Close-up of Chocolate Cherry Galette, as seen on Mary Makes It Easy, Season 2.
Recipe courtesy of Mary Berg

Chocolate Cherry Galette

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  • Level: Easy
  • Total: 4 hr (includes chilling and cooling times)
  • Active: 1 hr
  • Yield: 8 to 10 servings
This French crusty pastry cake is made with the decadent combination of chocolate and cherry.

Ingredients

Pastry:

Filling:

Topping:

Directions

  1. For the pastry: Add the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt to a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the butter and, using your fingers, press and snap the butter in until the pieces are no bigger than a chickpea. Pour over 6 tablespoons of the cold coffee and mix just until the dough looks crumbly but holds together when squeezed, adding more coffee as needed.
  2. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and lightly knead a few times to form a ball. Wrap in a piece of plastic, press into a 1-inch-thick disk and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours to rest, rechill the fat and hydrate the flour.
  3. Meanwhile, make the filling by pitting the cherries. If you do not have a cherry pitter, pit the cherries by placing on top of an empty wine bottle and piercing through the cherry with a chopstick – this will get a bit messy so be careful of splatter. The pit will fall into the wine bottle, leaving you with a perfectly pitted cherry. Transfer the pitted cherries into a bowl.
  4. Add the sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg and salt to the bowl and stir to combine. Stir in the lemon juice, vanilla and brandy if using.
  5. Arrange your oven rack to the lowest position and heat to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
  6. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll the pastry out into a 1/4-inch-thick circle. Transfer the dough to the parchment-lined pan and spoon the cherry filling in the center, leaving about a 3-inch border all the way around. Fold the edges of the pastry up over the fruit to form a crust.
  7. For the topping: In a small bowl, beat together the egg and milk or water to make an egg wash and brush over the pastry. Scatter with the turbinado sugar and bake on the bottom rack of your oven until the pastry is crisp, 35 to 40 minutes.
  8. Allow the galette to cool completely before slicing and serving.

Cook’s Note

If fresh cherries aren’t available, thawed frozen cherries will work well. As frozen cherries produce more juice when thawed, strain away the juice (I like to save it to add to cocktails or soda water) and add another 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to the mixture.