It’s spring outside, here in the southern hemisphere.
The weather is getting warmer, the sun is actually shining, flowers are blooming and the days are getting longer as we head into summer.
With spring comes delicious fruit! Cherry season has just begun here in Melbourne. Unfortunately, cherries are not at their best yet. The ones I bought yesterday were actually pretty bland. And not very juicy. Or sweet.
So I turned them into one of my favourite, easiest pies. A galette. Or a rustic tart. Or whatever you want to call it.
A little sugar and some crisp pastry made the cherries taste much better.
Enjoy!
SWEET CHERRY GALETTE
For the pastry
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
125g cold unsalted butter, cubed (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp)
pinch of salt
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp cold water
For the sweet cherry filling
500g sweet, fresh cherries
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp flour
To make the filling, put the cherries in a medium bowl and mix in the flour and sugar and set aside.
To make the dough, put the flour, sugar, butter and salt in a food processor or electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Add the egg yolk and cold water. Continue to mix on low until a dough forms. Gather the dough together and form it into a disc. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180 C and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into 4 portions (or 6 portions if you want little tarts).
On a lightly floured surface, roll out each portion of dough until it is quite thin, about 3-4mm. Pace the rounds of dough onto the baking trays.
Put 3-4 large tablespoons of cherry filling in the centre of each tart, leaving a 4cm border around the edges.
Roughly fold in the edges of the dough so it overlaps and covers only some of the cherry filling.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the pastry is golden. Makes 4 tarts.
