I just really like the word galette. It’s so French and fancy-sounding and every time I hear it, I attempt to speak with a French accent and then start singing. For some reason, I always sing “Alouette,” but probably only because it’s also French and kind of sounds a little bit like galette…. Right? Usually “Alouette" quickly turns into “If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops” because let’s be honest, I don’t know any of the lyrics to “Alouette."
And the only French I know is what I learned in the 3 months I took it in 6th grade. I basically remember three things from that class: 1) doing a report on Chartres, 2) writing notes back and forth with my friend Libby, and 3) Watching Téléfrançais, a kids’ show from the 80s about a talking pineapple, Ananas. Ananas will always be my favorite French word. Also, please tell me someone else watched Téléfrançais back in the day and that the theme song gets seriously stuck in your head, too??
Anyway, back to galettes. When I got the August issue of Bon Appétit magazine in the mail, Chris immediately pointed to the cover and said, “you should make that.” I said, “OK." I made it the next day. And then again, two days later.
And now I want to make it a million more times and probably all winter long because it will remind me of happier summer times. I obviously prefer to use fresh blueberries, but I’ll take what I can get during long Boston winters.
OK, so this is way better than the average galette crust because it involves a healthy dose of pecans, which totally amp up the flavor. Other than the pecans, it’s a pretty typical galette crust with flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
Plus butter, of course. Whenever you make a crust like this, you always need to make sure the butter is super chilled. I always cut it into pieces right out of the fridge and then I pop it in the freezer for a few minutes to re-chill since it tends to get pretty soft during the time it takes to cut it.
You’ll need to make the crust a bit of time since the dough takes about an hour to chill.
Blueberries are sooo good for you. Perhaps the health value goes down just a little bit when you add in the sugar and cornstarch, but I’m still calling this a dessert I don’t feel too guilty about eating.
I remember when I was so scared of rolling dough out. I still am not a pro by any means, but my skills have improved tenfold. All you need is a little counter space and a whole lot of flour.
All you need to do once you roll out the dough, is put the blueberry mixture in the middle.
And then fold the edges up and brush with a little milk and sprinkle with sugar.
It takes 45-50 minutes in the oven and then technically, you’re supposed to let it cool. But I won’t tell if you don’t tell.
The photo on the cover of the magazine was so beautiful in part because of the scoops of vanilla ice cream on top. I served my ice cream on the side mainly because I’m a horrible food blogger and pretty much only make food that I’m actually going to eat. And since I brought one of these galettes to my parents’ house and one to my friends’ house, I couldn’t scoop the ice cream onto it ahead of time.
Also, I am not an à la mode type of person. I honestly have very few food aversions, but I really don’t like ice cream on my dessert. I love ice cream WITH my dessert, but putting it on pie or cake? No thanks; it just makes my dessert soggy.
But if you’re into the whole à la mode thing, a big scoop of ice cream would be delightful on this. Otherwise, serve it on the side.
If Thanksgiving is to pie, summer is totally to galettes. They’re a little bit lighter than a pie and can take full advantage of all kinds of summer berries. Plus, it’s a fun word to say.
Thank you for this super delightful recipe, Bon Appetit! And guess what? I now want to make the entire cover of the September issue, too. Can you even blame me?
But first? An insanely busy week ahead. I wrote out my Monday to-do list before I left work on Friday and let’s just say I’m going to need a bit of a miracle to get to Friday. Somebody’s going to need to entice me with the promise of cocktails and my bed.
What are your go-to food magazines?
📖 Recipe
Blueberry-Pecan Galette
Ingredients
Crust:
- ½ C pecans
- 1 C plus 2 T all-purpose flour
- 2 t sugar
- ½ t kosher salt
- ¼ t ground cinnamon
- ½ C 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chiled
Filling And Assembly:
- 12 oz. blueberries about 2 C
- 1 T cornstarch
- 1½ t fresh lemon juice
- ¼ C sugar plus more for sprinkling
- All-purpose flour for surface
- 2 T milk half-and-half, or heavy cream
Instructions
Crust:
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- On a baking sheet, toast pecans for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees, until fragrant and just beginning to darken, tossing once. Let cool.
