Have you ever felt too intimidated to bake a pie? Then you should try a galette, which, is an “unpretentious free-form pie,” according to Georgia-based baking maven Cheryl Day. With no blind baking (partially baking the crust before adding filling), crust fluting (pinching the crust with your fingers) or other fuss required, she’s absolutely right. Cheryl, along with her husband, Griff, runs Back in the Day Bakery, a shop that’s become a Savannah institution for classic Southern baked goods ––think biscuits, sweet potato cakes and, of course, pie. 

Author of “Cheryl Day’s Treasury of Southern Baking” (2021) and co-author of “The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook” (2012), Cheryl created a pecan galette that cooks beautifully in the ambient heat of an oven as it cools down. With a hearty crust-to-filling ratio, this dessert is one for the pastry lovers, born out of many years’ knowledge and practice. While pie orders fly off the shelves during Thanksgiving, (check her Instagram account @cherylday to see when they’re open for requests) the bakery is stocked daily with fresh baked goods. The recipes in the couple’s first cookbook (including pie crusts) earned them a place on the New York Times Bestseller list and Cheryl’s second garnered several Best Cookbook accolades and made her a James Beard Award finalist in 2021.

This pecan galette’s pie crust comes together by hand from a very shaggy dough – lumpy yet well-mixed, with no dry spots of flour. Pay attention to your technique here, as smearing dough with your palm will incorporate the butter and make the resulting crust buttery and flaky. While the pie crust takes some finesse, the filling is easy to make and will meld together quickly on the stovetop. 

Cheryl suggests serving this galette with a scoop of your favourite ice cream on the side - and when one of the queens of Southern baking tells you to do something, you listen. You'll find us with a thick slice topped with vanilla ice cream after this dinner.