Testing Recipes :: Rustic Berry Galettes

I have to admit I've been a very lazy blogger lately.  :-(  I thought the holidays would have me to the kitchen everyday baking batches and batches of cookies and giant feasts, but it's been just the opposite.  A. and I have been ordering an absurd amount of takeout, I haven't been to the farmer's market in weeks, and I hardly remember where it is that I store all of my kitchen contraptions.  It's actually quite sad now that I think about it.  ...I've just been so busy lately, with work, holiday get- togethers, and holiday shopping that it's sort of just happened; and I've missed it.

But, I'll stop complaining, and get cooking. :-)  

I decided to start testing ideas for a Christmas Eve dessert.  My parents will be making a delicious dinner, and I volunteered to make dessert.  I wanted something different, not too heavy, and individual sized.  So I thought: mini-galettes filled with berries!  Perfect! Don't they look like rustic little presents?  I topped them with a heaping spoonful of creme fraiche and lemon zest.  Who wouldn't be excited to get this on their plate at the end of a meal!

You can use fresh berries if you find them, or use up any frozen ones you have leftover from summer.  The dough  was much easier than i imagined.  It is a basic Pate Brisee french pie crust which I made without a food processor (since I only have a mini-prep) by grating the almost frozen butter.  I used the recipe from Joy of Baking ...and rather that re-explain the process, I'm posting the link since I think their instructions are perfect!

Enjoy!

MINI BERRY GALETTES  (inspired by Milk Eggs Chocolate)

1 batch Pate Brisee dough

3 cups of mixed berries

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup cream cheese

4 tablespoons Powdered Sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Lemon Zest and Creme Fraiche (or whipped cream) for garnish

Make the Pate Brisee dough.  *If you are not using a food processor incorporate the almost frozen butter into the flour by using a cheese grater to cut up the butter into small pieces.  Then quickly mix with your hands or a metal dough whisk if you have one.  Divide the dough into 8 pieces and store in the fridge in plastic wrap for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Season the fruit with the brown sugar and cinnamon in a mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk the cream cheese with the sugar and vanilla. 

For each tart, roll out a piece of dough to be about 6" in diameter.  Spread about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture in the center, making sure you leave 1" all around with no spread.  Top the center with a small mound of the berries (divide equally into 8 parts).  Crimp the edges of the dough over the fruit to create a crust.  

Continue to assemble the tarts.  Bake on a lightly floured baking sheet for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling.

To serve, top with a spoonful of cream and grate a bit of lemon zest over each tart.