It’s Cherry Season! Make an Easy Cherry-Dark Chocolate Galette!

Sunday was yet another rainy day in the Boston area. So far this summer, I have been to the beach twice. Pathetic. But it is what it is. So what to do to enjoy the day?

I decided to make a Cherry-Chocolate Galette. A galette is a rustic, French pastry where you roll out the dough, plop the fruit filling in the middle, and turn up the dough over some of the fruit around the outside. You just bake it on a cookie sheet. Very easy. And quick to put together.

Since it’s cherry season (I adore cherries!), they were on sale for $2.99/pound at my local supermarket. I bought a big bag. Most of them were crisp and delicious, but a few were past their prime, meaning a little softer than I enjoy eating. I needed to use the cherries before they all became past their prime.

Last week, I noticed a recipe for a Cherry and Dark Chocolate Galette on a food blog that I visited. I loved the idea of a galette made with dark chocolate. In the past, I have made galettes only with fruit. The combination of cherries and dark chocolate sounded divine. I modified the original recipe that used frozen cherries and chocolate chips to take advantage of fresh cherries and better quality chocolate that doesn’t have emulsifiers and stabilizers in it like chocolate chips do.

Cherry and Dark Chocolate Galette – Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 12-16 oz. of pitted fresh cherries, halved
• 2 T. granulated sugar
• 1 T. cornstarch
• 1 T. light corn syrup
• 1 tsp. almond extract (do not skip this!)
• 4 oz. 72% dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
• 1 refrigerated pie crust (I use Pillsbury refrigerated pie dough if I don’t make my own)
• 1-1.5 T. half and half or cream
• 1-2 T. light brown sugar or decorative large crystal baking sugar

Instructions

1. Remove stems and pit 12-16 oz. (3/4-1 lb.) of fresh cherries. I use a pitting tool, but if you don’t have one, cut the cherries in half and remove the pit. After pitting the cherries, cut them in half.
2. Chop the chocolate into small pieces.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
4. Mix the halved cherries in a mixing bowl with granulated sugar and cornstarch till well-coated and the white disappears. Next, add the light corn syrup, almond extract and chopped dark chocolate and mix to combine.
5. Remove one prepared pie crust from the box (or make your own if you prefer) and place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. I sprayed a rolling pin with canola oil and I made the pie dough a little bigger, about an inch bigger all around so that it would accommodate all the filling that I made.
6. Place the filling in the center of the dough leaving 2 inches of dough empty all around.
7. Gently turn up the dough over some of the cherry-chocolate filling, pleating the dough as necessary as you move around the dough.
8. Brush the top of the dough with half and half. Sprinkle light brown sugar on top of the half and half.
9. Place the cookie sheet with the galette on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 25-30 minute till the dough is golden brown and the cherry-chocolate mixture is bubbling.
10. Remove from the oven and cool the galette on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes or till cool.

This galette is a cinch to make, and the result is impressive: rustic but still elegant.

The crust was flaky. The cherry-dark chocolate was indescribably delicious! The almond extract really enhances the cherry flavor. And you can even fool yourself into thinking it is partially healthy, since it is made with fresh cherries (natural antioxidants) and dark chocolate, lol.

Serve it warm or at room temperature. It’s delicious on its own and even more divine with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Allison Cohen

 | Website

• Real Life in the Makeup Aisle
• Appearex: Biotin 2.5mg Supplement -- Nail Care
• Salma Hayek Nuance Renewed Radiance SPF 30 Moisturizing Day Cream
• Cleo Shower Cream Review