Skip to main content

Galette des rois -Three King's cake


First of all, let me wish you all a happy new year, full of delicious and happy moments!
I haven't been around much lately, busy with Xmas preps and just being plain lazy. But I thought that the epiphany would be a good time to resurface, putting an end to the Christmas season and welcoming the new year with yet another sugar high...

There are regional variations on the Three King's cake in France. Around Bordeaux for example, they make a brioche-type crown with candied fruit and pearl sugar (I hear they do a similar one in New Orleans, not a coincidence). In Franche-Comté (home of Comté cheese, which I like a lot), they make a flat galette with no filling. But generally speaking, the most widespread galette is a puff pastry affair filled with frangipane. Inside a fève (fava bean) lays buried, now a ceramic figure, and whoever finds it becomes king or queen, according to gender and/or sexual preference (ha ha). They're sold with golden paper crowns.

When children are around, the youngest has to slip under the table while the slices are being served, the child can decide who gets the next slice from under the table, so that, if upon slicing, the fève is discovered, which happens 80% of the time, the same child is granted it, and has the surprise of becoming lord of the day.
Usually, if you get the fève, you are supposed to choose a queen and bestow either the crown or the fève upon them. So that, if your mum got it, she could pick you to be her king...

Galette des rois is probably one of the easiest cake to bake at home, especially if you buy ready-made puff pastry discs. The only trick is to seal the edges well otherwise the filling spills out...

Here's an easy-peasy filling I have made often and found here
-100 g ground almonds
- 75 g sugar
- 1 egg
- 50 g butt
er, softened
-a few drops of bitter almond extract, if you like

You just mix everything together, spread over your bottom pastry, insert your fève or a clean coin, then cover with another pastry disc. Seal the edges well -I use a fork for safety but some eggwash will do. Take a sharp knife and draw a pattern on top, brush with milk or egg and bake for about thirty minutes in a hot oven (200°C). When it comes out of the oven, you can brush it with a syrupy glaze (water and icing sugar) to give it a brilliant finish.
If you're making a large one (about thirty cm in diameter), you might want to double the quantities.

This filling is nevertheless not the traditionnal frangipane one, which is a tiny bit more work and creamier. I like it better as it is more almondy. I have also used hazelnut powder successfully. Your call.

Last year I made up my own gianduja version and was quite satisfied with the result. I used (for a smallish galette):
50 g sugar
50g soft butter
70g hazelnut powder
50g pralin powder (or use half hazelnut half brown sugar in its place)
60g melted chocolate (70%)

I have also made my own puff pastry which isn't difficult, just time-consuming, but not much of it hands-on, look here. As I type, I am in the process of making some too, for tomorrow's galette!

Comments

There is only one word for that: Stunning!

I could just eat some right now :)

George x
Anna said…
Happy New Year Julie!
Your galette looks wonderful
xxx
julie said…
Thanks, friends!
Sarah said…
Happy New Year! Looks very yummy.

I'm loving Germany! It's a bit cold, but we did get snow on Christmas, so I was ecstatic!!

xox Sarah
Deborah Dowd said…
This sounds like a really cool tradition. I will have to incorporate it into our family's holidays.
Ms O said…
Julie, your confection has my mouth watering. It looks scrumptious!

Happy New Year to you and your family.

Lea xxx
Sandy said…
I love the traditions surrounding it too. It looks amazing, Julie.
Deborah Dowd said…
Thanks for sharing not only the recipe but the 3 king's cake traditions- those are the mmost important part of the holiday. It is too late this year, but I think I will incorporate this into my holiday next year!

Popular posts from this blog

Nigella's summer crumble

How has your summer been? Has everyone around you been complaining of the weather? Summer' s so much more than just sun and heat though... fruit,  farniente , ice-cream,  apéros  and walks...reading long books, so many little pleasures. Tossa de Mar And lest we forget to turn the oven on, to warm us up... Nigella's summer crumble (from Forever Summer ) is a fantastic way to use up those less-than satisfying apricots that everyone leaves in the fruit bowl, the ones a little less red, the mushy ones, and transform them into deep orange compote under the layer of almondy crumble. Or any other stone fruit for that matter. Parc Guell, Barcelona Summer crumble, adapted from Nigella Lawson in  Forever Summer 750g apricots, stoned and quartered 75g butter 100g self-raising flour or flour with 1/2 tsp baking powder a pinch of salt 25g ground almonds 75g caster sugar 50g flaked or chopped almonds Preheat the oven at 200C. Butter a gratin dish. Layer the fruit

La Réunion en recettes : cari de lotte et son riz au lait de coco

Enfin, je réalise d'autres recettes réunionnaises . La cuisine de la Réunion, au carrefour des continents, à l'image de sa population, associe des saveurs européennes, asiatiques, indiennes et africaines. Je vous propose le cari de lotte, tout simplement parce que je cherchais du poisson ce samedi-là, et que les queues de lotte m'ont tapé dans l'oeil. Pauvres lottes décapitées sur l'étal du rayon poissonnerie, eh oui, la lotte est moche, tellement moche qu'on l'appelle poisson-diable en allemand et en anglais (mais aussi poisson-moine/monkfish), aussi, on la propose souvent débarassée de son faciès. Oui, mais une fois rentrés à la maison, que faire de ces deux beaux filets? Ni une, ni deux, j'ouvre mes tomes de Nigella et Jamie et compulse les index, mais les recettes ne m'emballant pas trop, je pense soudain à en faire un cari et j'ouvre alors Cuisine des Iles de l'Océan Indien (Edisud), ramené lors de mon dernier voyage à la Réunion il y a

Pseudo goulasch hispanisant (avec ou sans mijoteuse)

Avec mes gadgets appareils culinaires, c'est par périodes. Parfois je fais des yaourts pendant des semaines, et puis après j'en ai marre, je les achète. J'avoue avoir assez rarement utilisé la mijoteuse , et surtout pour des plats à cuisson longue type ragoûts, curries, bourguignon, et aussi pour cuire des légumineuses. Mais cette semaine, j'ai décidé de m'en servir plus régulièrement, et de vous en faire profiter. Sympa, hein? ;-) Comme ressources, j'utilise ce livre , mais je ne l'aime pas trop, et surtout la Crockpot Lady , une mine d'or. Et parfois, j'improvise, comme ici, et le résultat était totalement délicieux. Saviez-vous qu'il est plus "écolo" de manger du porc que du boeuf? L'élevage de porcs abîme moins l'environnement que celui des boeufs, bien sûr pour être vraiment écolo, il faut manger végétarien voire vegan, mais à chacun ses convivtions, c'est déjà mieux de manger moins de viande, et de choisir volai