- In a food processor, process pecans until they're the consistency of coarse meal. Add flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon to the food processor and pulse just to combine.
- Add chilled butter pieces and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size pieces.
- Transfer dough mixture to a large bowl and drizzle 4 T of ice water over the Dough. Mix, adding another tablespoonful of water if needed, just until mixture comes together.
- Form the dough into a 6"-diameter disk. Wrap the disc in plastic and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour.
- Do Ahead: Dough can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled, or freeze up to 1 month.
Filling And Assembly:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large bowl, toss together blueberries, cornstarch, lemon juice, and ¼ C sugar.
- Lightly flour a surface and roll out dough into a 12" round. Carefully transfer dough round to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Mound blueberries in the center of dough, making sure to leave a 2" border.
- Fold edges over of the crust over, overlapping slightly onto the blueberries.
- Brush edges dough with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake galette at 375 degrees until the crust is dark golden brown and the filling is bubbling, about 45–50 minutes.
- Let cool before serving.
- Make Ahead: Dough can be made 2 days ahead and kept chilled (or in freezer for one month). Galette can be baked 1 day ahead, so long as it's tightly wrapped and kept at room temperature.
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
What a gorgeous galette, Sues! I've never made one before but I definitely need to after seeing this recipe. It looks just perfect!
Leeann says
That galette looks delicious. Your memories of middle school french made me LOL. We too watched Telefrancais! "Un ananas, qui parle!" And I don't recommend you look up the lyrics to Alouette, unless you really dislike birds. 😉
Beth says
It does look beautiful with the ice cream on top, but I'd never style something I wouldn't eat, either. Sounds like you hit the jackpot with this dessert!
Sam~SugarSpunRun says
I LOVE galettes, so much less stressful than pies! Yours looks absolutely delicious!
Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic says
My blog post today was also about a word I like to say! I'd love a slice of this galette right now with a side of ice cream. My go-to food mag is Saveur!
Katalina @ Peas and Peonies says
I love the word galette too lo, I find it so chic and yes FRENCH, also I like how such a simple dessert sounds so fancy and looks that good! I can't get enough of blueberries this season, and this is perfect way to use some!
Pam says
I love making galettes... this blueberry pecan looks amazing.
sarah k @ the pajama chef says
what a great galette! i love your french experience...hilarious. i took french in kindergarten as an after school activity... then again for all of high school & college. lots of fond memories, but i don't remember much french anymore. 🙁 my favorite french word is pamplemousse (grapefruit) but ananas is pretty great too! one of my classmates' last name was pronounced like cochon (but spelled differently- meaning pig) so we always had alot of fun with that word too! and though it sounds like we were teasing and mean, we really weren't. that's how we all learned the word for pig! haha 🙂
Kelly - Life Made Sweeter says
I love galettes and saying the word galette too 🙂 Yours looks beautiful! The pecans in the crust and blueberries sound perfect!
Ami@NaiveCookCooks says
This looks so so good and I am loving the fact that there are extra pecans in the crust!! Yummy!
Tandy | Lavender and Lime says
I absolutely love the free form nature of the pastry. Great looking galette 🙂
Cathleen @ A Taste Of Madness says
I have always wanted to try baking a galllette. Yours looks gorgeous!
Arpita@ The Gastronomic Bong says
I love this galette, Sues!! Gorgeous!.. crust made out of pecan sounds amazing and the blueberry filling is just WOW! Great share!
Joanne says
I've been eyeing that galette ALL SUMMER. And still haven't made it. Feeling like a summer failure, so I'd better get to it!
Susan says
I've made this twice since that issue came out but both times, although SO darned delicious, it looked awful so I never took any photos. Maybe I didn't chill the crust long enough but it just kept falling apart when I tried folding it over. I didn't care while I was eating though 🙂
Justine says
So summery and pretty!!!
Alyssa @ My Sequined Life says
I think ananas is the only French word I remember from my last French class (also sixth grade) - haha! I have been eying up galettes all summer but haven't gotten around to making my own. I love this one with pecans in the crust (and blueberries, obviously).
Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl says
I had lunch a few minutes ago and then I saw this post and got hungry all over again! Pretty and perfect!