Recipes

This crumbly tart is the perfectly light ending to any spring meal. Generously spread Lemon Curd over the top of the galette, spoon it over ice cream, or eat it straight out of the bowl—it’s delicious!

Galette

1 cup all-purpose flour

1¼ teaspoons baking powder

10 tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature

⅔ cup sugar

½ teaspoon fleur de sel or ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

1 large egg

Topping

About 1 cup lemon curd, homemade or store-bought

About 3 cups berries

Red currant jelly, for glazing (optional)

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

Lemon Curd

1¼ cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

About ¾ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 4 to 5 lemons)

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Galette

Whisk the flour and baking powder together and keep at hand.

Working in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until it is soft and creamy. Add the sugar and salt and continue to beat for another 2 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in the egg, mix for 2 minutes more, then reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the flour and mix only until it is blended into the mixture—you’ll have a very soft dough.

Working with a rubber or silicone spatula, give the dough a few turns by hand to make sure you’ve picked up all the dry ingredients at the bottom of the bowl, then scrape the dough onto a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap. Press down on the dough to form it into a disk, then wrap it well and chill it for at least 3 hours or for up to 3 days.

When you are almost ready to bake the galette, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325˚. Butter a 9-to 9-½ inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Working between pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap, get the dough moving by rolling it into a circle. If it’s too difficult to roll—it’s soft and it has a tendency to break—skip the rolling part and go directly to the patting part. Put the dough in the center of the tart pan and pat and press it into an even layer. Don’t press the dough up the sides of the pan—you want as flat a surface as you can get. Place the pan on the baking sheet.

Bake the galette for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the crust comes away from the sides of the pan. When you press the galette gently, it won’t feel completely firm, but that’s just fine. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack, let the galette rest for 3 minutes or so, then invert it onto another rack. Cool to room temperature right side up.

Lemon Curd

Working in a heavy-bottomed medium-sized saucepan, whisk the sugar and eggs together until blended. Whisk in the corn syrup and lemon juice, and then drop in the chunks of butter.

Put the saucepan over medium heat and start whisking, taking care to work the whisk into the “corners” of the pan. If your whisk is too big to clean the edges of the pan, switch to a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula. Keep heating and whisking the mixture without stopping. After about 6 or 8 minutes, the curd has noticeably thickened and, most importantly, you'll see a bubble or two come to the surface then pop.

Remove the pan from the heat immediately and scrape the curd into a heatproof bowl (a measuring cup is good) or a canning jar or two. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and let the curd come to room temperature.

Storing: Packed in an airtight container with a piece of plastic wrap pressed against the surface, the curd can be refrigerated for at least 3 weeks.

To top the galette: Just before you’re ready to serve, put the galette on a flat serving plate and spoon over as much lemon curd as you’d like, spreading it in swirls, and leaving a little of the edge bare (because the curd will spread when you cut the base). If you’re using strawberries, hull them, leave them whole, or slice them in half from top to bottom and arrange the halves attractively over the curd. If you’ve got raspberries or blueberries or a mélange, either scatter the berries over the curd or arrange them neatly in pretty circles.

If you want to give the galette a little glaze, warm some currant jelly with a tiny splash of water until it liquefies. You can either drizzle the glaze over the berries or use a pastry brush or feather to paint the berries with the jelly.