Happy July! Have you already made plans for celebrating the 4th of July? Wherever and whoever you spend the holiday with I hope it's fun filled. This year we will be joining my sister and her family for a few days at the resort in Michigan my brother-in-law's family has been staying at for more than fifty years. This 4th of July week tradition is so treasured in this family I have every reason to believe my niece and nephew will continue it when they have families of their own someday.
On my way back home at the end of week I will be making numerous stops at the farm stands and fruit farms to bring home some freshly picked berries. Raspberries, blackberries, and especially blueberries are the three things on the top of my must-bring home 'souvenirs'.
Because we are binging on blueberries here. And this is one heck of a bing worthy blueberry galette. One comprised of a dough made with vodka, a cream cheese layer hiding under luscious berries, and fresh thyme mixed in with the blueberries requires more than a dozen adjectives to describe it. And even that may not be enough do it justice. So I will simply say, with a high degree of certainty and a little less humility, this Blueberry Thyme Galette may be one of the BEST galettes I have ever made.
A galette is a free form French pastry similar in concept to a pie or a tart. Neither fancy nor homey, a galette instead has a more rustic appearance. With homemade dough rolled out and draped over the filling, it is a forgiving pastry. Yet, there is an understated beauty in its' simplicity. Rather than make the rustic version of this Blueberry Thyme Galette, I decided to give it a bit of a tart-like, patriotic look.
The cream cheese layer in this galette is pure genius. Hidden underneath a layer of berries tossed in lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, cornstarch, and fresh thyme leaves, it adds..... But let me talk about the blueberry mixture for a second. The addition of fresh thyme leaves adds an incredible flavor dimension to the galette. If you are at all considering omitting them, please don't. Honestly, blueberries and thyme leaves are a match made in heaven.
The supple, easy to roll out dough for this galette....well, let's just say I may never, ever, not in my lifetime use another dough recipe again. From it's unbaked to baked texture to its rich, buttery flavor, this dough (aka pate brisee) is nothing short of pastry perfection. The use of European butter (because higher fat content is always better in pastry) and ice cold vodka (don't we all keep our vodka in the freezer?) are two of its' essential ingredients. Even in this extremely hot weather, this dough rolled out beautifully after resting in the refrigerator for slightly less than an hour. Once it was rolled out and shaped into the pastry ring, I returned it back to the refrigerator while I made the cream cheese mixture and blueberry filling.
This galette would be delicious without the cream cheese layer. But unless there wasn't any cream cheese in the house, I am not sure I could make this Blueberry Thyme Galette without it.
Slightly more than one pint of blueberries are used to make the filling. Instead of making it blueberries, you could use a mixture of blueberries and blackberries.
After giving the dough an egg wash and sprinkling with sanding sugar, the tart bakes in a preheated 450 degree (F) oven for 40-45 minutes (baking time might be slightly longer if made in a tart pan or pastry ring).
Serve this galette slightly warm or room temperature. It's equally delicious either way. Serving it with some vanilla ice cream isn't really necessary. But don't let me stop you.
As hot as the weather has been here lately, this Blueberry Thyme Galette was definitely worth turning on the oven for. If you are hosting or going to a gathering while blueberries are in season, put this galette at the top of your must make-bring desserts!
Blueberry Thyme Galette (filling for this galette was inspired by the Summer Blueberry Galette recipe in the July/August 2018 edition of Yankee Magazine)
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
Dough
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus flour for rolling out dough
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, very chilled or slightly frozen
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup ice cold vodka
1 egg and 2 Tablespoons water, cream, or milk (for crust)
2 Tablespoons Sanding Sugar or Demerara Sugar (for crust)
Filling
4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of sea salt
15 - 16 ounces fresh blueberries
1 1/2 Tablespoons of cornstarch (or all-purpose flour)
Zest of one lemon
Juice from half of a lemon
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
4-5 thyme sprigs, leaves removed and stems discarded
Vanilla Ice Cream, optional
Directions
Dough
1. Cut butter into 1/2 inch cubes. Freeze at least 30 minutes or overnight.
2. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse to blend.
3. Add in butter cubes one at a time. Briefly pulsing until butter is size of very small peas.
4. Pour the vodka through the feed tube in a steady stream while constantly pulsing until dough begins to come together. Note: Without over mixing if the dough is not coming together, add ice cold water one Tablespoon at a time.
5. Turn dough out a lightly floured surface. From into a round disk. (Note: Dough is slightly wet and more elastic than most recipes.)
6. Wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight. If dough is refrigerated overnight, remove and allow to sit out for 5-10 minutes before rolling.
7. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to an 1/8" thickness, working from the center outward. Roll to a 13" circle (if making a free form galette) or roll out to a 11" circle if placing in a 9" tart pan or pastry ring.
8. Place dough on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place in the refrigerator to allow the dough to slightly firm up while you are mixing the filling and berries. (Note: If making the galette in a tart pan or pastry ring, line with parchment paper before placing in the dough.)
Filling
1. Put the cream cheese in a medium sized mixed bowl. Beat briefly.
2. Add in the confectionary sugar, egg yolk, vanilla and pinch of sea salt. Blend on medium-high speed until smooth. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine the blueberries, cornstarch, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and thyme.
4. Pour and spread the cream cheese mixture into the center of the dough, leaving a 2" border at the edges if making a free form galette. Top the filling with the blueberry mixture.
5. Use your hands or a bench scraper to fold the edges of the pastry over the filling, folding and pleating the dough as needed. The free form galette will be approximately 9" across and look rustic.
6. Brush the dough with the milk/egg mixture. Sprinkle with coarse sanding sugar or demerara sugar.
7. Place in a preheated 400 degree (F) oven. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling, approximately 40-45 minutes. (Note: Baking time for the galette made in tart pan or pastry ring could be as long as 50 minutes.)
8. Let galette cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Can be served warm or at room temperature with or without vanilla ice cream.
Notes: (1) If you want your galette to look rustic, it might look like this one. (2) I made this galette using a 9" pastry ring. When placing the rolled out dough into the pan, I turned down the sides of the dough to create a more stable edge. There was just enough dough to make about a dozen small star cut-outs. (2) Instead of an egg and milk mixture for the pastry wash, I used an egg white and heavy cream. Thus my baked galette was not as 'dark' as I wanted it to be. Next time I will definitely use a whole egg and heavy cream, milk, and/or water mixture as the glaze to brush on the crust.
