Red Berry Galettes

With Gina Weishaupt

Another berry good dessert that is perfect for July 4th and the early days of summer, when raspberries and strawberries are at their best here in the northeast.

Since baking vs cooking is more of a science, you’d better be paying attention when you’re preparing your recipe.  The way I look at it is, if I’,m going to go the extra mile and bake, it better be worth it...worth it meaning, a delicious result.  Raspberries and strawberries are best in early Summer in the northeast, so I decided to make one of my favorite desserts, Red Berry Galette’s featuring, you guessed it, raspberries and strawberries.  Ok, what is a galette, well its the french term that refers to a round crusty cake and sometimes with uneven edges. 

Making pastry dough seems like a difficult task, but once you know how easy it is, you’ll never again reach for the pre-made, frozen alternative.  One cup of flour, a pinch of salt and 7 tablespoons of butter pulsed in the food processor and you have your basic pastry dough.

Once you have your dough, the sky is the limit with what you can make.  A pie, a tart or in this case, a galette. For the galette, the dough gets cut into 6 even pieces and then each piece gets rolled out to a less than perfect circle.  A spoonful of raspberries and strawberries that have been coated with sugar and lemon juice and sprinkled with cinnamon go into the center of the almost circle and finally, the edges of the dough get folded into the center.  Bake it and you have a Red Berry Galette. 

When they come out of the oven, your faced with some tough decisions.  You could let them cool and eat them at room temp, but how about a scoop of vanilla ice cream melting on top of the hot berries or even a dollop of fresh whipped cream?  All acceptable choices! 

The science of baking is worth it in the case of these sweet and tart round, crusty cakes.  

Ingredients

For pastry dough:
1 cup flour
7 tablespoons butter (cold)
3 tablespoons cold water

For filling:
2 cups raspberries (whole)
1 cup strawberries (medium diced)
1/3 cup sugar (raw or bakers sugar is the best)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup of cream

Instructions

Some people are afraid to make their own pastry dough.  But it is so simple and SO much better than store bought.  There are a few secrets that make it really easy…and once I show you, you’ll want to make it homemade every time!

For dough:
1. Add flour & salt into a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
2. Add butter to the processor and  pulse about 10 times or until your butter has been incorporated into the flour.  The butter will look like little peas in the flour.  Don’t over pulse your dough…it will make it tough.
3. Slowly add water and pulse until dough comes together.  It will have a moist crumbly consistency.
4. Remove from food processor and knead on a floured surface.  Wrap in plastic and place it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Note: You want it cold because when the cold butter hits the hot oven it causes pockets of steam making your dough flaky.

For filling:
1. In  a medium mixing bowl add strawberries and raspberries.
2. Add 3 Tablespoons of sugar and 1 Tablespoon of flour and stir coating the fruit.
3. The sugar will help caramelize the fruit.

Putting it all together:
1. Remove dough from refrigerator.
2. Cut dough into pieces and roll out dough on a floured surface to be about the size of a slice of bread….uneven edges are fine!
3. Fill with a spoonful of fruit and wrap edges up and to the center.
4. Brush on cream and sprinkle with raw sugar. Tips:  Raw sugar has a nice crispy crunch to it…perfect for a dessert like this! The cream will promote browning.
5. Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees F. or until golden brown.

Use a double pan to avoid bottoms from getting too dark. 

Recipe courtesy of Gina Weishaupt, Gina’s Everyday Gourmet, Boxford Cable TV, www.boxfordcabletv.com, 2011.

Gina Weishaupt is the host of Gina?s Everyday Gourmet cooking show that airs on Boxford Community TV and other Comcast local access channels in Essex County.
Gina is a self taught cook who gained her inspiration and love for cooking from watching her grandmothers and mother in the kitchen throughout her childhood. She has been through numerous cooking programs across the country including training at The Culinary Institute of America?s California campus in the heart of Napa Valley wine country. While at the The CIA, Gina spent time training with Chef John Ash, who is very well known and revered in the culinary world.
Although professionally, Gina is a Business Consultant with a background in corporate sales and marketing, her passion is spending time taping her shows, cooking and entertaining for family and friends. She also spends a significant amount of time traveling to places near and far from which she can gain new culinary knowledge and inspiration.
Gina resides in Boxford, Ma with her husband Frank and her West Highland Terrier, Rudy.