Bilberry galette with meadowsweet dust recipe

Serves 6
A little tricky

This tasty bilberry galette with meadowsweet dust recipe requires a bit of work but is worth the effort

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By Adele Nozedar

Published: October 1st, 2018 at 11:41 am

Bilberries Vaccinium myrtillus

These may have a different name where you live; they’re also known as wimberries, blueberries, huckleberries or even mucky-mouths. You’ll find them in hilly places often right beside heather.

Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria
Meadowsweet is a chef’s delight. Found beside country roads, streams and rivers, its fragrantly fluffy blossoms smell and taste like almonds. To make the dust, simply pick it on a dry day then crumble the flowers onto a sheet of clean white paper. Leave the dust for a few days to dry then store it in an airtight jar.

Ingredients

To make the galette

Bilberries 650g
Caster sugar 3 tbs
Cornflour 2 tbsp
Fruit jam (preferably bilberry) 1 tbs
Ricotta cheese, cream or ice cream 100g, Optional to serve

To make the pastry

Plain flour 225g, Plus a little extra for dusting
Salted butter 50g, Cold, diced
Caster sugar 50g
Egg yolks 4, Medium

Method

Pastry

Step 1

Sieve the flour into a large bowl, then add the butter and mix them together between your fingertips until they form ‘breadcrumbs’.
Step 2

Add the rest of the ingredients, stir them until they combine, wrap the mixture in clingfilm and refrigerate it for half an hour.

Galette

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 190°C.
Step 2

Mix the berries with the sugar and cornflour.
Step 3

Take a large sheet of nonstick baking paper (approx 30cm²) and dust it with flour.
Step 4

Take the cold pastry and roll it out on the paper until it’s 23cm in diameter. Use the paper to lift the pastry into a circular, loose-bottomed 23cm flan tray. The edges of the pastry will hang over the tray.
Step 5

Pile the fruit onto the pastry then fold the excess pastry over to form the galette.
Step 6

Bake the galette for about 30 minutes until the fruit is bubbling and
the pastry is crisp.
Step 7

Glaze the galette with the jam and leave it to cool before removing it from the tin.
Step 8

Lightly dust it with meadowsweet and serve with a dollop of ricotta cheese, cream or ice cream.

Illustration: Enya Lai

Adele Nozedar

Adele Nozedar is a forager and author of The Hedgerow Handbook, The Tree Forager, and Foraging with Kids. She regularly leads foraging workshops and tours at major festivals across the UK. She lives in the Brecon Beacons.