A few weeks ago we went on an epic day long antique adventure. More time was spent in the car driving to a town in rural Ohio than was spent oogling and drooling over the early 19th century treasures on display. I was on the hunt for a small painted cupboard, but instead came home with a painted dough box as well as some pewter plates and bowls. In spite of not finding the cupboard (not to worry I found one at a favorite antique shop in Indiana), it turned out to be a good day for acquiring beautiful old things. Definitely worth being in the car for the ten hour round trip excursion as well seeing the end to the eighteen month antique show hiatus. While I sometimes forget all of the things on my 'mental' grocery store list, I can still remember (at least 95% of the time) when and where I bought the antiques collected over the last thirty something years. I also remember many of the things I 'passed on' for a myriad of reasons. Although I wish I could erase those things still haunting my memory! Especially a certain cupboard painted in an early blue. Just as much as I love collecting 'things' I love creating recipes destined to be collected. Particularly the timeless ones leaving a permanent imprint on one's senses. Like this swoonworthy Strawberry Rhubarb Galette for example.
This Strawberry Rhubarb Galette brings my collection of galettes recipes to six. In joining the Blueberry Thyme Galette, Apple Galette, Blueberry Pecan Galette, Rustic Peach Galette, and Pear and Honeyed Goat Cheese Galette recipes, my love and affinity for the less refined, more rustic version of a fruit filled pie is further affirmed. There is something rather appealing about an odd shaped, sometimes even messy galette. With the same, maybe even better, buttery, flaky crust and luscious fruit filling, the galette has all of the deliciousness of a pie without as much of the work. When given the choice between making and serving a pie or a galette, the galette would prevail 99.9% of the time. And now with the abundance of fruits and berries being freshly harvested from farms, it could not be a more perfect time to be making galettes.
With the exception of the dough used in the making of the Pear and Honeyed Goat Cheese Galette, the dough for this Strawberry Rhubarb Galette may be my newest favorite. Not only is it really, really good, it creates the most tender, flaky, buttery, yet light crust to compliment the roasted fruit filling. And, if that wasn't enough to entice you, then let me tell you it may be the one of easiest doughs to roll out.
A few weeks back one of my friends generously gave me enough rhubarb to last me for months. While I cut up and froze the majority of it to use in making compotes and sauces in the months ahead, I kept some of the stalks in my refrigerator to use in making spoon cakes, muffins, and galettes. Unlike other 'pie' recipes using rhubarb, this galette calls for cutting it into 'thin', slightly less than 1/4" thick slices. With a baking time of somewhere between 30-35 minutes, the rhubarb needs to be thinly cut so it can soften and sweeten up in the oven. Depending on the size of the strawberries, they will each be cut into 3 or 4 slices (or just slightly larger than 1/4" thickness). The slices of the less dense, more moisture filled strawberries need to be slightly thicker than the rhubarb as they will break down quicker in the 400 degree (F) oven. The amount of sugar used in the filling depends somewhat on the ripeness of your fruit. For less ripe strawberries you will use a little more sugar than the one-half cup recommended in the recipe below. Lemon zest and lemon juice serve to not only brighten the flavor of the strawberries and rhubarb, but they add the perfect amount of tartness to the filling. Cornstarch will help to bind the juices being released from the fruit during the baking process. However, if you don't have cornstarch, use all-purpose flour.
Because this galette doesn't require you to laboriously lay out the fruit in a fancy, intricate design on the dough, all of the filling ingredients get mixed together in a large bowl. Being able to simply spoon the mixed fruit filling over the dough couldn't be more fun or easier.
Be sure to leave a border of 2" to 3" of dough when assembling the galette as you will need to bring up the sides of the dough to hem the fruit filling in. When bringing the dough over the fruit filling, make certain to press the edges together to help keep all of the baked filling from oozing out of the dough. Do not worry too much if some of it oozes out during the baking process (it will). It just adds to the rusticness of the finished galette. For an even more golden, sweeter crust, brush the dough with an egg wash and then liberally sprinkle with some sanding sugar of turbinado sugar (not regular granulated sugar).
The galette bakes for 35-40 minutes in a preheated 400 degree (F) oven. Once baked, transfer the galette (still on the parchment paper) to a cooling rack for at least twenty minutes before serving. The Strawberry Rhubarb Galette is delicious served either warm or at room temperature. If making it for a gathering, I would recommend not baking the galette up more than two hours before you intend on serving it.
I love serving the parchment paper lined galette on a large antique cutting board. But any large cutting board would do. If you want to gussy your galette up a bit, transfer the galette to a beautiful platter. Definitely serve the Strawberry Rhubarb Galette with some vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped lightly sweetened heavy cream makes for the most perfect finishing touch. And last but certainly not least, add this recipe to your galette recipe collection. If, by chance you haven't yet started acquiring them, well today is your lucky day. Because this recipe is what I would call a 'find'!
Recipe
Strawberry Rhubarb Galette
Serves 8
Ingredients
Dough
1 1/4 cups (165g) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1/4 cup (60g) sour cream
3-4 Tablespoons ice cold water
1 large egg
1 teaspoon water or milk
Sparkling or Turbinado sugar
Galette
1 quart (1.5 pounds/682g) fresh strawberries, stemmed, cut into thirds or quarters depending on size
8 ounces (237g) or about 2 large stalks fresh rhubarb, cut into an almost 1/4" thickness
1/2 cup (100g) sugar (but can use up to 3/4 cup of sugar)
3 Tablespoons cornstarch (or all-purpose flour)
Zest for one half of a lemon
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Serving suggestions: Vanilla ice cream and/or freshly whipped, lightly sweetened whipped cream
Directions
Dough
1. In the bowl of a food processor, add in the flour, salt and sugar. Pulse just to blend.
2. Add in the butter and pulse until butter is smaller than pea sized.
3. Add in the sour cream and 2 Tablespoon of ice cold water. Pulse to blend. If dough does not come together and pull away from the sides add water 1 Tablespoon at a time.
4. Remove dough from bowl. Form into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Let chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour and up to two hours. Note: My dough was ready to roll out after an hour.
Galette
1. In a large bowl combine the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and lemon juice.
Assembly
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a roundish shape approximately 14" in diameter and about 1/8" to almost 1/4" thickness.
3. Transfer the rolled out dough to the baking sheet.
4. Spoon the strawberry rhubarb mixture onto the dough leaving a 2"-3" border. Fold and lightly pinch the edges of the dough over the fruit (top will be open with mounds of fruit).
5. Whisk together the egg and water (or milk). Brush on the dough. Generously sprinkle the dough with some sparkling or turbinado sugar.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the dough is golden and the juices from the fruit are bubbling. Note: If you didn't crimp your dough well or if you have a hole in your dough, you will get some leakage. But don't worry.
7. Remove the galette from the oven, transfer to a wire rack and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before serving.
8. The galette can be served warm or at room temperature. Serve with some vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream.
9. If you have any leftovers, cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. To take the chill off the refrigerated galette, reheat slices in the microwave or enjoy cold.
Notes: (1) Depending on the ripeness and sweetness of your fruit you may need to add more than 1/2 cup granulated sugar to the filling. You can go up to using 3/4 cup of sugar or just add 1-2 additional Tablespoons. (2) Instead of one large galette, divide the dough into thirds before forming into disks, wrapping in plastic wrap and chilling, to make mini-galettes. Baking time will still be somewhere around the 35 minute mark. (3) Do not use regular sugar to finish the dough before putting in the oven as it has a lower melting point than sparkling or turbinado sugar. (4) You can keep galette leftovers in the refrigerator for several days.
