Cherry Marzipan Galette

Jun 4

What’s not to love about pairing almonds and cherries in a rustic tart?! The subtle hint of almond flavor from the marzipan is perfect with the warm cherries. Top this tart with vanilla bean ice cream or homemade whipped cream, to complete this heavenly dessert. We think you will love it as much as we do! Want to read more about this recipe in our Blog Comments & Tips?

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RECIPE

(Check out our Step by Step Instructions below the recipe card.)

Recipe updated as of 3/25/22

Step by Step Instructions

Cherry Marzipan Galette prep.jpg — PREPARATION

Organize all your tools and ingredients before you begin. Getting all your ingredients in one place at the beginning will shorten your prep time.

line baking sheet with parchment paper.jpg — STEP 1a

Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a *baking sheet pan* with parchment paper and set aside.

STEP 1b

Remove 1 unbaked pie dough (try our *Amish Style Double Crust recipe*, or use your favorite crust recipe) from the refrigerator and let stand (keep it in plastic wrap) for about 5-10 minutes (see Notes below). This will make it easier to roll out the dough.
***Notes:*** Do not let dough rest at room temperature for longer than 10 minutes (especially on a hot day), as you don’t want want the butter to melt into the flour. Keeping the butter cold will result in a flaky crust when baked.
*Even though the photo shows two disks of dough from our* *Amish Double Pie Crust recipe, you need only one disk for this recipe. Reserve the second disk for another wonderful dish that requires a buttery pastry crust.*

STEP 2

a) Unwrap your rested dough disc and place it on a lightly floured surface.

b) Roll out dough in an even thickness until it reaches about 13 inches in diameter. Be sure to leave the crust edges a bit jagged for this tart.

c) To transfer your dough, place the lightly floured rolling pin at one end and gently roll up the end and lightly secure with your thumbs. Without pressing down, carefully roll up the dough onto the rolling pin.

d) Transfer your dough to the center of your parchment lined baking sheet pan.

e) In a small bowl, mix ½ tablespoon flour and ½ tablespoon granulated sugar (see note below). Leaving a 2 inch border around the outer edges, evenly sprinkle flour mixture over the center of the crust.

Note: This tiny bit of flour goes a long way to help the bottom of your crust from getting overly soggy. If you don’t want to use refined granulated sugar, try substituting 1:1 with coconut sugar.

a) Dough disc.

b) 13" diameter.

c) Roll onto pin.

d) Transfer to baking sheet.

e) Sprinkle mixture.

STEP 3

Place a large sheet of parchment paper onto a clean surface (countertop).

a) Remove marzipan (7 ounces, try Odense Marzipan Almond Candy Dough) from its package, and place it onto the parchment paper.

b) Mold into the shape of a disc.

c) Keeping the edges even, roll out the marzipan with a rolling pin until it reaches 9 inches in diameter (see Note below).

d) In the same manner as Step 2c, carefully roll the marzipan onto your rolling pin.

e) Transfer the marzipan to the center of your prepared pie dough (on the baking sheet) directly over the flour/sugar mixture. To keep the crust cold while you prepare the filling, place the prepared pie crust (on the baking sheet) in the refrigerator.

Note: We used a classic rolling pin to roll out the dough for this photo shoot, but we found this adjustable rolling pin works best to roll out an even thickness of pastry dough.

a) Marzipan log.

b) Mold into disc.

c) 9" in diameter.

d) Roll onto pin.

e) Transfer onto crust.

STEP 4

To a large mixing bowl, add 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed orange juice, ¼ teaspoon orange zest (not packed), ¼ teaspoon almond extract, ¼ cup granulated sugar (or agave nectar - see Notes below), and a pinch of fine salt, and stir to combine.

a) Add 6 cups whole cherries, pitted (frozen Earthbound Triple Cherry Blend, or fresh - halve extra large cherries) to the mixture.

b) Toss to completely coat the cherries with the mixture.

c) Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cornstarch (see Notes below) all over the cherries, and toss to evenly coat.

Notes: If using agave nectar, adjust the amount based on sweetness of cherries, as needed. We used a triple cherry blend for this recipe, which added both sweet and tart flavors to every bite. If using frozen cherries, do not defrost. If they are very wet you may need to use a little extra cornstarch to soak up the extra liquid. Add an extra ½ tablespoon, if needed.

a) Add cherries

b) Toss with mixture.

c) Sprinkle cornstarch & toss.

STEP 5

a) Remove the baking sheet with pie dough from the fridge. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the prepared cherries and dump them onto the center of the crust to cover the marzipan (see Note below).

b) Fold the edges of the crust up and over the sides of the fruit, overlapping the crust as you go. Only 1 to 1 ½ inches of crust should overlap the top edges of the cherry tart (just enough to keep the juices in, leaving most of the fruit exposed).

Note: Reserve the liquid in the bowl for glazing (in Step 6), if needed.

a) Spoon cherry mixture onto crust.

b) Fold crust over cherries.

