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This cherry galette is the “oh, I just threw this on and somehow accidentally look fabulous” in the wardrobe of cherry desserts.

Unlike classic cherry pie topped with intricate lattice work, a galette is casual and almost effortlessly chic.

And, OMG, it’s delicious.

The pie dough is the same one I use in this blueberry galette and this strawberry galette.

It’s an all-butter affair that’s incredibly flaky.

And even better, it’s so easy to make.

You simply smash cubes of cold butter in with the flour (and a pinch of salt and sugar that helps enhance browning), stir in some water, and then knead the dough together a few times.

Then you roll it out right away, before chilling it, while the dough is still soft and pliable.

You’ll want to be generous with flouring your counter (or whatever surface you’re working on) and your rolling pin, because there’s so much butter in this dough that it can get a little sticky.

But if you’re working in a hot kitchen and the butter starts to melt, you’ll want to stick the dough in the fridge (or even the freezer) for about ten minutes to firm things up enough.

When the dough is the right temperature, it’s a dream to work with.

Then you lay it on a parchment lined baking sheet and let it hang out in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

While the dough is chilling, you can wash and pit your cherries and remove and stems or leaves that may still be attached.

This is the worst part of the process, and honestly, it’s not that bad.

There are a few techniques you can use for pitting cherries.

You can, of course, use a cherry pitter, which is a relatively small and inexpensive tool to keep around if you bake with cherries frequently.

Or you can go the quick-and-messy route where you squeeze each cherry between your fingers until the pit pops out. This will mangle the cherries a bit and will send bits of cherry juice spattering (so wear an apron) but gets the job done without any special equipment.

But, my favorite technique comes from Rose Levy Beranbaum (she of the famous Pie and Pastry Bible, among other canonical baking books) who recommends using the rounded end of a large hairpin stuck into a cork to dig the pits out of the cherries while leaving the fruit mostly intact.

And don’t be too quick to toss the cherry pits! They have great bitter almond flavor and if you save them you can use them in orgeat or cherry pit whipped cream.

The pitted cherries get tossed with a bit of sugar, some tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour) for thickening, and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.

And then give everything a good stir.

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Then you pull the chilled dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up for a few minutes while you let the oven preheat.

And then you mound the cherries up in the middle of the rolled out dough and fold the sides up over each other.

If the dough cracks when you bend it, it’s still a little too cold—let it warm up for a few minutes more and try again.

You can be casual about the folding. I like the imperfect, rustic look of a galette.

Do try to pinch up any cracks around the edges. But also be aware that some leakage is probably inevitable (don’t fight it too hard).

Then there’s a simple matter of brushing the top of the crust with a little bit of beaten egg.

The egg wash helps to give the crust a nice golden sheen and also helps to seal up the layers.

(It’s a good idea to brush between any overlapping layers of dough to help hold them together.)

Then it’s just a matter of popping your galette into the oven and letting it crisp and brown and bubble.

Yeah, that’s about it.

Then you just need to slice and devour it, preferably with a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside it.