Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and can fully enjoy their three day weekend!
It's another holiday in quarantine, which means when I would normally be going to my uncle's house to enjoy a day of poolside relaxing, hot grilled food, and tons of family time, I will be staying at my house with my mom, sister, and brother-in-law. It feels different, but different doesn't have to be bad!
To celebrate our mini Memorial Day, my family is going to be enjoying a delicious and bright pesto pasta salad (recipe to come later!) and of course, there has to be dessert! This summer berry galette is sure to be a favorite at whatever holiday dinner you have coming up!
What's a galette? It's essentially a flat pie that wraps around itself. I typically only see and make sweet galettes but I have heard of savory galettes using vegetables and/or potatoes! I could imagine delicious flaky pie dough with salty potatoes would be pretty fantastic!
But today, we're talking about sweet galettes, my personal favorite! There's a couple of reasons why galettes hold a special place in my heart. 1) they're so easy to make, whether you make your own pie dough or you buy it frozen, it's pretty much just filling the crust with fruit and baking it! No fancy crimping required and you have a delicious pie in 35 minutes! 2) You can change it up however you want to! You don't like strawberries? Don't add them! You'd rather only make a cherry pie? Only use cherries! Do you like a sweeter fruit pie? Add more sugar! You can add or take-away whatever you'd like to this pie and I promise you, it will still be good! 3) Galettes are supposed to look rustic and simple, which means there's no pressure whatsoever when you make them! Just fold up the sides and you're good to go! If it leaks in the oven, call it rustic, which is true, and no one questions any little kitchen accidents that may or may not happen!
I used frozen berries that I brought to room temperature! However, you can use fresh berries if you'd prefer! I would add a little less corn starch, about 1 tablespoon if you do use fresh berries. Cornstarch is used to thicken the juices at the bottom of the pie and sometimes frozen berries can let off a lot of extra juices and water so they need more cornstarch to really thicken up in the oven! Also, if you feel like your berries are sweeter, only add a ⅓ cup of sugar! My frozen berries were a little tart so I added ½ cup of sugar! But this is when you get to customize your own pie!
Ingredients:
1 roll frozen pie crust, thawed
1 12 ounce bag of frozen berries, or about 2 cups, thawed
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
⅓-1/2 cup of sugar
Zest and juice of half a lemon
½ teaspoon of vanilla
1 egg
2 tablespoons of sugar, for sprinkling on top
Begin by preheating the oven to 375. In a bowl, mix the berries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and juice, and the vanilla! Set aside. Roll out the frozen pie crust and place the berries in the middle. I use a large slotted spoon to gently scoop the berries into the middle of the crust, leaving about 1 ½ inch to 2 inches of extra pie crust on the edges. You don't want to pour the berries into the middle because you don't want all of those extra juices. Those extra juices will lead to a soggy pie and no one wants that. Once all the berries are in the middle, take the extra pie crust and fold on top of the berries. Work your way around the edges of the crust, gently folding on top of the berries and slightly overlapping the edges! Crack an egg in a small bowl with a splash of water and mix together. Brush the egg wash over the edges of the crust and then sprinkle sugar all over the crust. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 35 minutes! The crust will be golden brown and super flaky!
Once the pie is done, I used a small spoon to spoon some of the liquid of the pie over the berries on the very top to help them get their shine back after baking for so long!
Let the pie cool for about 30-45 minutes! I know this seems like forever, but it's really important for the juices to set, otherwise, you could have a very berry mess on your hands.
Top with powdered sugar, whipped cream, ice cream, or a combination of all three. Hey, it is a holiday after all!
I love looking at these little slices of pie! It feels like you could almost pick it up like a slice of pizza. Except it's sweet, full of berries, and flakey pie crust, which makes it even better than pizza!
I hope this sweet pie brings you joy however you're spending this Memorial Day! Have a wonderful holiday, and stay safe!
-Holly Michelle
Leave a Reply