It's Fourth of July eve, and while I didn't plan on blogging tonight, I couldn't contain my excitement about sharing this little treat with you. If you're looking for a last minute dessert idea for the Fourth, look no more. If you're new to the world of galettes, let me introduce you. You, galette...galette, you. No really, a galette is basically a thin pie assembled and baked without a pie dish. It's also rustic and beautiful and lovely any time of day. Not having to remember your pie dish before leaving a party is reason enough for this to be the only sort of "pie" I ever bring anywhere ever again. It just so happens that it's also "silly good" as Craig so eloquently put it.

The edges of the crust are more exposed than in a pie therefore allowing air to circulate more freely around the dough, creating a golden brown, flaky texture. Inside is a thinner layer of fruit, which allows the filling to set up and the bottom crust to crisp up nicely.

The blueberries we picked up the other day were insanely sweet and intense...not tart at all. They definitely needed a little lemon to cut through all that richness, so I added a bit of fresh lemon juice and zest, which really brightened up the flavor. I think the key to this dessert is finding good blueberries. I recently had some that tasted a lot like grass, which I'm not really into for dessert.

Tomorrow will be a relaxing and low-key holiday for us here. I imagine we'll spend lots of time in our newly-fenced backyard (thank you, Craig), watch some fireworks after Little Man goes to bed, and grill up the Vienna beef hot dogs we picked up the other day in the Chicago suburbs. I hope all of you have a happy and fun Fourth!

Blueberry Galette

Yield: one 8" galette

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, cold, and cut into small cubes
1/4 cup ice water
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2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and patted dry
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
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1 egg, for egg wash
more sugar for dusting

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 F.
In a food processor, blend together the flour, sugar, and salt (from the first set of ingredients).
Add the cold butter cubes and pulse until the butter is cut down to pea sized clumps.
Add the ice water (measured without the ice) and turn on the machine. It will start to clump together and then after about 30 seconds or so, it will come together and form one ball. Turn off the machine.
Flour your work surface liberally, and turn the dough a few times with your hands, forming a round ball.
Roll out the dough into a circle 12" in diameter. Keep flouring as needed so dough doesn't stick.
Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray, then put a sheet of parchment paper on top (the spray will help it stick and lay flat).
Transfer the dough to the baking sheet.
Combine the second set of ingredients for the blueberry filling.
Scoop the blueberry filling into the middle of the dough and spread out, leaving at least 2 inches around the edges.
Fold the edges of the dough in over the blueberries, leaving a few inches between each fold (see pictures above).
Whisk the egg in a small bowl, and brush the egg wash all around the dough edges, including the folds.
Liberally sprinkle sugar over the dough edges.
Bake in oven at 400 F for about 40 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the filling has thickened up (rotate pan 180 degrees, halfway through baking time to get even browning).
Remove from oven and let cool and set up for about 20 minutes.
Serve warm, room temp, or cold with vanilla bean ice cream or whipped cream.

Tips:

If your dough doesn't come together after a minute or so, add more ice water until it does. If the dough ball is super wet and sticky, just knead it a little with the flour on your counters until it is workable.
Most pie recipes call for chilling the dough first, but I found it unnecessary for this recipe.
I think finding sweet blueberries are the key to this dessert. Look for berries that are sweet and intense in flavor, without being to tart.
If your blueberries are excessively juicy, you can try adding another tablespoon of cornstarch to the filling.