Mango and Blueberry Galette (or is it Crostada?)

I’ve got a friend who owns a bakery. She makes these wonderful dessert bites; little hors d’oeuvres that seem like they should be on display rather than eaten. Unfortunately, I have neither the skill nor the patience for that. My desserts lean heavily towards the rustic. It doesn’t mean they are any less flavorful, but they are definitely meant to be eaten and not admired for their artistic quality.

Galettes and crostadas fall nicely into this category. I’m not sure exactly what the difference between them is other than their origins. Honestly, the way I look at it: if it has Italian influences, then it’s a crostada; otherwise it’s a galette. (If you have any idea and I’m completely wrong, let me know). Speaking of Italian influences, this client had us design her entire kitchen around an Italian print she found.

Mangoes and blueberries are in abundant supply right now. The local mega mart has blueberries for $1.50 a pint and mangoes for 65 cents apiece. Who could pass that up?

Complimentary Flavors

Somewhere in the past I’ve had something which combined mangoes and blueberries. For the life of me, however, I cannot recall where or when. may have been ice cream (who knows?). So, I thought I’d try pairing the two in a pie. The blueberries were bursting with flavor this year, and the mild acidity of the mangoes compliments the berries’ jamminess.

The crust is flaky and delicate – almost too delicate, but not quite. It definitely needs to cool completely before you try to cut it. If the juice runs out during the baking process, you should probably use a large spatula and loosen it from the parchment before it sets up completely.

This is one of those things that tastes even better when it sits overnight, but I’m not suggesting you make that a regular habit. If I don’t have the patience for fine details, I certainly don’t have time to wait around overnight for flavors to meld (even though I ought to). I’m surprised we had any that lasted into the second day in order to find out. My only regret is that I didn’t have any cream (either whipped or ice) in the house to go with it.

So take some time and enjoy the great flavors of the season. Maybe next time I should avoid the confusion and just make this in a dish and call it a pie instead – or is that a cobbler?