Our Lady of La Salette - Mini Blueberry Galettes

Mid-September brings one of the Marian feasts of an apparition in France. The Blessed Virgin appeared to two young shepherds, Maximin Giraud and Melanie Calvat, on the mountain of La Salette, France on September 19, 1846.  After thorough investigation the Church approved the message and secret of La Salette as written by Melanie. The account was published in Lecce in 1879. Mary's message in La Salette was similar to that of Fatima, "If my people do not wish to submit themselves, I am forced to let go of the hand of my Son. It is so heavy and weighs me down so much I can no longer keep hold of it." Our lady cried and expressed her sadness at those who do not keep Sunday holy and who take the name of the Lord in vain.

I saw the idea for mini blueberry galettes on The Pioneer Woman’s blog. They seemed a perfect dessert for French Marian apparition feast days – galettes because they have a French connection and blueberries because the color is associated with Our Lady.

Galette is a French culinary term referring to a variety of flat, round cakes, made with a flaky pastry dough. It is a broad term and can include a wide variety of different desserts, but most often galette refers to a free form tart that is made with a flaky pasty crust. The tarts are not molded in tart pans. Instead, filling is placed directly on top of a circle of rolled pastry and the edges are folded up and around the filling and baked until crisp. 

Galette Pastry Dough

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp sugar
pinch of salt
6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup ice water

In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in half of the butter with pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Cut in the remaining butter until the largest pieces are the size of peas. Drizzle the water over the dough and mix until moistened. Knead together 2 or 3 times. Flatten dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Mini Blueberry Galettes

1 cup blueberries
1/8 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch Of salt
1 egg
1 Tbsp Water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Stir together blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, 1 tsp lemon zest, juice quarter of the lemon, vanilla, and salt in a bowl.

Roll out dough. Using a 5-inch round pastry cutter cut rounds of pastry. Rerolling and cutting until dough is used. Makes 6 mini galettes. Place rounds on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Evenly distribute the blueberry mixture between the six discs.

Gently fold over the edges of each crust, folding the dough in on itself to create a small rim of crust.

Make an egg wash by beating together the egg and water. Brush edges of each pie with the egg wash. Sprinkle the crust with sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes until golden and filling is bubbly. Remove from the oven and allow pies to sit on the pan for 5 minutes. Remove and cool.  Serve warm or at room temp.

~There are several apparitions of Our Lady in France, so these mini treats could be used several times around the year. 

Our Lady of Pontmain (OL of Hope) - January 17

Our Lady of Lourdes - February 11

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (Rue du Bac) - November 27