Strawberry & Mint Galette with Balsamic Reduction

Strawberry & Mint Galette with Balsamic Reduction, rustic & full of flavors. The flaky buttery pastry, walnut, mint, strawberries & balsamic reduction compliment with each other so beautifully!!

Ever since the strawberries came in season, these gorgeous Strawberry & Mint Galette’s were always in my to-do list and yes the strawberries will vanish in another few days. But don’t know what took me so long to make these, I finally gave into my temptation and made these. I am really thankful to myself for baking these gorgeous Galette’s.

So the result of the baking was this perfect rich, buttery and flaky crust with walnuts, juicy strawberries, mint and oh I can go on and on. The balsamic reduction drizzled on the top infact gave this dessert a whole new dimension. VK infact made my day saying this was the best pastry he has ever eaten, pure heaven.

Initially I had planned to use basil along with strawberries for the Galette but then found that I had run out of basil, quick searching refrigerator gave me this fresh and beautiful looking mint. Strawberries, mint and balsamic happened in instantly and I decided to use some walnuts as well. Was not sure what am doing, what would be the end result but boy this was one dessert that floored me totally. I’m glad I trusted my gut instinct and went
ahead to bake this masterpiece.

If you haven’t paired strawberries with mint in your bake please go ahead. The refreshing, sweet and mellow flavor from mint paired so beautifully with strawberries and the baked Gallete looked to die for. You would not believe once I was done with the shoot I sat back and enjoyed my dessert leaving the rest to be done later. This is seriously so good and I ‘m
planning to bake more galettes and a savory one over the weekend. The man of the house who does not enjoy strawberries loved it and asked me to bake it again. What else you need when the food you cook is loved by all.

“If you have a dream it is you’re your duty and responsibility to make it come true….else you are a dreamer – Marco Pierre White”

Talking about the Galette, the dough here is rather simple and quick to make. All it requires is flour, sugar, cold butter, ice cold water and salt. Cold butter & ice cold water is mandatory otherwise the pastry will not be crisp and flaky. The process here is pretty simple, we just need to mix flour, sugar, salt then add cold butter and mix till it resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice cold water till mixture is moistened and everything comes in a form of dough. At no point allow the butter to melt, refrigerate the dough wrapped in cling film….I refrigerated mine for good 2 hours. Once chilled, time to roll the dough add the fruit and get it into oven for bake. Before adding the fruit, i sprinkled a good amount of crushed walnut, flour & sugar mixture and this ensures that the pastry is lovely crisp from the bottom too. And the walnut mixture will absorb the liquid released from fruit and not letting the pastry turn soggy. Now add the sliced strawberries macerated in some sugar and mint leaves, fold the dough over the strawberries, give an egg wash and sprinkle some sugar and then bake for good 40 – 45 minutes. Enjoy your Galette warm drizzled with some balsamic reduction!!

Sharing the recipe below

Ingredients for Galette Crust

· 205 grams all purpose flour

· 140 grams cold unsalted butter cut into pieces

· ½ tsp salt

· 2 tsp granulated sugar

· 3 tbsp ice cold water

Ingredients for the filling

· 400 grams strawberries hulled and sliced

· ½ cup fresh mint leaves roughly torn

· 1/ 2 cup toasted and ground walnuts

· 40 grams granulated sugar + 2 tsp

· 1 tbsp all purpose flour

· 1 egg for egg wash

Balsamic reduction for drizzling on top (recipe below)

Instructions

· In a medium bowl whisk the flour, sugar and salt. Add chopped butter, now using your fingertips mix till it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the ice cold water and very quickly mix till it comes in a form of dough. Use can do this in food processor as well, I did it with hands.

· Shape into a disc, wrap in a cling film and refrigerate for minimum 2 hours. Refrigeration is very important for the pastry to be crisp and flaky, so make sure at any point of time your dough is cold.

· While the dough is chilling in a small bowl mix together the ground walnuts, flour and sugar. Set aside.

· Let’s macerate our strawberries. Stir together the sliced strawberries, sugar and mint in a medium bowl and let it stand at room temperature till the juices are released. Say for 20 minutes.

· Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (400 F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

· Once the dough is chilled, divide it into four equal parts. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into a circle, transfer the dough to prepared baking sheet. I got four 6 inch Galettes.

· Spread a generous amount of the walnut sugar mixture onto the centre of the dough leaving 2 inch margin all around. Spoon the macerated strawberries on top of the walnut mixture. Gently fold the edges of the edges of the dough over the strawberries, overlapping whenever necessary and gently press to seal the edges. Brush the edges with egg and sprinkle some granulated sugar.

· Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

· Bake for about 40 – 45 minutes till the crust is crisp and golden. Allow to cool.

· Serve warm with some balsamic reduction drizzled on top.

For Balsamic reduction

Ingredients

· 1 ½ cup balsamic vinegar

· ¼ cup brown sugar

Instructions

· In a saucepan add the balsamic vinegar and sugar, stir over medium heat till the
sugar dissolves. Once it begins to boil lower the heat and let it simmer till
reduced to half and begins to coat the back of the spoon. Takes around 15
minutes.

· Allow to cool, transfer into a container and refrigerate.

Bon Appétit!!

Thanks so much,