Sour cherries are one of my more recent favorites in the pantheon of summer fruit. I "discovered" them a few years ago and I think they make a wonderful pie, so I decided to make this delicious Sour Cherry Galette. I love the combination of sweet, sour, and fat in this sour cherry galette and I think you will too. Read on to learn how to make this recipe and if you want to get alerted when new recipes are posted to my blog sign up for my newsletter.
Montmorency Sour Cherries
Montmorency sour cherries is one of my recent favorites. I buy the dried Montmorency cherries from Trader Joes's all the time and use them mainly in my oatmeal, but three years ago some of the vendors at the local farmers' market started selling them. Since I love trying new things, I bought what I needed for one pie, mainly because they are $6-7 a pound and I wasn't sure I would like it. I loved that pie, but the next time I went there were no more cherries. The vendor said the season was really short.
Fast forward to the next year. I was preparing for the Great American Baking Show and didn't have time to get cherries and bake a pie. I barely kept up with the baking and practice for the show. No way did I have time for a pie, at least not one related to the competition. But this year I have plenty of time to bake with these delicious cherries.
How to Make a Sour Cherry Galette
Not only do I have time to make a pie, but I have a food blog and I get the share this delicious treat with you. Even better the sour cherry season is longer. In the past, they were only in the farmers' market for about 2 weeks but so far they have been around for about 5 weeks. So I get to try other desserts too. I recently did a poll in Instagram stories and a majority (70 percent) said you preferred sweet cherry pie to sour cherry pie, but I'm hoping you will give this a try.
To make things easier I decided to make a galette. I love galettes - all the advantages of a regular pie, but much easier. If you've never made a galette before, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is.
How to Make the Galette Dough
Galette dough is basically pie dough by another name. The dough is made first because it will need time to chill. Once the dough is made, it is chilled for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. At this point, the dough can also be frozen. The pie dough has 5 ingredients:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Unsalted Butter, Cold
- Salt
- Sugar
- Ice Cold Water
Start by combining the dry ingredients. At this point, you can add a favorite spice like cinnamon or nutmeg. Cut the dough into small cubes and add it to the butter. Use your fingers or a pastry cutter to combine the butter and the flour mixture. You're basically coating the flour particles with fat.
When the pieces of butter resemble small peas add the water starting with 2 tablespoons. Use a wooden spoon to stir the water in the flour-butter mixture. The goal is to have the dough hold together with you squeeze a small portion of into a ball. Add the remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time. The dough should have a shaggy appearance.
Form the dough into a ball, flatten it into disk and wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. If you plan to freeze, place the dough in a freezer bag and place it in the freezer on a flat surface.
Assembling the Galette
Roll the dough out onto the parchment paper that will eventually line the baking sheet. Don't use Silpat, because most Silpat at 400 degrees F starts to brown. I learned this information the hard when I was preparing for the Great American Baking Show and I baked bread at 425 degrees and my Silpat turned brown.
Fill the dough with the fruit and fold the dough over the filling. At this point, I slide it onto a cutting board and refrigerate it for 10 minutes. Remove it from the refrigerator and brush generously with the egg wash, even under the folds of dough. Sprinkle lots of turbinado sugar on top. Place the galette on a rimmed baking sheet to avoid any leaks in the oven. Bake it until it is golden brown.
The Combination of Sweet, Sour and Fat
This galette is one of the perfect combinations of sweet, sour and fat. You have the sweetness of the sugar in the cherries and on the crust, the sour of the cherries and the fat (or butter in the crust). It's a wonderful combination and this is my theory on why a sour cherry galette tastes so good.
I was excited to bake with these sour cherries. One of the things that I love about baking is that I am always learning something new and getting to bake with new ingredients. Even you haven't tried sour cherries before I hope you will give them a try. They are delicious, especially with a big ole' scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Recommended Kitchen Tools
For this recipe and most of my baking, I used the Nordic Ware Half-Sheet Pan and King Arthur Flour Parchment Paper. I really like this half-sheet pan because it's heavy-duty and doesn't warp. The King Arthur Flour parchment paper comes in flat sheets, is heavy duty so it doesn't curl or roll up when used.
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Sour Cherry Galette
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 ounces/177 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons (141 grams) unsalted butter cold
- 1/4 cup ice cold water
Sour Cherry Filling
- 24 ounces (680 grams) pitted fresh sour cherries sliced
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) white granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons tapioca Bob's Red Mill
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter cut into 6 pieces
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon cream (or milk)
- Pinch of salt
- Turbinado sugar
Instructions
For the Pie Crust
- Cube the butter. In a large metal bowl combine 3/4 cup of the flour, the sugar, and salt and whisk. Add the cubed butter. Use a pastry cutter or your hands to mix the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture is pea-sized. Add the remaining 1/2 cup flour and use your hands to mix the flour into the mixture until it is coated with the flour.
- Add 2 tablespoons of the cold water to the mixture. Toss with a spatula until it is moistened. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of ice water and toss to combine. Press the dough with the spatula and press firmly together until the dough sticks together. Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap. Draw the edges of the plastic wrap over the dough and press firmly to form a compact frissure-free mass. Wrap the dough in plastic and flatten to form a 5-inch disk. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hours or up to 2 days. When you’re ready to roll out the dough let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes to soften.
Sour Cherry Filling
- Place the sour cherries in a large bowl
- Place the sugar, tapioca, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Sprinkle the mixture over the cherries and use a large spoon to gently mix into the cherries. Let sit for 30 minutes.
Assemble the Galette
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Roll the dough into a 14-inch circle on a well-floured surface. Fold the dough in half and place on a large piece of parchment paper.
- Use a slotted spoon to fill the center of the dough with the cherry filling. Starting at the top of the dough circle fold the dough up and over the cherries, Working around the dough continue to fold the dough up and over, slightly overlapping the previous fold. When you are done, slide the galette onto a cutting board and chill for about 10 minutes.
- While the galette is chilling, create an egg wash by whisking together one egg, the cream (or milk) and a piece of salt. Remove the galette and brush the egg wash over the chilled dough in a thin, even layer (including under each flap). This will give the crust a glossy, golden sheen and help bind the pieces together. Cut the butter into 6-8 pieces and dot the top of the cherries with the butter.
- Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes until the dough is golden brown and the cherries juices are bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving. Of course, if you are like me, you know that hot pie is the best, even if burns your tongue.
Barbara says
Hi! I am in the process of making your sour cherry galette. Just wanted to note a typo in paragraph 4 in assembling the galette, a 'pinch of salt' instead of 'piece', and I am assuming that we dot the top of cherries with the cut up butter like a regular cherry pie. I have never used turbinado sugar, just regular sugar sprinkled on top of lattice top. Should I sprinkle it on top of egg wash before baking? I am using frozen Montmorency cherries from my trees, and am using Clear Jel Powder for the first time. I hope it turns out! I can't compete with my younger sister when it comes to beautiful pie crusts (I give her from my farm, cherries, apples, rhubarb and raspberries, squash, and chickens) and let her bake!!!