Mini Oat-Crusted Strawberry, Rhubarb & Maple Galettes – flaky, sweet pastry with a crunchy oat topping, tangy maple-infused rhubarb and summery strawberries.  Jump to Recipe 

So here’s the thing.

Today’s post is going to be a little short. The past week (and the coming two weeks) have been spent learning neuroanatomy and physiology – and in all this thinking about people’s brains, the function of my own seems to have deteriorated slightly.

At least, it feels like it. Maybe it is just due to trying to cram too much information in there in a short time, like an overfull balloon about to pop. And probably a little bit because it is five o’clock on a Sunday evening. And achieving anything on a Sunday evening seems about 10000x more difficult than any other time during the week, unless it involves eating chocolately desserts, which I am all about. Yes, an easy chocolate self-saucing pudding with melting vanilla ice cream on a lazy Sunday night would go down extremely well.

Getting back into work mode after a week on holiday is always a challenge too – our brains seem to switch off a little and adjust to the minimal activity levels, so on arriving back everything is just a little more tiring than usual, taking a bit longer and a bit more effort. Does anyone else find that?

Anyway. These mini oat-crusted strawberry, rhubarb and maple galettes are pretty bomb too. I was inspired by Betty’s gorgeous plum galette over at le jus d’orange, but since it is spring over here in Australia, not autumn, I changed it up a bit, swapping the plums for a mix of strawberries and rhubarb while keeping the maple flavours and that textural oat crust. Being in a tiny little holiday kitchen, I also made them mini so the pie crust was easier to handle and I could bake 4 at a time in the tiny oven! It does actually make six, but the other two went in the oven later.

It ends up like this. Spoonfuls of flaky, crunchy edged pastry with a crisp, sweet oat topping and warm, tender chunks of maple infused tangy rhubarb, balanced by its summery strawberry counterpart. It is tied together by creamy, cold vanilla-bean ice cream, melting in rivulets through the cracks of the baked fruit and pie crust. And you get your own little galette all to yourself. You can’t really say no to that.

By the time I made these it was late in the afternoon, and evening when I finally photographed the finished product. To compensate for the dim lighting inside, I shifted out onto the deck – I don’t know what anyone on the street or the neighbours thought of the crazy girl climbing on chairs with a camera in hand to get overhead shots. Seriously, sometimes when I photograph things I must look completely ridiculous. It was worth it, though.

The galettes are a perfect summer dessert, best eaten outside on warm evenings after a day of activity (they are also tops eaten at any other time, don’t limit yourself there). Surprisingly easy to put together, most of the components are a ‘mix in a bowl’ type of deal – and you don’t even have to worry about lining a pie tin. Galettes are meant to be rustic, so any little tears or misshapen crimps are just part of the appeal.

And also, it’s fruit, right? So left overs can be eaten the next morning for breakfast, or morning tea. Totally okay in my books.

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