Basil and Blackberry Galette
An easy and impressive summer dessert recipe, this basil and blackberry galette with tickle your tastebuds! Flaky, all butter pie dough, rich vanilla bean pastry cream, and herby basil infused blackberries make this one perfect summer berry galette recipe for your cookouts.
What are Galettes?
Many people ask if a galette is a pie or a tart? The answer is neither! Pies and tarts are both made in a mold or tin while galettes are free form and a little more rustic looking. I like to think of this recipe as a blackberry rustic tart or a blackberry crostata. Galettes in general are made with pie dough, topped with fruit, and baked and no mixer is needed. This specific blackberry galette recipe is pie dough topped with pastry cream, and then fruit. The pastry cream helps to prevent the bottom from getting soggy and prevents the galette from drying out.
The Origin of Galettes
A galette is purely a French dessert originating from Norman times (medieval times) and comes from the Norman word gale meaning “flat cake.” Over time the term became a catchall for many different sweet and savory dishes that were flat and round with the most well known being a fruit or vegetable galette. Other variations include galette bretonne and galette de rios. All are delicious in my book. Check out more here on where galettes come from.
Blackberry Galette Ingredients
- Blackberries: I always prefer fresh fruit, but you can use frozen blackberries to make galette. I would just let them thaw in a strainer at room temperature for about an hour.
- Basil: This herby dessert definitely needs fresh basil and definitely do not use dried as it has a different flavor and gives a weird mouthfeel.
- Egg yolks: This recipe uses only egg yolks which you, unfortunately, cannot buy separate. If you need to use up those egg whites, check out my egg white heavy desserts.
- Puff pastry (optional) or store bought pie dough: You can make this a blackberry galette with puff pastry by buying puff pastry instead of making pie dough. You can also buy pie crust instead of making it. With either option, you will want to roll out to be about 10″ in diameter then treat the same.
Major Allergens Present: Gluten, dairy, eggs
Equipment Needed
This is a great recipe for those who do not have the luxury of owning a stand or hand mixer!
- Food processor: Used to break up the butter and mix with the flour. Alternatively, you can use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour.
- Rolling pin: Used to roll out the pie dough. Alternatively, you can use any long cylindrical object.
- Pastry brush: Used to brush the edges of the pie dough with heavy cream. Can be bristles or silicon. This is not necessary but provides a nice brown sheen.
How to Make a Blackberry Galette:
What is a Blackberry Galette Made Out Of?
As an amazing summer berry galette recipe, this fruity bake uses unsweetened, all butter pie dough, vanilla pastry cream, and herby basil macerated, fresh blackberries. If you’re not into making pie dough you can always use store bought or use puff pastry and make a blackberry galette with puff pastry.
Make the Pastry Cream
Pastry cream is a fundamental product, and I use it in several recipes. Boil the milk, temper the egg mixture, bring everything together to a boil, whisk in the butter, and cool. Tempering in baking is bringing two liquids you plan to combine to a similar temperature before mixing all together. The cornstarch, primary, and the yolks, secondary, are the thickening agents here. When boiling it all together, whisk constantly to prevent the bottom from burning, and let it boil for 1-2 minutes to remove the cornstarch taste and texture.
This will need to chill in the fridge until cold because if you spread warm pastry cream on cold pie dough, you will have a very soft sticky mess of dough. Place some plastic wrap directly on top of the pastry cream to prevent any skins from forming before placing in the fridge. This can be made the day before.
Macerate the Blackberries
While the pastry cream is cooling, we want to macerate the blackberries with the herbs. Macerating is a way to slowly soften the blackberries, strengthen its own flavor, and soak up other flavors. Here, we use sugar to draw out liquid from the blackberries to not only strengthen the blackberry flavor but to soak up the that basil. The lemon juice and zest helps add a little acidity, strengthens the flavors, and soften the fruit. This needs 1-2 hours to sit which is perfect while the pastry cream is cooling.
