This rustic blueberry and mascarpone galette is bursting with jammy blueberries wrapped in a flaky, buttery pastry. Top it with vanilla ice cream for the ultimate treat!
Three weeks ago I took a trip to Seattle to visit family. Saying I was nervous would be an understatement given it was my first time traveling in the last two years. It was a much needed mental break from everything COVID-19 related. Since the beginning of COVID, I was terrified of infecting my family especially my elderly parents after coming home from an ICU shift. Then the mask and protective gear shortage happened which skyrocketed our stress level. Like many parents, we also experienced the chaos of online learning. One thing just piled on after another. With the delta variant making its way across the US, being on survival mode, and all sorts of emotions converging, I was close to a mental breakdown.
With the trip, I was able to step away from the hospital and reset. Although it was a solo trip, it resulted in one of my favorite vacations ever. I couldn’t be more grateful to Vu who took care of the boys and encouraged me to enjoy the break. Vu’s family took me to their beach house in Shelton where we got to dig for clams, pick oysters, kayak in the bay, and forage fruits on the property. It was unlike any vacation I had ever experienced. The serenity of watching the sunset on a kayak in the middle of the bay was magical. This experience reminded me of the time we biked through the pine forest in Whistler and were completely immersed in nature. Coming home to San Diego, I brought a lot of blueberries back from the beach house. They went into a lovely blueberry and mascarpone galette that we thoroughly enjoyed. It has a buttery, flaky crust and tender blueberries brightened with a lemony note.
Ingredient Notes
- Almond meal: or almond flour adds a rich, nutty flavor with proteins that help the crust hold together.
- Spelt flour: spelt flour is a type of whole wheat flour made from the entire grain (bran, endosperm, germ, and all) and more healthy than your regular all purpose flour. If you can't find spelt flour, substitute with another wheat flour.
- Blueberries: these small, juicy berries are available year-round but are in peak season during the summer. At this time, the sweet flavor is unrivaled but taste your berries and add more sugar if they tend to be tart.
- Lemon juice: lemon juice helps enhance the overall blueberry flavor and adds a slight brightness to the filling.
Tips for Making the Crust
Galette dough is very similar to pie dough. For my galette crust, I used a simple recipe of all purpose flour, almond meal (ground almond) unsalted butter, powdered sugar, iced cold water, and distilled white vinegar. The dough came together in minutes with the help of my trusty food processor. Adding vinegar to the pie crust helps tenderize the dough by inhibiting gluten formation, makes it easier to work it, and creates a flaky, buttery crust.
Other things that I find helpful for getting a good crust is keeping your equipment and butter as cold as possible so the butter does not melt and becomes overworked. Once the dough came together, I let it rest in the fridge for an hour for the gluten to relax before rolling it out. With the scorching summer heat, it might be easier to make the crust at night when the temperature drops. You can leave the unbaked crust in your fridge or freezer until ready to bake.
Tips for Assembling the Galette
Roll the dough to a 12 inch circle on a cold, floured surface. Spread ¼ cup of mascarpone to add richness and sprinkle almond meal over the crust leaving a 1 inch border to prevent the bottom from getting soggy. Place the blueberry mixture over the almond meal. Fold the dough over to enclose the fruits, pleating it as you go. Press firmly on the pleat, patching any cracks. Chill the galette in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up. Just before baking, brush the dough with the egg wash and sprinkle the entire surface with demerara sugar.
Tips for Baking Galette
Place the blueberry and mascarpone galette on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper to catch all the juices and make it easier to clean up. Bake the galette at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes until the crust is a deep golden-brown and the fruit is bubbly and cooked. Once baked, transfer the galette to a wire rack and let it cool completely before slicing, about 25-30 minutes.
I couldn't help salivating when the smell of butter mingling with fruit juice hit my olfactory bulb. The blueberries were jammy with a sweet tart flavor in contrast to the buttery, flaky crust. As I dug my fork into the warm galette with vanilla ice cream, I felt nostalgic for the beautiful memories we created at the beach house and grateful for the much needed mental break to help me reset and get ready for another COVID wave hitting our hospital. So here's my new motto, let's galette and carry on! For those struggling with this pandemic, I feel you!
For more summer dessert inspiration, check these recipes: red currant peach galette, cardamom cherry cake, peach raspberry olive oil cake, roasted strawberry cream pie.
Blueberry and Mascarpone Galette
Ingredients
Pastry Dough
- ¾ cup spelt flour (if you don’t have spelt flour, you can replace with another wheat flour or all purpose flour)
- ½ cup almond meal
- 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chopped into cubes
- 3 tablespoons iced water
- ½ tablespoon distilled white vinegar
Filling
- 3 cups fresh blueberries
- Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup mascarpone cheese
- 2 tablespoons almond meal
- 2 tablespoons demerara sugar
- 1 medium egg, lightly beaten
Instructions
- To make galette dough, pulse flour, almond meal, sugar, and salt together in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, 7 to 10 pulses. Do not over-process. You need pea-size chunks of butter.
- Whisk iced water and vinegar together. Drizzle in vinegar and water mixture and pulse until dough is crumbly in texture but holds together when squeezed, about 6 pulses. If the mixture is dry, pulse in half a tablespoon of ice water at a time.
- Transfer dough on lightly floured counter and pat it together to make one uniform piece. Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour, or up to 2 days.
- Unwrap the dough and place it on a piece of parchment paper. Cover with a second piece of parchment. Roll the dough into 12-inch round about ⅛-inch thick. Refrigerate dough for 15 minutes.
- In large bowl, toss together blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, zest, and cornstarch. Set aside.
- Spread the mascarpone cheese on the dough and leave about 1 inch border. Sprinkle 2 tbsps of almond meal on top of the mascarpone cheese.
- Arrange the blueberries in the center of the dough leaving a one inch border uncovered. Fold the dough edges over the blueberries, pleating it loosely and leaving the galette open in the center. Patch the dough together if it breaks. Pour the juice from the blueberry mixture into the galette.
- Brush the dough with the egg and sprinkle demerara sugar over the whole galette. Chill galette in freezer for 15 minutes to firm up.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes on the middle rack, until the filling bubbles up vigorously and the crust is golden. Cool for at least 25-30 minutes on wire rack.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream.
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