Alpine Berries & Peach Galette
Many thanks to my friend Natasha Romero for making this recipe happen by taking a thoughtful pause and suggesting that we bring back a gift for our significant others. The wild huckleberries and blueberries were found on a slope while scouting for alpine mule deer. Only the juiciest berries filled my Nalgene bottle, while the imperfect ones went into my mouth.
The galette is a lazy version of a pie or "I don't bake" kind of person's dessert. I managed to pull this pie dough together in 15 minutes. The filling could have been just berries, but the combo with peaches and lemon marry together to make a fruit-punch-scented filling. Let me know if you come up with other tasty mixtures.
A mixture of wild blueberry and huckleberry
HOT, HOT TIPS!
Asian-mom-level pro tip: Instead of buying a giant bag of demerara sugar, pocket a few packets of this chunky raw sugar from your nearest coffee shop.
Use good honey for the drizzle! It does make a difference. I used a local pure raw honey that was blueberry blossom flavoured by Golden Meadows Honey Farm. I was never a fan of the taste until I discovered how GREAT the real-deal stuff was.
Also, the vanilla ice cream is optional, but not really. It's ok if it's from a questionable 4 Liter bucket you got on sale.
Dough when it’s been dumped out of bowl, it’s suppose to be crumbly. It’s important to keep things dry and Do not over work the dough.
The pie dough is cracking and the circle isn’t perfect; that’s ok!
Alpine Berries & Peach Galette
Ingredients
Instructions
- Whisk together 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1/4 tsp salt in a large bowl. Add in the cold butter and mix until coated with flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter/blender to cut butter until more than half of the butter is pea-sized chunks. Using a spatula to fold the mixture, gradually add 1/2 tbsp of vodka and 4 tbsp of ice water until the mixture starts sticking together.
- Dump the loose dough on top of a floured surface and form a ball. Avoid using your hands which will melt the butter. Instead, use a rolling pin to roll the dough flat and a pastry scraper to fold the dough together. Do this about 4-5 times until things start sticking together, do not overwork the dough and add more ice water if needed. If it's still crumbly, that's ok! Shape it into a circle, wrap it in plastic, and place it in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes. The pie dough will soften and be less crumbly once it's relaxed.
- While the dough is resting, start on the filling! Add the sliced peach, 1-2 cups of berries, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp lemon zest, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and a pinch of salt and mix. Let the fruit mixture rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Roll out the rested dough into a 12-inch circle on a floured surface. While the dough is cold, go gentle to start, working from center to edge and rotating it after every roll to get an even circle. It's ok if the edges crack, and it's not a perfect circle; this is a rustic pie! Please ensure it's not sticking to your working surface while you roll it out.
- Transfer the pie dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking tray. Take out the fruit mixture and drain any liquid. Carefully transfer fruit onto the dough. Arrange fruit to your liking, and ensure that you have about 3 inches of dough around the edge of the circle. Fold the edges of the dough onto the fruit centre. Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with demerara sugar.
- Bake in a 400F oven for 30-45 minutes or golden brown. Let it cool for 15 minutes. Drizzle with honey (optional), cut into slices and serve with ice cream!
Happy foraging and baking!
