A galette is a French pastry in which seasonal fruit is rustically surrounded by a flaky dough and formed by hand. While it may lack the definition or aesthetics of some desserts, it certain makes up for it in taste and texture. This strawberry galette is a bit like a elegant strawberry shortcake. The combination of a flaky crust dusted with turbinado sugar and the sweet, softened berries is quite special and there is something uniquely beautiful about its simple exterior. If strawberries are not in season when your galette inspiration strikes, you can just swap them out for whatever happens to be in season at the time. It is flexible and pretty uncomplicated, so lets get this one started…
We will start the dough by combining 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour, 1/3 cup of finely ground cornmeal (white or yellow), 1 1/2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 1/4 teaspoons of salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse it a few times to combine the ingredients. Next, add 12 tablespoons of very cold, cubed butter. About 15 minutes before I make this dough, I cube up the butter, place the cubes into a small bowl and set it in the freezer until I am ready to use it. You don’t want the butter in the freezer much longer than 15 minutes or it will become too hard. So don’t forget it is in there!
Pulse the food processor 7-8 times to bring the cubed butter into about pea sized pieces. The dough should look like course crumbs right now. Now add 3 tablespoons of ice cold water and pulse the dough. You are looking for a damp crumble to form that will hold together when squeezed in your hand. If the dough is too dry, add 1 tablespoon of ice cold water at a time until the dough reaches this point. Sometimes I need 4 tablespoons, sometimes I need 6 or 7 tablespoons, but only add a little bit at a time, because you don’t want the dough to become wet.
Place a sheet of plastic wrap on a flat surface and transfer the dough directly onto it. Gently form the dough into a disk and wrap it tightly with the plastic. Place it into the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
After the dough has chilled, unwrap it and place it onto a large sheet of parchment paper. Place a second sheet of parchment paper over top of the dough and begin carefully rolling the dough out into a 14-16 inch circle, a large oval or rectangle. The shape is totally up to you! Once the dough is rolled out, transfer it onto a baking sheet and place it back into the refrigerator to chill for another 15 minutes while you prepare the strawberries.
In a medium bowl, combine 3 cups of strawberries that have been washed and cut into halves or quarters with 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract and the zest from one lemon. In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of water and set it beside the strawberries. You will also need about 1 tablespoon of turbinado sugar. If you do not have turbinado, raw sugar or granulated sugar will also work.
Pour the strawberries into the center of your chilled dough. Spread them out evenly leaving 2-3 inches of a border around them. Begin carefully folding up the border of dough up and over the strawberries. You can make this border as rough or as pretty as you want. I use a sharp knife to straighten the edges of my border before folding them over, but this is definitely unnecessary. You can overlap your folds or pinch them together, whatever feels right! No two galettes look the same and each time you make one, you can shape it differently. Thats just one of the fun things about a rustic dessert. No rules…
Once your border is finished, brush the dough border with egg wash, sprinkle with turbinado and tear little pieces from 1 tablespoon of butter and dot it over the strawberries.
Bake on a middle rack at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until the dough is golden brown and your strawberries are all soft and delightful. Once your galette is done, slide it onto a cooling rack using the edge of the parchment paper and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
Isn’t she lovely? This crust is so flaky and buttery! The strawberries have softened and formed a sweet thick syrup with the cornstarch we added to them and it is divine. While the galette was cooling, I made some whipped cream by whipping together 1/2 cup of cold heavy cream, 1 tablespoon of confectioners sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Before you serve your galette, dust the edges with confectioners sugar, place a big dollop of your whipped cream on it and slice it into healthy portions.
I hope you love this strawberry galette so very much and continue to make more of them whenever you have a hankering for a beautiful French pastry. Enjoy!
Strawberry Galette
Ingredients
Galette Dough
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
- 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup water, ice cold
- 12 tablespoons butter, cubed, cold
Strawberry Filling
- 3 cups strawberries, sliced
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
Assembly
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
- confectioners sugar (garnish)
- whipped cream (garnish)
Instructions
Galette Dough
- Combine 2 1/4 cups of flour, 1/3 cup of cornmeal, 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of salt by pulsing in a food processor 3-4 times
- Add the ice cold, cubed butter and pulse until the mixture becomes course crumbs. This should take 7-8 pulses
- Add 3 tablespoons of ice cold water and pulse. You are looking for the dough to become large damp crumbles. If after 3 tablespoons of water was added, the dough is still too dry, continue adding 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough forms large damp crumbles that will stick together when squeezed by hand
- Transfer the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and gently form it into a disk
- Wrap the disk of dough up tightly with the plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour
Strawberry Filling
- Prepare the filling by combining 3 cups of cleaned, cut strawberries with 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract and the zest from one large lemon
Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
- Unwrap the dough and place it onto a parchment lined baking sheet
- Place a second sheet of parchment paper over the dough and begin rolling it out into a 14-16 inch circle, large oval or a rectangle
- Return the dough to the refrigerator for 15 minutes
- Place the strawberries into the center of the galette dough, leaving a 2-3 inch boarder
- Fold the boarder dough up over the strawberries in whatever pattern you choose, being sure to leave a large opening in the center (see photos above)
- Brush the dough with egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar
- Dot the strawberries with small pieces of butter (see photo above)
- Bake at 400 degrees on a middle rack for 30-35 minutes or until the dough is golden brown and your strawberries are soft
- Transfer the galette using the parchment paper onto a cooling rack to cool completely
- Dust with confectioners sugar and serve with whipped cream
