What is Galette?
A galette is a French free-form flat round cake often filled with fruit or vegetables. The pastry dough is unleavened, and organically shaped over a sheet pan to hold the filling. There are sweet and savory types of galettes that are filled with sweet fruit or savory vegetables and cheese. Depending on how moist the filling is, the dough can be folded partway over the top to cover the filling or the can cover the whole top of the pie. Galettes typically use seasonal fruit or vegetables, and have a rustic photogenic look which makes them easier than pie and a beautiful dessert to make for gatherings, parties, brunches, and special occasions. This fresh strawberry galette recipe is so simple, and perfect for summer when strawberries are in season!
Galette Ingredients
You can definitely use store bought dough if you prefer, but making your own homemade pie dough is so easy and tastes better too! Here are the ingredients needed for my galette recipe:
Flour: Use all purpose flour.Cornmeal: Light finely ground cornmeal works best.Butter: I usually use unsalted butter for baking, but if you’re using salted butter just skip adding any salt to the dough.Sugar and salt: The dough is not sweet, and it balances the pie so well with the sweet filling. So I only add 1 tablespoon of sugar to my pie crusts. And then I also add more sugar to coat the strawberries.Filling: Fresh beautiful strawberries! If you don’t have strawberries, use any berries that you have, apples, or pitted stone fruit. You can also use frozen strawberries if you have to.Lemon juice: Added to the strawberries, it brings out the flavor!Cornstarch: The strawberries are coated in cornstarch, and what this does is coat them as they produce all of their juices which avoid getting a runny filling that can make your crust soggy.Egg: for the egg wash to create a beautiful golden crust. Whisk the egg with 1 teaspoon of water.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How to Make Strawberry Galette
You can either make the dough by hand or using a food processor: Over plastic wrap, shape the dough into a flat disk and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes and up to an hour. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). The galette will be baked on the middle rack. Between 2 pieces of parchment paper, roll out the dough into a 12-inch circle. You can also do this over a floured surface, I just find the parchment paper method easier since the dough will be crumbly. To do that, lightly flour your surface, and roll out the dough using a rolling pin. To make the filling, in a bowl combine the sliced strawberries with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch. To assemble the galette, place the galette over a baking sheet and add the filling into the center of the dough leaving about 2-2.5 inches border and then fold the edges over the filling. Brush with the egg wash, sprinkle with granulated sugar if desired, and it’s ready to be baked! Bake until the pie crust is deep golden brown for about 30-35 minutes (but could take up to 45 minutes). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before you brush the fruit with glaze and serve. For the glaze, you need about 1 tablespoon of jam diluted with 1 teaspoon of water. Carefully brush the glaze over the strawberries (the filling will be soft, so do it carefully). And you’re ready to slice and serve the galette.
Top Tips
Make sure that the dough is not too soft/moist when making it. You might not need to add all of the water, so add it gradually about 1 tablespoon at a time. The dough will be a bit too crumbly when you roll it out, and that’s how it should be.Roll out the dough into a 12-inch circle. If you roll out a smaller circle, the dough will be too thick and chewy when baked. You want a nice and flaky crust!Do not overbake the galette, unlike a pie the galette is rolled out into a thin layer so it will cook much quicker.You can make the dough ahead, and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Remove from the fridge 15 minutes before you start working with it.Freezing: You can freeze the galette unbaked, but thaw it overnight in the fridge before baking and serving. If you freeze it baked, just thaw it overnight in the fridge, remove from the fridge so it comes to room temperature before serving.
How to Serve Strawberry Galette
The strawberry galette is best served at room temperature on the same day when it’s baked, and it’s great when served on its own. But I also have a few topping ideas:
Ice cream: I love serving galettes with a scoop or 2 of high quality vanilla ice cream, it melts nicely and adds a silky creamy texture to the fruit and crust.Whipped cream: Another great topping! When I do whipped cream, I don’t add any sugar to it.Whipped mascarpone cream: A richer topping, but absolutely delicious!
Slice the galette into 8 wedges, and serve with your favorite topping. Store the leftovers in the fridge, reheat before serving for 30 seconds in the microwave. © Little Sunny Kitchen
