Galette Recipe #1: Blueberry Mini Galettes with Lemon Curd

Last week’s classes were baking – both sweet and savory. By far my favorite treat of both was a blueberry galette (a pie, only more “rustic"), which I'm sharing the recipe for below. Our version macerated (marinating in acid and spices until the fruit breaks down) blueberries, tucked them into free form crusts to form individual mini pies, and baked until bubbly. As a counter to the sweet berries, we dolloped lemon curd on top. My mom, who loves all things tart and curdy (and once embarrassed me thoroughly during a nice mother's day brunch at the Ritz by asking for more "lemon turd please"), would have loved the full combination. The end result was an extremely flavorful interplay of sweet gooey filling, crispy crust and tangy citrus. And it was reasonably healthy for a dessert, since there was no refined sugar. So yes, you can have your pie and eat it too. Just don't have my mom order it for you at a restaurant.

Blueberry Mini Galettes with Lemon Curd

Galettes can be filled with seasonal fruit and served for dessert, or they can also be made savory and stuffed with vegetables. This recipe uses spelt flour instead refined white flour for the pastry crust. The combination of blueberry and lemon is perfect for early Spring, when both are in season. It would still be very good by itself if you don't want to go to the trouble of making the curd, or topped with ice cream instead.

Ingredients

CRUST
4 cups spelt flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs unrefined cane sugar, sucanat (1:1 substitution for regular sugar)
2 ½ sticks butter, cold, cut into pieces
⅔ to 1 cup ice water, as needed

FILLING
4 ½ cups fresh blueberries
3 Tbs arrowroot
1 ½ Tbs lemon zest
1 ½ Tbs fresh lemon juice
¾ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

LEMON CURD
5 large egg yolks
1 large egg
½ cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs lemon zest
⅓ cup honey
4 Tbs butter, cut into pieces

Procedure

1 Preheat the oven to 400.
2 DOUGH: Mix together the flour, salt, and sugar together in a bowl. Cut in the butter by hand, leaving some pea-sized chunks. Sprinkle the ice water over the top by the tablespoon and toss it with the flour mixture until you can bring the dough together into a ball. Press it into a disk and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
3 FILLING: While the dough is in the refrigerator, prepare the filling. Mix together the blueberries, arrowroot, lemon zest and juice, cinnamon, salt, honey, and vanilla. Taste and adjust sweetness and lemon flavor as desired.
4 ASSEMBLY: remove the dough from the refrigerator and break into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a circle about ⅛ inch thick. Transfer onto large parchment lined sheet pans. Add some fruit mixture to the center of the circle and spread, leaving a border 2 to 4 inches wide. Fold the edges of the dough over the fruit, overlapping as you go. Depending on how much of an edge you have left, the galette will be partially or completely covered.
5 Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.
6 LEMON CURD: In a stainless steel bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg, lemon juice, and honey.
7 Place the bowl on top of a pot of simmering water and whisk constantly until pale and thickened, 7 to 10 minutes.
8 Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and lemon zest. Let cool to room temperature.
9 TO SERVE: Put a dollop of the lemon curd on top of each galette.

Servings: 12 - 14 mini pies, or 1 large one
Source: Bauman College