Galette With Cream Cheese Crust

Sour Cherry Galette with Cream Cheese Crust

a recipe from www.maureenabood.com
Both the filling and the crust in this recipe are blue-ribbon worthy: sweet-tart cherries and a flaky, crisp, can’t-get-enough crust. The cream cheese dough is incredibly forgiving and is adapted from a recipe by Martha Stewart. Galettes are all about free form, so feel free to make two smaller 6-inch or one large 12-inch galette.
Crust:
2 1⁄4 cups flour, plus more for rolling the dough
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1” pieces 6 oz. cream cheese, very cold, cut into 1” pieces
3-4 tablespoons ice water

Fruit Filling:
3 cups pitted tart cherries
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca or cornstarch 1 cup sugar, plus more for dusting
Few drops of rose water
1⁄4 cup heavy cream or whole milk, to wash the crust

Directions:
To make the dough, in a food processor pulse the flour, salt, and sugar. With the processor turned off, add all of the butter and cream cheese. Pulse until large crumbs (1⁄2 -inch) and some smaller crumbs form. Add the ice water one tablespoon at a time, pulsing until the dough comes together in a ball, but many crumbs still remain. The less the dough is worked, the tenderer it will be. Turn the dough and crumbs out onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Wrap the dough in a flat disc, or divide the dough in half and wrap each separately if making two smaller tarts, and refrigerate for at least one hour and up to one day.

Line a heavy sheet pan (18”x13”) with parchment paper. Place a rack in the middle position of the oven, and heat the oven to 375 ̊F.

In a medium bowl, combine the pitted cherries, tapioca, sugar, and rose water.

Lightly flour the work surface and rolling pin. If the dough is very cold and hard, let it rest for 15 minutes.

 Use plenty of pressure on the rolling pin to begin to soften and roll out the dough. Roll the dough in a 16-inch round (or a 12-inch round if making two smaller tarts) about 1/8-1/4 – inch thick, lifting it off of the work surface every few rolls and adding more flour to both the rolling pin and the work surface. 

Gently transfer the dough to the parchment-lined sheet pan.

Fill the center of the dough with the sugared cherries, spreading the cherries out. Fold the edges of the dough up around the cherries, moving in one direction around the tart as you fold.

Brush the top of the dough with the cream or milk.
Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 ̊F and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes for a total bake time of 45-50 minutes, or until the cherries are bubbling and juicy.

Remove the tart from the oven and cool briefly. Serve warm or at room temperature.