Brie and Blackberry Galette with Lavender Honey

I know that a galette sounds like it’s gonna be *really fancy* and possibly time-intensive, but this couldn’t be easier! I had some left-over puff pastry from making my air fryer cronuts the other day so I used puff pastry for this recipe. However, it can also be done with pie crust (which is traditional for galettes) for a slightly denser and crunchier bite. Just because this recipe is easy to make doesn’t mean it doesn’t look and taste *fancy*- it makes a great appetizer or even a dessert for a little mix of sweet and savory. I topped this with some homemade lavender honey (more info on that in the rest of the blog post,) but that’s totally optional!

 

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A post shared by Skyler Bouchard Oppenheim (@diningwithskyler)

What is a Galette?

A galette is a French style free-formed crust with sweet or savory filling. It’s basically pie and tart’s wayyyy more chill, easy going cousin. Some differences: First, a tart uses a straight up & down crust, and is baked in a baking dish of some kind (think spring-form pan or sheet pan) while a galette is baked right on a baking dish, and usually has a more rustic edge and a little flatter, depending on what it’s filled with. That’s actually the real beauty of a galette- since it’s free-form, you don’t need any special equipment, and the rustic look it’s meant to have means it’s great for amateurs. In simple terms: you really can’t f*ck it up. In this version, I am using puff pastry not traditional dough so it’s going to come out flakier and lighter, compared to a traditional galette that would be a little more dense and crunchy. Either way you want to make this it’s going to come out amazing!

Now for the filling … you can follow this recipe to a tee, OR make it your own. There’s really so much room for personal expression here, everything from the herbs to the cheese to the fruit to the honey is interchangeable. I’m using a nice brie here, but camembert or any kind of creamy goat or sheep’s milk brie works great as well. For the fruit on top, I went with blackberries because I love the color and the tartness they add to the creamy cheese, but you could substitute blueberries, strawberries… even peaches! Feel free to get creative with the fruit/cheese/herb combo here. The only thing I want to note is that you’ve got to use fresh fruit- frozen will make the dough too soggy.  You could even make a fruit compote with a few different types and a little sugar if that’s what you’re feeling. Have leftover pie filling? This is a great use for that. If you are going straight up dessert, that might be the way to go if you want it a little on the sweeter side. 

What’s up with this Homemade Lavender Honey?

Obviously this sounds pretty intense, but let’s be real, I made it, so it’s not. Traditionally, you’d take sprigs of culinary lavender and let it soak in some good quality honey for like a month…. but I don’t have time for that and I doubt you do either. So instead, I’m infusing lavender with water and reducing that in some honey so that it picks up the flavor. You can also buy store bought lavender honey. Or, you can use regular honey and the dish won’t suffer at all.  I just love lavender so that was a personal choice.

This galette is a real stunner and I recommend bringing it as an appetizer or dessert to share- it’s sort of like a sweet and savory and SUPER rich pizza, so eating this solo might take its toll. Either way, you’ll be whipping up an incredibly beautiful and delicious final product that looks like something only a pro could create!