Dark & Sweet Cherry Galette

To me, cherries are one of those fruits that I’ve never loved. The flavor is amazing when it's peak cherry

season but the amount of labor of having to spit out and pay attention to not swallow a cherry pit is enough

to dissuade me from reaching for a bag of fresh cherries. Truly laziness at its finest, I know. 

I’m aware there is a cherry pitter for this exact reason but living in NYC, my kitchen real estate is prime and

has no space for another single use kitchen utensil. Frozen cherries, on the other hand, are stemmed and

pitted for you and ready to go in a moments notice. They might not be as delicious as fresh cherries but I'll

live. Plus, I'll add a little bit of sugar and lemon juice to amp it up. Place those amped up cherries and its

juices right in the center of a freshly made pie dough, fold it up onto itself, bake it and you’ve got yourself

the lazy person's pie. My favorite!

Even though no effort went into making it, flavor is definitely not lacking. Lemon juice and lemon zest really

do give those frozen cherries a nice zing, a quick egg wash on the inside of the pie dough ensure for a crispy

galette crust and everything bakes in a 400 degree oven turning the cherry juice into a jammy like consistency

while the cherries themselves hold up in the oven and the pie crust brown to perfection. 

Dark & Sweet Cherry Galette 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of flour, preferably pastry flour 

• 1 tablespoon of sugar 

• ½ teaspoon of salt 

• 1 stick of unsalted butter, cold & cubed

• 4 - 5 tablespoons of cold water 

• 1 pound of frozen pitted cherries, make sure they are thawed & drained 

• 2 tablespoons of flour 

• 2 tablespoons of sugar 

• Zest of 1 lemon, plus 1 tbsp of lemon juice

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1 tablespoon of demerara sugar

• Extra fresh fruit like raspberries & blueberries, optional

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

2. In a food processor pulse together 2 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar, ½ teaspoon of salt, and 1 stick of cold and cubed butter until half of your butter has been incorporated into the flour. You still want to see some large chunks of butter so don't over pulse it. 

3. Next, add in 4 tablespoons of water and then pulse until it comes together to a sandy like mixture. Dump out the dough mixture and shape it into a flat round disc. Wrap it in some plastic wrap and place it into the fridge for 20 - 30 minutes so the flour has time to absorb some moisture. 

4. In the meantime we can work on the cherry filling. In a bowl, combine 1 pound of thawed and drained cherries, 2 tablespoons of flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, the zest of 1 lemon, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix everything together and make sure there are no dry bits of flour in your bowl. 

5. Once the 20 - 30 minutes are up, flour your work surface with some flour and roll your dough out into a 10 inch circle. Transfer your rolled out dough to your prepared baking tray. Using a pastry brush, brush the dough with some of your egg wash. This will act as a barrier between the cherries and the dough. 

6. Next, in the center of your dough pile on all your cherries and any of its juices. Carefully fold and overlap the dough over the cherries. Brush more of your egg wash on the top of the dough and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of demerara sugar. 

7.  Bake for 50 minutes or until the cherry juices are bubbling and the crust is golden brown. Serve warm with freshly whipped cream and some extra fruit like raspberries and blueberries if you have any on hand.