Make the Pie Dough
Pie dough requires cutting or rubbing butter with the flour. This is what gives pie dough its flaky nature. A food processor helps with this process, however, if you don’t have one, you can use a pastry cutter. First, make sure that your butter is VERY cold and you are using ice water. For the butter, I will cube it up and let it chill back up in the fridge while I weigh out the rest of the ingredients. Same with the water.
Pulse half the dry ingredients with the cold, cubed butter until pea sized butter chunks, and dump out on the table with the rest of the flour. Make a well in the center, and pour in the water. Mix with a fork gradually taking on more flour until it is no longer runny then start kneading until a dough starts to form. If it’s not coming together or seems super dry add in a little more ice water. We don’t want to overwork this dough as it will become tough, so knead just until combined; it’s okay to have crumbles and a non-cohesive dough. Allow to rest in the fridge for thirty minutes before rolling out.
Roll Out the Pie Dough
If you’ve never rolled out dough before it can be tricky the first time to get a feel for it. Start with a floured surface. With a rolling pin or similar object, start from the center and then push out on all sides to form a rough circle. Frequently move or turn the dough to prevent sticking, and if it does start to stick, sprinkle a little more flour. Roll to third-inch thick and even all around. Run your hand over the dough and try to feel if any sections are thicker or thinner than the rest. Again, we don’t want to overwork the dough so roll quickly!
Compose the Blackberry Galette and Bake
Once you have that pie dough rolled out, spread the pastry cream around leaving about a 1.5-inch rim all around to fold the edges over. After the pastry cream, top with the blackberries without the juices also keeping that rim around. Carefully fold over the edges on top of the blackberries. Freeze for 30 minutes. This will firm up the dough and, especially, the butter in the dough. In the meantime, preheat that oven!
Brush the crust with heavy cream and top with coarse sugar prior to baking because it gives the crust a nice sheen and a little extra sweetness to the unsweetened dough. Bake until the crust is a light golden brown making sure to rotate half way-ish through baking. Garnish this easy blackberry galette with extra basil leaves and serve either warm or at room temperature at your next summer cookout!
Helping Make the Blackberry Galette
Tips on How to Make Pie Dough
- Use cold butter and do not work it too much in the food processor, otherwise it will get too warm and your dough will not be as flaky.
- Use ice water. I will add a few ice cubes to a glass of water and tablespoon out what I need.
- Once you add the water, work the dough as little as possible to prevent the butter from warming up. Use decisive, intentional kneads, and you don’t need the dough to be fully incorporated. Having a few crumbles is okay, so there’s no need to be perfect.
- Allow the dough to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling out. This relaxes the bread dough, and it gives the butter a chance to cool down after being worked.
- When rolling it out, use decisive, intentional strokes with the rolling pin. Again, we do not want to work the dough too much and warm the butter.
- Once composed, allow to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking to firm up that butter.
Enhancing This Blackberry Galette:
- Steep basil in with your pastry cream for extra basil flavor!
- Use lemon zest in your pastry cream and add a splash of lemon juice at the end for a brighter flavor profile.
- Slice some fresh peaches to make a peach blackberry galette for an extra fruity dessert.
How to Store and Freeze the Blackberry Galette:
- Wrapped tightly, store the pie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months defrosting overnight before use or in the fridge for up to 6 weeks.
- Store the baked galette at room temperature in a sealed container or wrapped in plastic wrap.
- In an airtight container, store the pastry cream separately in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Store the unbaked galette in the freezer, wrapped, for up to 1 month.
Troubleshooting the Blackberry Galette:
- My pie dough is really crumbly! It’s just a little dried out! Sprinkle some cold water, and work until your dough is less crumbly.
- My pastry cream is really loose! You did not cook it long enough after you added the eggs. Once you have added the eggs, cook, while stirring constantly, until it boils then cook for another 2-3 minutes while it is boiling. For now, you can throw it back on the stove and keep cooking!
Something else going wrong? Reach out and we will troubleshoot together!
