Blueberries in Season

Berry season out here in the Vancouver area is absolutely wonderful time of year. Choices of local farms to pick your own berries abound (I love Krauseberry Farms) and you also have the option to go organic, Formosa Nursery in Pitt Meadows. If you are too lazy or don't want to hurt your back, the farms usually give you the option to pay a little more and you can purchase already picked berries.

Now the conundrum is, what to do with the buckets of berries once you have them home? I try not to over pick, but the sight of juicy, ripe, succulent berries always gets the better of me. My kids suffer from the same syndrome...

Here is what I did...

Being obsessed with everything French, I am trying my inexperienced hand at reproducing some popular french desserts at home. I recently discovered a dessert called a Galette; they are types of flat, round or freeform crusty cakes that can have a variety of different fillings. Since I have a plethora of blueberries that I have to free some fridge space of and some frozen blackberries, they will be the chosen flavour of my very first galette.

I discovered a recipe on Cooking Light that included cornmeal in the dough of the crust, and I have to say after making this, I could eat this crust just on its own. It added a little bit of wonderful to the texture of the dessert.

Using fresh ingredients is the key, but if it is off season, frozen berries do work as well.

Pastry-

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 7 3/4 ounces)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup fat-free buttermilk

Filling-

• 4 cups blueberries
• 2 cups blackberries
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fat-free milk
• 1 large egg white
• 1 1/2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

To prepare pastry, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a food processor; pulse two times. Add butter to flour mixture; pulse 4 to 5 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor on, slowly add buttermilk through food chute; process just until dough forms a ball. Gently press dough into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover. Chill 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Unwrap and place dough on a sheet of parchment paper. Place a piece of plastic wrap over dough before rolling to avoid sticking to your pin. Roll dough into a 15-inch circle and place dough and parchment on a baking sheet.

To prepare filling, combine berries and next 3 ingredients (through juice) in a medium bowl; toss gently to coat. Arrange berry mixture in center of dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold edges of dough toward center, pressing gently to seal (dough will only partially cover berry mixture).

Combine fat-free milk and egg white in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Brush dough with milk mixture; sprinkle turbinado sugar evenly over dough. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until pastry is golden brown. Let stand 30 minutes; cut into wedges.

This dessert oozes not only berry juice, but rustic charm and amazing flavour. This recipe will become a staple in my household and I am so excited to try a different fruit. Maybe apple/marscapone, apricot/almond, pear/blueberry... the possibilites are endless.

Here is a little hint; it is a very easy dessert to make, but believe me, I won't be divulging that little secret to my guests any time soon.