A hint of lemon, almond and brown sugar bring out the season’s best in this rustic Sweet Cherry Galette. Use an all butter pastry, or go dairy free with a vegan pastry.
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Pastry: a Work in Progress
Working with pastry will forever be a work in progress. Although the recipe may be the same each and every time, temperature control, creativity and patience, are factors that always seem to vary when working with it.
Knowing when the dough is too warm, too cold, or sticky or how long you can push for that golden color in the oven to get it dark, but not too dark, takes hands on experience.
This is why I crave working with pastry. The more I work with it, the more familiar it becomes.
Yet it challenges me.
It forces me to be patient, creative and to pay attention to what I’m doing in the moment.
How to Make Sweet Cherry Galette
Super simple to pull together and makes a beautiful presentation, here’s how to make this rustic pie:
- First, in a large mixing bowl, mix the cherries, brown sugar, corn starch, extract, lemon zest and juice, and salt together. Set aside.
- Second, roll out the pie dough and place on a parchment lined sheet pan.
- Third, fill the galette with the cherry mixture and fold the edges of the pastry up and over the cherries to about 1″ in.
- Next, brush milk over the pastry, all the way around then sprinkle with sugar.
- Last, bake the galette, then rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
Share this cherry galette warm with vanilla bean ice cream.
A Free Form Rustic Pie
Galettes are a lazy way to an impressive dessert. They’re beautiful, in their own rustic right.
A galette is much simpler to pull together than a traditional pie. Its shape is free form. There’s no cutting, pinching, crimping, par baking and/or latticing when making a galette. Simply roll out the dough, fill it, fold it, chill, milk-wash the crust, sprinkle with sugar then bake.
Galettes are a perfect way to ease into pastry if it’s something that seems daunting. Or if one is simply feeling a little lazy.
Patience. Practice. Breathe…
Butter or Coconut Oil Pastry
For the cherry galette pictured here, I opted for a coconut oil pastry. I find it easier to work with than an butter-buttermilk pastry simply because I don’t have to refrigerate it prior to rolling and it’s luxuriously pliable. Because of this, it comes together quicker and produces a just as flakey and delicious crust as its counterpart. And, because of this, it speaks to my inner lazy girl.
If you’re just starting out with pastry, this dough is a good one to ease into. But either pastry will do… even a store bought pastry in a pinch.
A Few Recipe Notes
- For this recipe, make it butter filled or dairy free! Use my coconut oil pastry (pictured) or butter-buttermilk pastry.
- Because the bake is long, this cherry galette can head to the oven as dinner is getting underway and be ready just in time for dessert.
- Most importantly, enjoy this rustic pie warm with your favorite ice cream or give my vegan bourbon vanilla bean ice cream a go.
More Cherry Recipes to Love
- Honey Sweetened Cherry Limeade
- Cherry Almond Smoothie Bowl
- Cherry Almond Cake
- Vegan Bourbon Cherry Ice-Cream
the recipe
Sweet Cherry Galette
Ingredients
For the Galette:
- 3 1/2 C (500g) Pitted Bing Cherries (about 1lb)
- 1/3 C + 2 Tbs (90g) Packed Light Brown Sugar
- 3 Tbs Organic Corn Starch
- 1 tsp Almond Extract
- 1 Lemon zested
- 2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1/4 tsp Fine Sea Salt
- 1 Recipe for Single Pie Crust Pastry Use coconut oil pie crust* for dairy free Or use my butter, buttermilk pie dough - see note
To Finish the Galette:
- Nut Milk of Choice I use homemade cashew
- 1-2 Tbs Turbinado Sugar
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, throughly mix the cherries, brown sugar, corn starch, extract, lemon zest and juice, and salt together so that no white patches of the starch remain. Set aside.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Make room in the refrigerator to chill the galette, on the sheet pan, prior to baking. Generously dust a work surface with flour. Roll out the pie dough to between 14"-15" (35cm-38cm) or about 1/8" (3mm) thick, reflouring the work surface and pin as needed to make sure the dough doesn't stick. Roll the dough over and onto the rolling pin and transfer the dough, unrolling it onto the parchment lined sheet pan. It's okay if the dough hangs over the edges. We'll fold them in soon.
- Spoon the cherries and their juices on to the pastry keeping them in the center as much as possible leaving between a 2"-3" (5cm-7cm) pastry boarder. They should overlap some. Fold the pastry inward working around the cherries, pleating the pastry 7-8 times as you work your way around. Cover galette with plastic wrap and rest in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes and up to an hour.
- While the galette is resting, set oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 375F ( 190C). Just before baking, Use a pastry brush to throughly brush on the milk. Sprinkle galette, pastry and cherries with turbinado sugar. Bake galette for 45-50 minutes rotating once while baking. The pastry should be golden and crisp when ready. Allow to set for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with vanilla bean ice cream.
- Store galette at room temperature for up to three days. The galette can be reheated in a 350F oven for about 10 minutes if needed.