Basil and Blackberry Galette
Equipment
- Food processor alternatively you can use a pastry cutter
- Rolling Pin
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
Basil Macerated Blackberries
- 15-20 Leaves Fresh basil Plus extra for garnish
- 3 Pints Blackberries
- 1 each Lemon zest and juice
- 2 Tbs Granulated sugar
Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
- 160 g Whole milk
- ½ Ea Vanilla bean
- 60 g Granulated sugar
- 1 Tbs Cornstarch
- 40 g Whole milk
- 3 ea Egg yolks
- ½ Tbs Butter, unsalted
All Butter Pie Dough (if not using store bought)
- 243 g All purpose flour
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1½ Sticks Unsalted butter Cold and cut into small cubes
- 6 Tbs Ice water
Optional Finishing
- 1 Tbs Heavy cream
- 1 tsp Coarse sugar
Instructions
To prepare the basil macerated blackberries
- Roll up your basil leaves and slice into long threads (also known as chiffonade). Add that into a bowl with your blackberries, lemon zest and juice, and sugar.
- Toss all ingredients together and allow to sit for 1½-2 hours covered, at room temperature.
To prepare the vanilla bean pastry cream
- In a small pot, combine the first measurement of whole milk and half the sugar with the vanilla bean seeds and the pod. Bring to a boil on high heat.
- While waiting for the vanilla milk to boil, whisk together the cornstarch with the other half of the sugar. Then, whisk in the second measurement of milk with the egg yolks.
- Once your vanilla milk is boiling, add a small amount into your egg yolk/cornstarch mixture while whisking constantly.
- Add the egg/cornstarch mixture into the vanilla milk pot while whisking constantly. Lower the temperature to medium.
- Cook the pastry cream while whisking constantly until it starts to to thicken and eventually comes to a boil. Continue to cook while whisking for an additional 1-2 minutes to cook out the cornstarch taste.
- Remove from heat, whisk in the butter until melted, and pour into a heat resistant bowl or container. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on top and allow to cool until cold in the fridge.
To prepare the pie dough (if not using store bought)
- Combine the cold, cubed butter in your food processor with the salt and half the flour. Pulse a few times until the butter cubes are pie sized.
- Dump onto a working surface and combine with the rest of the flour. Create a well in the center.
- Pour the ice water into the center of the well, and start mixing with a fork gradually pulling in more flour from the edges of the inside of the well until it is no longer runny.
- Knead all together until a dough lightly forms. It does not need to be uniform and cohesive and it is okay if there are a few crumbles. If your dough feels dry or if it seems there is too much flour, add in another tablespoon of water until a dough is able to form.
- Allow to rest, wrapped, in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling out.
To compose and bake the basil and blackberry galette
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.
- Spread flour on a working surface and on your pie dough and roll out into a rough circle about ⅓ inch thick. Transfer to your prepared baking pan.
- Spread your cold pastry cream leaving a 1½-inch rim around the edge.
- Sprinkle your blackberries (without the juices) on top of the pastry cream still leaving that 1½-inch gap.
- Carefully fold the 1½-inch gap of pie dough over the blackberries. If the dough rips, just pinch it back together. Freeze for 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 400℉.
- Brush the edges with heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 35-45 minutes rotating halfway through or until the edges turn a light golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How do you keep the bottom of galette from getting soggy? Having a barrier between the fruit and the crust prevents the bottom from getting soggy. In my blackberry galette recipe, I use pastry cream to not only keep it moist but also to act as that barrier.
- What is the difference between pie crust and a galettte? A pie crust is formed in a pie dish with crimped edges and topped with more crust on top of the filling. A galette is free form with the edges folded over the filling and open face.
- What is the difference between and crostada and a galette? A crostada is Italian while a galette is French. The terms can be used interchangeably as they are the same dessert.
Have another question? Reach out and I’ll try to answer it for you!
I was a little hesitant to try this with the basil but it was actually amazing! 10/10 would recommend if you love blackberries and definitely don’t skip the basil!!
Great summer treat! Loved the dough, it was so flavorful!
This was so easy to make and so tasty! Definitely adding this to my dessert rotation for when we have friends over!