A-Camp is over and I am just not okay with it. I miss all the beautiful (seriously, why is everyone at camp SO attractive?) queer faces, I miss the pool and the mountains, I miss hearing everyone talk about how hot Be Steadwell is, but the one thing I miss so terribly that it brings me to this week’s recipe is the never ending supply of fresh berries that were available in the dining hall. There were so. many. berries! Sometimes there were FIVE KINDS OF BERRIES. FIVE!! It was ridiculous. I ate at least $100 worth of berries over the course of camp and I loved every sweet, juicy bite. You could say I got very used to the five-berry lifestyle which was a dangerous thing to do. Outside of camp, if we’re going by the genius rating system Brittani Nichols introduced in which you label your financial status by the number of types of fresh berries you can afford on grocery trips, I am a one or maximum two-berry household, not five. Five is a level of luxury I had never ever known before and now that I’m back home and eating on my own dime I miss those berries so much I don’t know what to do. It’s nearly unbearable. I miss it so much in fact that the only cure I could think of was some kind of comfort food that involves berries – only one type though – and that I could make very quickly and easily because I’ve been so deep in the post-camp letdown I almost missed this deadline. Almost. Then I decided the only thing to do was to bake a mountain of berries into some flaky buttery crust and eat it while I scroll the A-Camp hashtag and cry for the millionth time. And thus, this blueberry galette was born!
Galettes are amazing because they look like they take way more effort than they actually do, and you can put pretty much anything inside them. They’re just as good filled with butternut squash, goat cheese, and rosemary as they are with fresh fruit fillings like this one. The trickiest part is the pie dough, but the steps for it are basically the same as the buttermilk biscuits from last time so you’re a pro now I’m sure! I like my fruit fillings to be big on flavor and subtle on sugar, so i’ve added fresh lemon zest and sugar, and used substantially less sugar than most recipes would call for. The addition of balsamic vinegar really pulls the deep jammy flavors in the berries forward in the best way. This tastes like summer and sunshine and the happiness of hundreds of queers flirting and feeding each other berries in the mountains. If you’re into that imagery, you’ll be into this warm berry goodness. I promise it will bring a smile to your face almost as big as the one you have when you think of your crush.
Blueberry Galette
Makes one (approximately) 8-inch galette
Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 cup (120g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, cubed and chilled
6 tablespoons ice water
For the filling:
2 cups blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon butter, cubed
- Preheat the oven to 375° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Next, cut the butter into the four using your hands or a dough cutter until the butter is coated in flour and about the size of peas.
- Add the ice water a tablespoon at a time and stir the dough just until it comes together then turn it out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Knead or fold the dough three times, then form it into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile mix the sugar, ginger, and lemon zest in a bowl and rub the ginger and zest into the sugar to release the oils.
- Next add the blueberries, cornstarch, and balsamic vinegar to the sugar mixture and toss until every single berry is coated in sugar and you can’t resist tasting a few cause they look and smell so damn good. Set aside.
- Roll out the dough! Grab a rolling pin or a wine bottle, cover it with flour, and roll the dough until you’ve got roughly a 9 to 10-inch circle. You may not end up with a circle and that is okay, we all roll differently. As long as the dough is thinly rolled (about 1/8 of an inch) and will hold your filling in the center you’re doing great.
- Now pour those berries into the middle of the dough, then start to fold the edges of the dough over the mountain of berries. Galettes are chill and freeform and “rustic” so don’t worry about making it perfect, now is not the time.
- Once you’ve got all the berries surrounded and snuggled into the dough, dot the top with the last cubed tablespoon of butter. If you’re feeling extra fancy you can brush the crust with an egg wash or heavy cream and sprinkle some sugar on, but it’s not necessary.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. You might have some spillage, and again, that’s okay, it adds to the beauty!
- Allow to cool for at least ten minutes for the sake of your tongue.
- Eat your berry mountain in galette form and feel fancy as fuck.
