Cherry Galette with Almond Buttermilk Crust for the Dessert Plate

Cherry Galette with Almond Buttermilk Crust for the Dessert Plate keeps the shopping list focused on granulated sugar divided, cornstarch, and sweet cherries pitted. It serves 12 people.

Count on 30 minutes of prep, 35 minutes of cooking, 30 minutes of resting, about 1 hour from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

For the Cherry Filling

• ¼ cup granulated sugar divided
• 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
• 3 ½ cups sweet cherries pitted
• ½ teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or less if you want a less lemony taste

For the Almond Buttermilk Crust

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cups almond meal
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cups cold unsalted butter, cubed
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 ½ tablespoons heavy whipping cream or egg wash
• Turbinado sugar for sprinkling

How the cooking goes

To Prepare the Crust

1. Cube your butter, re-wrap in the wrapper, and place in freezer. This is probably a bit much but This kitchen is a touch superstitious about the pastries. Everything has to be done “just so” because you want them to be perfect. No more of this!
2. Stir flour, almond meal, sugar and salt together in a medium mixing bowl.
3. Put the butter cubes to the flour and cut in the butter using a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles course crumbs.
4. Slowly drizzle the buttermilk over the dough a little at a time and toss gently with a fork until the dough holds together. You can add up to an additional tablespoon of buttermilk if you need to. The dough should not be “wet”.
5. Form the dough into a ball (or two!) and gently flatten into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or a plastic baggie and place in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
6. Heat the oven to 400F.

Prepare the Filling

1. Pit your cherries. [you read in Fine Cooking that you can use a straw, but this has yet to work for me. You use a potato peeler for the ones This kitchen is leaving whole and then on all the rest you slice around the middle with a paring knife, twist apart the halves, and then dig out the pit with the fingernail or the potato peeler. You really should just get a cherry pitter. ]Halve all but 1 cup of the pitted cherries.
2. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar to the cherries and toss to coat evenly.

Assembling the Cherry Galettes

1. Take your dough out of the freezer and let it rest at ambient temperature if it is too hard (like, if you decided to go to the gym and left it in the freezer for more then 20 minutes.).
2. Line your flat sheet pan with baking paper.
3. Roll out your dough until it is just shy of ¼ inch thick, paying little attention to the jagged edges or cracks. Think of these things as giving your galette character!
4. Roll the dough over your rolling pin and unroll it on the baking paper.
5. Stir the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of sugar together with a whisk and spread on the dough, leaving a 2-inch border.
6. Unceremoniously dump the filling into the center of the dough and spread gently, mounding slightly in the middle and leaving a 2-inch border.
7. Turn dough border over cherries, pressing gently to seal the edges. Overlap decoratively.
8. Brush the exposed crust with heavy whipping cream then then generously sprinkle cherries and crust with turbinado sugar.
9. Oven-bake in pre-heated oven at 400F for ~35-40 minutes or until the crust is a deep gold.
10. Allow it to cool on the cookie sheet at least 20 minutes before serving.
11. Serve with vanilla ice cream!

After it comes off the heat

Let the pan settle before you slice, so the crumb stays together. Cover leftovers once they are cool.

If you want another plate from Pies and tarts, open Fruit Tart in a Pastry Shell and Cranberry Orange Pear Pie in a Pastry Shell.