Mixed Berry Galette

A mixed berry free form tart baked until golden.

 This berry galette loaded with ripe summer strawberries, blueberries and cherries is a quintessential summer dessert. A rustic fruit tart, you can substitute other fruits like raspberries or blackberries and top it with a scoop of vanilla for red white and blue food that’s a great 4th of July dessert.

It’s lucky for us that our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th.  If they’d signed it on January 4th, there’s no way you’d find sweet, ripe red and blue fruits to make your red white and blue food tribute to our nation’s birthday. Luckily, July 4th is the date and it happens to coincide with the height of berry season — perfect for this heavenly mixed berry galette.

For the uninitiated a galette is really nothing more than a rustic fruit tart or crostata (a rose by any other name would smell as sweet). This one starts with four cups of fresh, ripe berries.  Use whatever fruits you have, but if you want to stick with the red white and blue food theme – strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and cherries would be my recommendation.

The one thing you should be aware of is the OOZE.  The berry filling breaking through its flaky crust confines and swamping a half sheet pan with magenta hued sweet goo — overflowing the pastry, creeping out of a crack and spreading across the pan (yeah, try cleaning that). I’ve tried thickeners like cornstarch,  arrowroot and tapioca to varying degrees of success, and always with a bit of frustration — it’s a simple rustic tart – it shouldn’t be that hard…  Not anymore.  I’ve found the answer.  The ultimate containment for an act-of-God tidal wave of fruit ooze…  Pay attention: It’s Instant ClearJel. This is the Sham-Wow! of fruit thickeners.

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It’s essentially modified food starch, but it has very unique properties… It doesn’t need to be mixed with liquid before being added to bubbling fruit in order to thicken.  It doesn’t make your fruit filling cloudy the way other thickeners will and it can be tossed with uncooked fruit to stellar results. Also, if you’re freezing pies (either before or after baking) Instant ClearJel will prevent the fruit from leaking like the Kilauea lava streams. (I know you want it – so the affiliate links are at the end of the post).

Just mix the Instant ClearJel with sugar (to prevent it from clumping on the fruit) and sprinkle it over the berries.  Toss to coat completely.  You’ll actually see it soaking up any errant liquids in the bowl and the appearance of the fruit may seem almost crusty — that’s ok.

Pile the fruit in the center of an 11″ round pastry crust.  Yes, you can use Pillsbury or any other ready made crust — I did and it works great!

Brush the edges of the berry galette with cream or half and half.

Then sprinkle the entire rustic fruit tart with sparkling sugar for a pretty twinkle and light crunch.

Bake the mixed berry galette on a half sheet pan lined with a piece of parchment paper for about 25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the fruit filling is bubbly.

These are actual pictures of my berry galette as I took it from the oven.  Those little dark specks are bits of caramelized sparkling sugar — but no ooze. No cascade of fruit filling — it all stays where it’s supposed to  — contained in the crust of this rustic fruit tart.

Let the berry galette rest a bit before serving it warm – preferably with a scoop of vanilla ice cream — you know, as a  red, white and blue recipe homage to America’s birthday.

mixed berry galette with vanilla ice cream.

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A slice of the blueberry strawberry galette on a plate.
Print Pin
4.88 from 8 votes

Easy Summer Berry Galette

Fresh summer berries, bathed in fruit jam and baked in a flaky crust.  Ten minutes to prep.
Author: Lisa Lotts
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword fruit tart, galette, fruit pie
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 8

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 9-inch pie crust
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Instant ClearJel
  • 4 cups mixed berries I used strawberries, blueberries and raspberries
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons half and half
  • 2 tablespoons sparkling sugar (can use demerara)

DIRECTIONS:

  • Preheat the oven to 450°. Line a half sheet pan with a silpat or parchment paper. Set aside.
  • Line a work surface with plastic wrap.  Set the pie pastry in the center and lay another layer of plastic wrap over the pastry.  Use a rolling pin to roll out the pie pastry to about 10″-11″ round.  Remove one layer of plastic and turn the pie pastry out onto the silpat.  Remove the other layer of plastic wrap and discard.
  • Wash the berries with cool water. If using strawberries, remove the stems and cut into quarters or eighths depending on how large they are. Combine the berries in a large bowl and set aside.
  • In a small bowl, combine the sugar and Instant ClearJel until well mixed.
  • Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the berries and carefully fold it into the berries until the fruit is well coated.
  • Pile the berries into the center of the pie crust, leaving about 1 1/2″ – 2″ border. Fold the edges of the pastry over the berries, overlapping  and lightly pinching at the edges.
  • Brush the pastry with creamand sprinkle the entire tart with sparkling sugar.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the center is bubbly.  Tart may leak, but that’s ok, 
  • Let the tart rest for 20 minutes or to room temperature then transfer to a serving platter to slice.  Serve with ice cream, whipped cream or powdered sugar.

NUTRITION:

Calories: 202kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 104mg | Potassium: 70mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 50IU | Vitamin C: 2.6mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 0.8mg

“Pin It” For Later!

Use your favorite berries for a yummy summer fruit dessert! This easy berry galette comes together in 15 min. 25 min. in the oven. A great berry crostata. #blueberries #cherries #strawberries #mixedberries #crostata #galette #berrypie #fruitpie #easyfruitpie #homemadecrostata #homemadegalette #strawberrygalette #cherrygalette #blueberrygalette #summerdesserts #summerfruits #summerberries

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11 Comments

  1. 4 stars
    Hi Lisa, thank you so much for this recipe, had tried other galettes in the past, that never worked. Today I tried this beautiful one with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.. I however added a bit more sugar because the blueberries were tart, and had to bake it for 35 min. Next time around I will try this recipe with 3 cups of fruit, because I like to have the crust come up and over more than this did. This tasted better a few hours after taking it out of the oven, when some of the berry flavor permeated the crust. When we tried a piece fairly soon after taking it out of the oven, the crust tasted like flour… not in a good way in my opinion. So do let it rest! The trick of using the Clear Jel (I only had Clear Jel not Instant Clear Jel) works like a charm! So thank you for that Lisa, and for the beautiful pictures walking us through the recipe! The fear of gallette making is gone!

    1. I’m so glad it worked well for you, Ann! Thanks for letting me know — good tip on letting it sit for a while.

  2. 5 stars
    I think galettes are just gorgeous. This one is no exception! The colors of the berries are amazing, I wish I would just reach right in the screen and grab a slice!

  3. 5 stars
    I would love to try this clearjel, since I make so many pies lol!! Sounds very interesting! Thanks for sharing this!! I will be sure to check it out

  4. 5 stars
    I have never used this Instant Clearjel! I have tried everything and I know what you mean about the ooze! Jackhammer won’t clean it off of the baking sheet! This looks so delicious! I love berry season! Thanks for the tip!

    1. Give it a shot, Beth. It’s life-changing.

  5. 5 stars
    Your post is making me go right to the store and buy everything. I love this and cant wait for dessert tonight! Thanks so much!

  6. 5 stars
    OMG I totally can’t wait to try this!! Already added it to my wants in Amazon for my next buy!

  7. 5 stars
    This galette looks so delicious! I love mixed berries, so this would be a perfect dessert in our house. Pinned for later!