I was legitimately nervous about making this galette, for the sole reason that the pictures of it in nothing fancy are gorgeous. The top crust looks so delicate and precise – there’s no way my galette could even closely resemble what Alison made.
Well, guess what. About half-way through the baking process, I decided not to care! I let my tendency to compare and harshly judge my own work go by the wayside. I was at my in-laws home with a lovely afternoon breeze passing through the screen door. My brother- and sister-in-law were in town, and I love their company. To let my petty pie crust fears get in the way of a lovely afternoon would simply violate all logical cost-benefit analysis. And if you’re a Varberg, cost-benefit analysis reigns supreme.
So I went to town on two pie crust rounds, utilizing King Arthur’s Gluten Free pie crust recipe. I’ve now made five of these crusts now, and the recipe continues to hold up well. While the dough chilled, I focused on pitting 2.5 lbs of cherries. That’s a LOT of cherries! It was a divine moment when I discovered that Michelle owned a cherry pitter… I didn’t even know that existed! Instead of halving each cherry and digging the pit out with my thumb, I just punctured each cherry with the pitter, which spit out the pit into a tiny bowl. But even with this modern contraption, the task took about 30 minutes to finish. I tossed the cherries with lime zest and sugar before setting them aside to roll out the dough.
Rolling pie dough takes patience and a willingness to stick it back in the fridge at a moment's notice. As soon as the dough starts to feel slightly too warm, it really needs to get cold again before trying to coax it along. I’m learning that pies are not something I can count on being finished in a certain window of time. They take the time they take, and so many external conditions affect that.
Once the first disk was ready, I spread a third-cup of tahini paste over the dough, leaving a sizeable border along the edges. The cherries followed suit. I cut out holes in the other dough as instructed, though I confess that I didn’t plan the spacing out very well. To be honest, I was quite distracted by the fantastic conversation I was having with Heidi, my new sis. She’s delightful. Even more delightful than pie. I placed the holey dough on top and folded the edges. The final touches include an egg wash for browning, sugar, and sesame seeds. The galette spends about a half hour at a higher temp, and 20 minutes at a lower temp. By the end, the crust should be a light golden brown.
I love cherries, so I enjoyed this one. The combination with tahini works, but it wasn’t my favorite. I wish everything was a little sweeter; the sourness of the cherries and saltiness of the sesame paste dominated the flavor. Even though some of the crust broke on top, I’m still proud of how this turned out. I’m growing, friends. And that feels really good.
121 recipes cooked, 104 to go.
