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I admire a well-made fruit pie, but so often, it just feels like too much fussy work. All that chilling and crimping and lattice-weaving. Which is why I find the galette so freeing as a dessert form.

This strawberry galette has all the good parts of a pie—flaky crust, sweetly relaxed fruit—with minimal hassle.

And its uneven, free-form crust only adds to its charms.

It’s a dessert that, even in complicated times, feels doable.

I use my favorite flaky all-butter pie crust for this galette. It’s loosely adapted from techniques I learned from Stella Parks in her excellent Bravetart (a great book to have in your baking arsenal).

This crust so simple to make. It’s a dream to roll out.

And unlike many of the other iffy pie crusts I’ve made in my time (many of which involved things like freezing butter or hauling out the food processor or adding vinegar or vodka), it just works.

The galette is a particularly great format for showing off strawberries.

The open top allows for some of the strawberries’ juices to evaporate, which makes for a more concentrated strawberry flavor.

I mean, I love the sweet-tart juicy mush at the bottom of a strawberry rhubarb crisp, but the strawberries in this get just a tiny bit dehydrated and more intensely themselves, showing off a subtly bolder side of the lovely red fruit.

Like with my blueberry galette and my cherry galette, the fruit gets tossed with a bit of sugar, tapioca starch, and lemon juice for sweetness, thickening, and acidity respectively.

Tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour) makes for a smoother set than corn starch, so I tend to prefer it as a thickener for fruit desserts. (If you’re going to substitute corn starch because that’s what you have around, use half the amount.)

I like to add just a little bit of five-spice powder, which is a sort of sleeper baking spice with its cinnamon, fennel, cloves, star anise, and white pepper.

The particular blend of spices in it plays nicely with the strawberries, but it’s roll here is just to add some subtle depth. You could always leave it out if you don’t have it or it’s not your thing.

(Or you could do what I do in these strawberry crumb bars and add a pinch of coriander instead.)

The strawberry mixture gets piled in the center of the rolled-out dough, and then the sides get folded up around to hold it in.

Then the dough gets brushed with egg wash to give it extra shine.

Then it goes into the oven where the it turns golden and flaky and the strawberries relax into themselves. Don’t worry if some of the juices leak out the sides. It’ll be fine.

That’s the beauty of a galette. It’s a glorious mess of a dessert, perfect for messy times.

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Yield: 8 servings

Strawberry Galette

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This strawberry galette is a rustic free-form pie.

The crust has a higher ratio of butter to flour than many pie crusts, which makes it extra flaky. This recipe works best with American butter and not higher fat European butters.

Tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour) makes a filling with a smoother consistency than cornstarch, which is why I call for it here. You can find it with the alternative flours in most grocery stores. If you need to substitute cornstarch, use half the amount.

The strawberries get slightly dehydrated in the baking process, which concentrates their flavor in a delightful way.

I like to use a pinch of five spice powder in this, which just brings in a subtle whisper of spice to the galette. It's totally optional.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Additional Time 2 hours

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 3 hours

Ingredients

Galette dough

• 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cold from the fridge
• 1/4 cup water

Strawberry filling

• 3 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced about 1/4-inch thick
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon five spice powder (optional)

Egg wash

• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

1. Make the galette dough. Add the flour, sugar, and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk together.
2. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes, add to the mixing bowl, and toss with the flour mixture to coat.
3. With your fingers, smash each butter cube flat.
4. Add the water and stir with a spoon or silicone spatula to mix. Continue kneading the mixture with your hands to work in the rest of the flour.
5. Generously flour a clean flat surface (like a counter or marble slab) and coat your rolling pin with flour and roll the dough out into a circle about 14-inches in diameter. (If you're working in a very warm kitchen and the butter gets really soft and starts sticking to your rolling pin, stick the dough in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes and try again.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and transfer the circle of dough onto the parchment and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 1 day.
7. Make the filling. Toss the strawberries with sugar, tapioca starch, lemon juice, and five spice powder (if using).
8. When you're ready to bake the galette, preheat oven to 400°F. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and place the strawberry filling in the center of the crust, leaving a border about 3-inches wide around the edges.
9. Carefully fold up the edges of the dough to hold in the strawberry filling. The filling is juicy, so work quickly. It's supposed to look rustic, so don't worry about making it perfect.
10. Whisk together an egg and 1 tablespoon water to make an egg wash and brush the top of the crust with the egg wash. This will give the crust a nice sheen and help to seal the folds together.
11. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling, about 40 minutes.
12. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing and eating (with or without a scoop of vanilla ice cream along side).

Notes

Best the day it's made. Keeps at room temperature for about 2 days.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Frontier Five Spice Powder, 1.92-Ounce Bottle
• 
  Escali Primo Digital Kitchen Scale (11 lb/ 5 kg Capacity) (0.05 oz/ 1 g Increment) Premium Food Scale for Baking, Cooking and Mail
• 
  Baking Parchment Paper - Set of 100 Half-Sheets
• 
  Set of 2 Pastry Brushes, 1-Inch and 1 1/2-Inch Width Natural Boar Bristle Pastry Brushes, Lacquered Hardwood Basting Brushes, Cooking / Baking Brushes
• 
  Bob's Red Mill Bob's Red Mill Finely Ground Tapioca Flour, 20-ounce,
• 
  Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Commercial Baker's Half Sheet (2 Pack), Silver

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 162Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 149mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 2gSugar: 17gProtein: 3g