of extra sweetness that balances the sourness of the raspberries.
When some months ago I was craving the flavor of strawberries, I bought an Italian wild-strawberry liqueur which came pretty handy with this galette. I added some to the filling and it gave such a lovely depth of flavor as well as a slight kick. You don’t need to use it if you don’t have it already and I wouldn’t suggest you buy it for that purpose only, but it was a nice touch.
Happy June, and see you soon!
Strawberry and raspberry galette
A galette is an easier type of tart in the sense that it’s free-form and you don’t need a tart-pan to bake it in. You just roll it out, place the filling in the center and bring the sides of the pastry up and over the fruit.
Make sure to bake the galette inside a rimmed baking sheet as it will inevitably leak; not a lot but just enough to be unpleasant for you and your oven. I learned this the hard way when, one time, the bottom of my oven was covered in caramelized juices from a similar galette that leaked.
