Muffin Top

With a few cups of olallieberries and boysenberries still left from our Saturday berry picking outing, even after making the berry galette, I thought a bit about what to make next.

I readily munched on the strawberries we picked, but the olallieberries and boysenberries were too tart to eat fresh. And yet, they were rendering more juice by the day (in this gruesome way, I have to describe it as–and this may not be fitting for a food blog about good eats–the berries just bleeding their juices–they were dying a ghastly death!)–and so the pressure to consume them quickly mounted.

What to make next? Again, I was feeling lazy, still possibly spent from the berry picking outing, or a frenetic work day or well, maybe I was simply lazy. So I thumbed through an old repertoire of flavors and dishes…and then it hit me: a buckle.

I’ve made a delicious almond plum buckle before, here on Muffin Top, and it is a dessert that I am an absolute fan of. But could I translate it to something fitting for boysenberries and olallieberries? The almond plum buckle had flavors that would not necessarily complement berries, and of course, the berries were way more “mushy” than a plum that could hold its structure throughout the baking process.

But I imagined the berries, suspended in a cake mixture, and felt determined to do it…and instead of almond extract, I used a BIG splash of chambord, a favorite berry liqueur of mine (I use it to make French Martinis–a combo of chambord, vodka, and pineapple juice).

The result? Wonderful. And the cake-like buckle is a delightful foil to Berry Usage Case #1, the galette.

Recipe follows after the jump…

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What to do with all the olallieberries and boysenberries picked on Saturday? Aside from the option of eating them unfettered and freshly washed, straight from the bowl, I explored a few options of berry consumption.

And from the looks of my berries the next day, I had better think of them fast–they were slumping and letting go of their juice. Berries simply don’t keep too long!

One of the more obvious options for using fruit is pie–in fact, berry pie was one of the things we mulled over while tugging at the luscious fruit on the vines. But, you see, I am totally lazy sometimes, and the thought of making a crust and putting it in a pie pan and then making a crust for the pie top overwhelmed me. I guess I used all my diligence for the actual berrypicking!

And besides, if you’re someone who likes that buttery pie crust most of all, you’ll prefer a galette. What is a galette? I like to describe it as a “flat pie”–a rustic pie without the pie pan, and with less fruit. But if you want a more formal definition, here’s one from foodtv:

“Definition: [gah-LEHT] Hailing from France, a galette is a round, rather flat cake made of flaky-pastry dough, yeast dough or sometimes unleavened dough. The term also applies to a variety of tarts, both savory and sweet, and there are as many variations as there are French regions. They may be topped with fruit, jam, nuts, meat, cheese, etc. Galette des Rois, the traditional cake served during Twelfth Night festivities, often contains a bean or other token, which is guaranteed to bring the recipient good luck.”

Galettes are one of my favorite desserts to make, and I make them with just about every fruit. With apples (and I’ll add a bit of lemon juice and zest to the apple mixture), peaches, blueberries, etc., etc.

The bottomline: it’s easy to make and tastes like a delicious pie. The most labor intensive part of making a galette is the dough for the pie crust, and you can use any recipe you like to do so, whether it be one made of rendered leaf lard or shortening (bleah–but it’s popular), or my favorite, butter (Martha Stewart’s pate sucree recipe below). Notice I did not lay out storebought pie crust as an option. Each option has its pros and cons, and makes for a good debate. But I like butter, because it tastes good and well…I don’t have to go render lard (though I am eyeing the duck fat in my freezer for a future pie crust experiment), and butter is readily available.

Of course, the downside is that you’ll still have berries left over, after making this…which means I’ve got to discover Berry Usage Case #2…!

Recipe follows after the jump…

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