A simple, rustic tart made with either fresh or frozen cherries, with a hint of lavender. You can pull the cherries directly from the freezer for this.

This recipe was created for People Like Pie, to evoke the Roman Empire and the mysterious, sultry appeal of Cleopatra.

Makes 2 galettes, serving 6-8 total.

Ingredients

2 rounded cups frozen sweet, pitted cherries

2 Tablespoons corn starch

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon dried lavender petals

1 recipe (2 disks) Pâte Brisée pie crust pastry, cold

Flour for rolling out

Sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, with the oven rack in the middle position.

2. Pound or crush the lavender into a rough powder in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, or just by rubbing in the palm of your hand. Set aside.

3. Combine the cherries, corn starch and sugar in a large bowl with half the lavender.  Stir to evenly combine. Set aside.

4. On a lightly floured surface, roll each disk of cold Pâte Brisée to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Trim each to a circle about 11 inches in diameter.

5. Line a baking sheet with parchment.  Transfer one pastry circle to one end of the baking sheet. Scoop cherries into the middle of the circle in a single layer, leaving a border of about 1.5 - 1.75 inches in all directions. (A galette is a flat pastry, so you are going for a wide and flat, rather than peaked, finished product.)

6. Working section by section, carefully fold the edges of the pastry up over the cherries, leaving a gap of uncovered cherries in the middle. Trim the pastry if needed to maintain a gap.  When you have gone all the way around the circle, repeat the procedure with the other pastry circle, on the other end of the baking sheet. When finished, nudge each of the finished galettes into place as needed so that they are evenly spaced on the baking sheet.

7. Sprinkle sugar over the pastry around the edges of the galette, being careful not to spill too much onto the parchment (it will burn). Slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the cherries are bubbling.

8. Remove the galette from the oven and sprinkle the remaining lavender on the bubbling cherries. Serve bubbling hot (can also be served at room temperature).