Cherry Galette

With summer comes cherries, one of our favorites to munch on. Not just raw, but it tastes great in the cooked form too. This cherry galette remains as just a fade memory, because it hardly survived 2 hours after it came out of the oven. As if it was a competition, each one of us just didn't stop untill the last crumb was wiped off. Ufff, they were delicious. 

If you happen to be in a region where you can get hold of fresh cherries, it is a must try. A warm piece of galette is just perfect for tea time snack. The crisp edges and the melt in the mouth cherries are a joy to have. You should try it to know what you are missing out on. It is just heaven !

Ingredients

For the crust

1. 1 1/4 cup of flour
2. 1 1/2 tsp of sugar
3. 1/2 tsp of salt
4. 1 stick of cold butter, cubed
5. 5 tbsp of ice cold water 

For the cherry filling

1. 2 cups of cherry, pitted and cut into four parts
2. 1/4 cup of sugar
3. 2 tsp of corn starch

Method

• Strain the pitted cherries to remove any excess water content.
• Sift the all purpose flour. To it add the sugar and salt and give it a stir to distribute it evenly.
• Add the cubes of cold butter to the flour mixture. Mash the cubes of butter with a fork to incorporate it into the flour.
• Add 1 tbsp of cold water at a time, while you mix it into the flour. It will give you a crumbly dough which holds together when pinched. Wrap it in a cling wrap tightly and chill it for about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, add corn starch and sugar to the pitted cherries and mix it well.
• Once chilled, remove the dough from the cling wrap. Place it on a lightly floured surface and roll it out into about 12-13 inch disc. Keep lifting and rotating the dough to avoid sticking onto the surface.
• Transfer the rolled out disc of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Transfer the cherry mixture on to the center of dough. Spread the cherry mixture evenly leaving about 1 1/2 inch of dough as border. 
• Fold a part of the pastry border on to the cherry mixture. Fold adjacent portion of the pastry border overlapping the first fold. It will form a pleating. Continue doing the same all around the pastry sheet. 
• Preheat the oven to 400 F. 
• Brush the sides of the pastry sheet with some milk or egg wash and sprinkle some granulated sugar all over the pastry border. 
• Bake it in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes or untill the crust turns golden brown and the cherry mixture is bubbling and softened.
• Slice and serve warm with some icecream or have it, as is.

Tips

1. Make sure the pastry dough is chilled enough before you roll out. If you feel the dough is softened and sticking on the surface, chill it for another 10-15 minutes before you proceed rolling it out.
2. You could try using puff pastry dough instead the dough used in this recipe.