Masterclass
Summer’s Sweetest Bounty ’Tis the season of lush, BC berries
W
hether your baking is rustic or refined, we’ve got some great ideas for show-
R ECIPE S + T E X T
S T Y L ING + PHO T OGR A PH Y
Denise Marchessault
Deb Garlick
casing the season’s bounty: sun-ripened berries and sweet cherries. And BC has plenty to offer—our homegrown raspberries and prized cherries
account for the bulk of Canada’s production. And did you know the Fraser Valley is one of the top blueberry-producing regions in the world? So while our kitchens remain a safe haven this summer, let’s embrace this unprecedented baking revival with BC’s sweetest resource. There’s no better way to show off plump blueberries and sweet blackberries than tucked into a galette laced with a touch of almond cream. With no fussy crimping or pie plate involved, galettes come together easily. It’s as simple as scattering sugar-dusted berries onto a rectangle of pastry, then folding the edges to encase the fruit. Once baked, the galette is topped with fresh berries. Served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a berry galette sums up the best of summer. If your tastes veer towards a more delicate pastry, you’ll enjoy these classic fruit tarts filled with a dollop of jam and a luscious, rum-spiked custard. The pastry, similar to a rich buttery shortbread, comes together as easily as cookie dough and can be baked days in advance (and frozen even longer). The custard, too, can be made in advance, and because it’s stabilized with gelatin, it won’t become weepy or runny like some creamy fillings. Although the galette and tarts are made from completely different doughs, the techniques for managing them are much the same. And once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, nothing will throw you off your pastry game. Cookbooks tell us that pastry requires a light touch and minimal use of flour. But that’s difficult to practice when your dough is sticking to everything in sight. The way around this is to place your dough on a sheet of parchment paper dusted with flour; then cover the dough with plastic wrap. You can then roll a rolling pin over the plastic wrap to flatten the dough. This prevents the dough from sticking to your work surface and rolling pin. More important, it prevents you from adding too much flour or overworking the dough. And it doesn’t make a mess of your kitchen! Time and temperature also play an important role. Dough needs to be refrigerated to allow the fat to firm and the gluten to relax (which makes it easier to roll out). Chilling also prevents the dough from shrinking when in the oven. Because dough contains a high ratio of fat, it’s easiest to handle when cool. If your dough becomes too warm and floppy to manage, return it to the fridge to firm up. Likewise, if your dough is cold and too firm to manage, leave it on the counter for a couple of minutes before handling. Yes, handcrafted pastry takes a bit of patience, but the results are far better than anything you can buy pre-made. There’s no better time to explore the art of baking, so grab an apron and let the flour fly! BC’s berries deserve your homemade best. 24 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020
The dusty finish on blueberries, the ‘bloom’, is a sure sign of freshness. It serves as a protective barrier against insects and bacteria and it seals in moisture. Rinse blueberries just before using.