STEP 6

Using a silicone pastry brush, lightly brush the exposed fruit with a little of the reserved liquid from the mixing bowl to give it a little glaze (don’t use too much, or your tart will be soggy). To make the egg wash, add 1 egg yolk to a small bowl and mix with 1 teaspoon water.

a) Using a silicone pastry brush, coat the top and sides of the crust with egg wash. This will help it turn golden brown and shiny when baked.

b) Then sprinkle ½ tablespoon turbinado sugar (coarse sugar, or coconut sugar) evenly over the crust. Then dot exposed cherries with 1 tablespoon unsalted butter that has been cut into small cubes.

a) Brush on egg wash.

b) Sprinkle turbinado sugar & butter.

STEP 7

Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown, filling is bubbling, and the cherries are tender when pierced with a fork.
Remove from the oven, place pan on a wire cooling rack, and allow to cool for one hour on baking sheet.

Serving Suggestions

Cherry Marzipan Galette serve 1.jpg — SERVING OPTION 1

Transfer to a serving dish and serve warm, on its own.

Cherry Marzipan Galette serve 2.jpg — SERVING OPTION 2

This Cherry Marzipan Galette is amazing with a dollop of homemade whipped cream, or a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream!

Notes:

This rustic tart is best served warm and made the same day. If using the same day, store at room temperature. If not consumed the same day, store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and reheat when ready to serve.
Disclaimer: Crust may become soggy when stored in the fridge. The reheating will help, but it will never be as good as when it is baked the same day.
Although unlikely, if you have leftovers, reheat in a 375°F oven, on a baking sheet for 10 minutes.

BACK TO RECIPE

VIDEO

How to Make this Delightful Cherry Marzipan Galette!

Blog Review

What’s not to love about the flavors of almonds and cherries in a rustic tart?!

This delightful Cherry Marzipan Galette is a simple, yet elegant dessert. We combined sweet and tart cherries along with marzipan, to give this lovely little galette a beautiful balance of flavors. The result, when baked in a buttery homemade crust, is a warm and luscious bite of cherries with just a hint of marzipan. Top with vanilla bean ice cream or homemade whipped cream, to complete this heavenly dessert.

Many have only tried marzipan when it is formed into the shape of flowers, fruit, or animals (yes, I know...it’s an artform to some). Others are familiar with marzipan when it’s covered in chocolate. Although this almond candy may be hit or miss for some, we encourage you to give it a try. Even if you are not a big fan of marzipan, the subtle hint of almond flavor from the marzipan is perfect with the warm cherries in this dessert. To those naysayers, we think you might even love it as much as we do!

There has been much debate about the origin of marzipan. According to Hermine Sittle, founder of Hermine’s Old World Confections in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, marzipan was, “believed to have originated in Persia (present-day Iran) and to have been introduced to Europe through the Turks.” She also mentions, “there is some dispute between Hungary and Italy over its origin.” Based on our findings, the invention of this almond candy paste was in Lübecker, Germany during the 15th century. Other sources state Italy or Spain as the birthplace of marzipan. In all honesty, to those of us who are fond of Marzipan, we are grateful to whoever invented this lovely and sweet almond paste.

When developing this recipe, we vacillated between making this rustic cherry tart with frangipane or marzipan. When developing this recipe, we vacillated between making this rustic cherry tart with frangipane or marzipan. I was in favor of marzipan because of two reasons; 1) my Belgian Godparents are wild about marzipan, and 2) it would be quicker to roll out marzipan, than to make frangipane for this recipe.

Frangipane is more traditionally used as a thick and fluffy filling in galettes or pastries. Although frangipane would be amazing in this recipe, it would also make this recipe much more complicated. We wanted to achieve the flavor, with a simple tart recipe that wouldn’t intimidate. So, we opted for an already prepared marzipan almond candy dough by Odense. We found it quite interesting (and a bit humorous) that Odense products are made in Denmark, using California almonds! The invention of marzipan has resulted in quite the international little product…

How do you ensure the best results from our recipe?

Our 6 tips to making a lovely galette:

High quality ingredients (fresh cherries, or frozen Earthbound Triple Cherry Blend).
A homemade flaky pie dough (try our favorite Amish Style Double Crust recipe).
Using a good quality marzipan makes this tart come together easily (we used Odense Marzipan Almond Candy Dough, which can also be found in most grocery stores nationwide).
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the fruit, otherwise you will end up with too much liquid and a soggy bottom (crust)!
Egg wash your crust to give it a golden brown sheen.
For best flavor, serve the same day and within 2 hours of removing from the oven.

It’s time to customize and Pimp Our Recipe.

Pimp Our Recipe:

Make it Vegan: Replace the butter in the crust and on the fruit, with plant-based butter, or margarine. Omit the egg wash from the crust and brush with a small amount of melted plant-based butter, or margarine.
Make it Lux: Replace the marzipan with a frangipane filling. Martha Stewart has a wonderful recipe.

Enjoy and let us know what you think by commenting below, rating our recipes, subscribing, following, and liking us on Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube!

Happy Cooking!

Mich

Thank you to Martha Stewart and to Hermine’s Old World Confections in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for the inspiration.

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Cherry Marzipan Galette

RECIPE