We are in the midst of stone fruit season, and that means I’ve been cooking and baking all kinds of delicious things with cherries, apricots and peaches. There are desserts that I usually only bake once a year, like cherry and peach pies, so it’s something I look forward to each year. July is when stone fruits are perfectly sweet and ripe, so it’s the perfect time for this sweet cherry galette.
This is a quick and easy little pie to make, and it’s just so good. Flaky all-butter pie crust is wrapped around sweet, juicy cherries that I spiced with a little ginger, and baked until bubbling and golden. I finished the galette with a sprinkling of candied ginger and freshly grated orange zest.
Looking for more pie recipes? Don’t miss my fresh strawberry pretzel pie, plum galette, peach lattice pie, and banana cream pie.
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What’s a Galette?
A galette (also called a crostada) is a rustic, free-form pie made from a single sheet of pastry. It’s usually filled with fruit, sugar and spices, and baked until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden brown and crisp. It’s typically baked flat on a baking sheet, instead of in a pie pan, with the edges of the dough folded up around the fruit.
Because of its smaller size, you can even pick up pieces by the edge to eat by hand. And if you have a small family, the size of the galette is a good thing, too. It can be hard to get through a whole deep-dish pie quickly enough while it’s still fresh, since fruit pies are best eaten within 1-2 days.
There’s nothing like a deep-dish fruit pie with a beautiful lattice design or loads of buttery, golden brown crumble topping piled over the fruit. But a whole pie can be too much for my little family to finish, so galettes are a great alternative. What I love about a galette is that you can have all the satisfaction of baking and eating a delicious, homemade fruit pie, but with half the amount of effort put in to have your pie.
How to Make Sweet Cherry Galette
Make the Pie Dough.
So first, make some pie dough. I use this All-Butter Pie Dough for all my pies and galettes, and it’s always flaky, flavorful and perfect. My recipe makes enough for a double-crust pie, but you’ll only need one crust for today’s sweet cherry galette. You can either just make half the dough recipe, or make the full recipe and freeze half the dough for another pie.
Pit Your Cherries and Make the Filling.
If you’re using fresh cherries, rather than frozen, then you’ll need to pit your cherries first. One pound isn’t that much, so you can easily pit them with a knife, if you don’t have a cherry pitter.
I used sweet red cherries, not sour cherries or pie cherries, so they needed very little sugar in the filling. A little flour and cherry jam help to thicken the fruit juices. And a pinch of ground ginger, finely chopped crystallized ginger and fresh orange zest all paired beautifully with the flavor of the cherries.
Bake.
To bake your galette, place the dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then pile the cherry filling into the middle of the dough. Fold up the edges of the dough so that it surrounds the cherries, and brush the dough with egg white to help seal the folds. I always sprinkle my pie dough with granulated sugar, and it gives it a sparkly, crunchy finish that’s so good.
Bake your pie until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown. Wait a couple of hours, then cut into wedges. This sweet cherry galette is fantastic with a scoop of ice cream. But that folded edge of dough also makes the perfect handle to just pick up the pieces for a quick and delicious snack.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use frozen cherries?
Yes, frozen or fresh cherries work equally well in this cherry galette.
Will store bought pie dough work in this recipe?
Sure. But it won’t taste as good as homemade!
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Cherry Galette with Ginger and Orange
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Ingredients
Crust
- ½ recipe for All Butter Flaky Pie Dough (see note)
- 1 (35g) egg white
- 1 tsp (4.5g) granulated sugar
Filling
- 1 lb sweet red cherries, pitted and halved
- ¼ cup (54g) granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp (24g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 2 tbsp (36g) cherry jam
- 1-2 tsp finely chopped candied/crystallized ginger
- ½ tsp fresh orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a circle, about 1/8 inch thick; if you like, trim the rough edges a little for a more even, pretty edge. Set the dough on the baking sheet.
- In a bowl, toss the cherries with the 1/4 cup sugar, flour and ginger until well combined. Stir in the cherry jam. Pile the fruit onto the dough, leaving two inches of dough all around. Fold the edges of the dough up, so that it folds up over the fruit. Brush the edges of the dough with the egg white, using it to help seal all the folds together. Sprinkle the dough with the 1 teaspoon sugar. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Bake for about 45 minutes on the center rack in the oven, until the fruit and juices are bubbling and thick, and the crust is golden brown (if needed, lay a piece of aluminum foil over the galette about 30 minutes into baking, to prevent over-browning). Cool for 3-4 hours before cutting into wedges and serving. If desired, garnish the top with the candied ginger and orange zest.
Well I finally made one of your recipes. I was celebrating a late birthday for my daughter. She took a piece of the galette to go and I had a small slice to comment. It was as advertised! The crust was flakey and the orange brought out the cherry flavor. Most excellent!