This summer I have been out in the big beautiful state of Colorado. In my mind, Summer coincides with farmers markets… and farmers markets mean fresh fruits and vegetables. This dessert is the most wonderful way to use some of those yummy strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, peaches… etc, that you find in farmers markets. It is a fresh fruit galette or a rustic tart, whichever you think sounds more impressive haha.
This is basically a fruit pie with a freeform crust. It can be savory or sweet. With this one, I used a basic pie crust recipe and filled it with fresh strawberries and blackberries that I soaked in pure vanilla and agave nectar.
I will not lie to you, homemade pie crust intimidates me. With all the careful preparation to make the crust light and flaky, it can be a tricky thing. Yet, I have good news. This crust is now my go-to pie crust recipe. It is so simple and has been delicious every time I make this dessert (and yes is very light and flaky)!
**I will tell you another trick for this galette. After I flatten the dough into a circle, I sprinkle crushed up cookie crumbs into the center, leaving about a 3inch border. You can use any kind of soft buttery vanilla cookie. I used Pepperidge Farm Chessmen Cookies that I crushed in a bag until they were fine crumbs. By putting the crushed cookies in the center of the crust, this helps the juice from the fruit not to seep into the bottom of the crust and out onto the pan. It works wonderfully and adds a nice crunch to the crust. The next step is to simply place the fruit on top of your cookie crumbs.
Simple Fruit Gallette
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Dough:
2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, just softened, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
6-7 tablespoons chilled water
Filling:
1 small box of fresh strawberries, washed and halved
1 small box of fresh blackberries
agave nectar (to taste) or white sugar
vanilla (to taste)
**crushed cookie crumbs (any kind of buttery vanilla cookie will do)
COMBINE strawberries, blackberries, agave nectar (or sugar) and vanilla in a small bowl. You will have to simply test the fruit to see how sweet you want it. Let the fruit soak in the fridge while preparing the crust.
MIX flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl; add 2 tablespoons of the butter. Blend in a mixer until dough resembles coarse cornmeal. Add remaining butter; mix until biggest pieces look like large peas.
DRIBBLE in water, stir, then dribble in more, until dough just holds together. Toss with hands, letting it fall through fingers, until it’s ropy with some dry patches. If dry patches predominate, add another tablespoon water. Keep tossing until you can roll dough into a ball. Flatten into a 4-inch-thick disk; refrigerate. After at least 30 minutes, remove; let soften so it’s malleable but still cold. Smooth cracks at edges. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 14-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Dust excess flour from both sides with a dry pastry brush.
PLACE dough in a lightly greased 9-inch round tart pan, or simply on a greased baking sheet if you wish to go free-form, or galette-style with it. Heat oven to 400#176;F. (If you have a pizza stone, place it in the center of the rack.)
SPRINKLE the cookie crumbs into the center of the dough, leaving a 3inch border around the crust. Then place the sweetened fruit in the center of the gallette. Wrap the crust around the fruit, overlapping the edges and leaving the top exposed.
BRUSH the crust with melted butter and sprinkle the entire gallette with white sugar.
BAKE in center of oven until the crust has caramelized to a golden brown (about 45 minutes), making sure to rotate tart every 15 minutes.
honeycrisp 
