Roasted Strawberry Galette

This crust recipe is the almost the exact same I use for the hand pies I made for my bakery Butter Moon Bake Co which means it’s my baby. Galettes are fancier than they seem and for that I love them more. Don’t want to make your own crust? I love that for you and store bought is 100% fine. Galettes are my summer go-to when I’m tasked with a dessert for a dinner party, taking something to a bbq, or when I’m in the mood for something sweet and simple. Peaches are another favorite- any stone fruit in the summer, really.

Roasting strawberries might seem fussy but A. You must when making this or you’ll end up with a watery mess since there is no added thickener, just all berry, baby B. Make a mental note of roasted strawberries as a whole. Serve over ice cream, chop, and add to scones, or make little puff pastry situations with goat cheese and thyme. Seriously, roast your strawberries. Just trust me on it.

Roasted Strawberries

4 lbs fresh or frozen strawberries (thaw them first but include their juices)

110 grams cane sugar

Zest from 2 lemons

Juice from one lemon

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 375

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment

You can use a bowl to mix everything together and then divide amongst the two baking sheets but I do it directly on the pans by halving the strawberries onto each pan and then sprinkling half of the remaining ingredients on top of the strawberries and stirring well to combine. Do what makes you feel best. Less dishes makes me feel best.

Roast the strawberries for 2-ish hours, stirring every thirty minutes as well as rotating pans.

You’ll know they’re done when they have completely softened, look a bit broken down, a thick syrup has formed, and they’re a deep, crimson red with some caramelized almost “burned” looking smears on the edges. If they’re not quite there after two hours, knock the heat down to 325, and check every 15 minutes. Do they look like this at the 1 hour 30 minute mark? Then they’re done.

Don’t let them go so long that the syrup and juices have completely evaporated, okay? It’s a dance. Ovens are different, frozen or fresh even when thawed can make a difference, how big the berries are etc

I know us Americans especially love ease, convenience, set-and-forget, and instructions that are set in stone. I’m not that kinda gal and I like nuance. Get to know your food and your oven, your skill set will thank you later.

Crust

195 grams all purpose flour (I like King Arthur)

5 grams baking powder

1/2 tsp or about 3 grams salt

190 grams unsalted butter, grated and then frozen

30 grams sour cream

Optional- sanding or coarse sugar for sprinkling prior to baking

Combine all the dry ingredients in a big bowl, stir to combine

Add in the frozen butter, tossing with the flour mixture

Add the sour cream

Press on it with your hands

Walk away for 10 minutes and then coax it all in to a disc

Pause. If pie crust stresses you out, fret not, I teach classes! You can request a virtual hand pie/pie crust class with yours truly here and will be discounted since you support my work here.

It can take a bit to coax it all together if you haven’t made pie crust or if you have considered yourself “bad” at it in the past. Literally just dump it all out onto a clean work surface, use a bench scraper, gather, smush, repeat. It’ll happen, just give it some time. If and only if you live in a very dry climate and/or it really feels like it won’t all come together after 10 minutes, try adding ONE teaspoon of cold water, work it for another minute or two, and if it’s still giving you grief you can add one more. But really most people give up way too soon. The secret to extra flakey and buttery crust is more fat and less water/vodka/vinegar whatever. Just stay with me.

After you have wrestled it into disc, wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for thirty minutes. Trying to roll out pie crust that hasn’t rested is a bitch and you’ll only frustrate yourself more.

Once the dough has rested for thirty minutes lightly sprinkle you clean work surface with flour, set the dough down, dust the top with a bit of flour as well as your rolling pin and roll it out until its a 1/4 inch thick.

*I do a series (3) of letter-folds to get a nice rise and lots of layers. If you don’t give a shit about that, that’s great and you can stop here. Want more glamour and flakes? You’re going to fold the dough into thirds as you would a letter. Rotate it towards you so that it is horizontal and roll out until it’s 1/4 inch thick again. Repeat letter folds/rolling out two more times or even one more if you’re internally saying “fuck it” (just going to remind you that I teach classes too, k? I promise it’s going to be okay) ending with a sheet of dough that is 1/4 inch thick as the end goal. Ragged edges are just fine.

Put a piece of parchment paper down with a decent amount of edge so that you can transfer the galette both to the freezer and then to a baking sheet more easily. Put the rolled out dough on top.

Spread the strawberry filling in an even layer, leaving a border about 2-3 inches from the edge. Decide if you want a fancy edge or if you want to literally just flap the edges over a bit. As shown in the picture you can do either/or with the rustic edges being a lot more intuitive and bringing them together with your final form in mind, viewing the crust as a dish or a bowl. Alternatively, you can trim the very edge so that you have a clean edge to work with and spend an extra couple minutes making it more “neat” and pleated. Either way, it’s going to taste the same so hold onto that.

Once it is in it’s final shape transfer the galette on the parchment paper to the freezer

Freeze for at least one hour or overnight

Once you’re ready to bake preheat the oven to 425

Make an egg wash using a large egg and a splash of water, whisking well

As soon as the oven is done preheating you can take out the galette, brush with egg wash, making sure to get into all the folds and nooks and crannies

Sprinkle with sanding sugar if you like

Bake for 35-45 minutes, checking where you’re at at the 30 minute mark. The crust should be a deep golden brown color with some darker spots as well. If you’re still not sure whether it’s done, carefully lift up the galette with a spatula to check the bottom. It should also be a deep golden brown.

Let it cool for at least 20 minutes on a wire rack

You did it. You made a galette.