I had strawberries. A lot of strawberries. Due to a wet, miserable and achingly long spring, local strawberries haven’t yet made an appearance in my farmers markets so I turned to a not ideal option for a dinner party dessert I had my heart set on: Costco. Not surprisingly, they weren’t that great; rather large and bland without much of that sweetness that makes a strawberry a strawberry. Isn’t that always the case? But I hate wasting food so I made something with the extras, nearly half of the big ass container. Roasting often helps intensify flavors so in this spirit, I made a tart. An easy, freeform galette.
I also had some leftover mascarpone, that delightfully creamy, high fat, spreadable Italian cheese that makes me swoon. After I rolled my pastry dough into a big circle, I spread a thin layer of the mascarpone, topped it with a giant pile of sweetened strawberries and folded the dough up and over the edges of the berries. Dotted the top with butter, egg washed the pastry, sprinkled it with a coarse, crunchy sugar and into the oven for a nice, slow bake.
The baking definitely improved the berries, concentrating what little flavor they had. The filling was not too sweet and freshly jammy, if that’s even a thing. The surprise was the mascarpone. In my head, it would have been a thick creamy layer hidden under the berries. In reality, not so much. Logically, I knew this but I didn’t expect it to entirely disappear. Which it did. What was the point? Rather than create a layer of cream, it sort of absorbed the berry juices and melded the pastry and some of the berries into one sort of homogenous filling. Huh.
So should you do this? Make the galette, absolutely but to cheese or not to cheese? Honestly, I’m not entirely sure it’s necessary unless you have mascarpone lying about which I’m sure that happens almost never. So I say skip it. If you happened to have made tiramisu recently and have a 1/3 cup hanging about, go for it. But what you should for sure do is make the strawberry filling and bake the tart, mascarpone or not. Because it is delicious. How’s that for some wacky cooking advice? Do as I say, not as I do perhaps?
STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: TASTY CONFUSION. Not everything turns out as planned. This was one thing in my head, and while delicious, ended up being something else entirely. And that’s ok. It used up what I had and was thoroughly enjoyed by many. And that’s really what counts.
ten years ago: Brown Butter Banana Bread
nine years ago: Almond Tea Cake
eight years ago: Smoky Ginger Bacon Cookies
seven years ago: Coconut Layer Cake
six years ago: Rendering Lard
five years ago: Guinness Crème Anglaise
four years ago: Crispy Prosciutto, Parmesan Pea Dip
three years ago: Mashed Peas with Chile and Mint
two years ago: Plantain Chips with Cilantro Dipping Sauce
last year: Yellow Pickled Cauliflower & Carrots
STRAWBERRY MASCARPONE GALETTE
Makes one 10” tart, serves 8
While the directions below use a food processor to quickly make the pastry, you can certainly do it by hand in a big bowl, working the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers.
for the pastry:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 ½ Tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
6 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, ½” chunks
1 Tablespoon cold water
1 egg yolk
for the filling:
3 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/3 cup mascarpone (optional)
2 Tablespoons almond meal
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
for the egg wash:
1 egg white
1 Tablespoon milk or cream
1 ½ teaspoons sugar, coarse or granulated
- Preheat oven to 350°F and place rack in the lower third of the oven.
- For the pastry: In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar and salt.
- Add the cold butter cubes and pulse 6 or 7 times until butter is the size of peas.
- In a small bowl, combine the yolk and the cold water.
- Pour the yolk/water into the work bowl and process until dough comes together.
- Turn the dough out on the work surface and knead a few times to bring all the dry crumbs together.
- Pat into a round shape, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least ½ hour. (Will keep refrigerated for 2 days tightly wrapped or frozen up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge.)
- For the filling: In a bowl, combine the strawberries, lemon zest, sugar and cornstarch. Set aside.
- On a lightly floured piece of parchment or a silpat mat, roll the pastry to a 12-13” circle, lightly flouring the top to prevent any sticking.
- Spread the mascarpone on the pastry and leave about 1 ½” border all around. Sprinkle with the almond meal.
- Pile the strawberry mixture on top of the mascarpone.
- Dot the berries with the butter.
- Using the parchment paper or silicone mat, fold the dough border up over the berries, over about an inch of the filling, gently pressing the pastry down to create a creased/crimped edge. If it gets a bit messy, don’t worry– this is a rustic tart.
- Make the egg wash – combine the egg white and the milk (or cream.)
- With a pastry brush, glaze the outside crust and sprinkle the egg washed crust with the 1 ½ teaspoons of sugar (this will look nice and give a pleasant crunch.)
- Carefully slide the parchment sheet (or silpat mat) onto a heavy duty sheet pan.
- Bake the galette for 40-50 minutes until golden brown and bubbly, rotating halfway through baking.
- Cool completely before serving. The galette is best on the day it’s made but will keep, tightly covered, at room temperature for a day or two
STRESSCAKE 
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