In France, the holiday eating doesn't end after Christmas and New Year - there's still Epiphany left to celebrate in January with a Galette des rois.
A Galette des rois is a puffed pastry cake often filled with frangipane (a filling made from or flavoured with almonds). A charm, called 'fève' is then hidden inside. Whoever finds the charm in their piece of galette is crowned king or queen for the night.
It's baked to celebrate 'Epiphany' - also known as 'Three Kings Day', which is a Christian holiday widely celebrated in France.
In the south of France, they eat a Gâteau des rois rather than a galette, a brioche with fruit.
Here’s a simple recipe to make your very own galette des rois at home:
Galette des rois with frangipane
Ingredients
- 2 puffed pastry sheets
- 150g almond powder
- 125g powdered sugar
- 70g soften butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Preparation
1. Heat the oven to 200C.
2. Mix the sugar with the almond powder and the butter until you get a thick dough. Add the vanilla extract and the egg, then beat together.
3. Lay the puff pastry down and make two circles of the same size.
4. Poor the mix on the first circle and spread it up to 1,5 cm of the edge. Brush the edge with the egg yolk. And don't forget to put the fève (the charm) in the mix !
5. Cover it up with the second puff pastry circle and draw zig zag patterns with a knife.
6. Brush the top of the galette with the remaining egg yolk and cook the galette in the oven for 30 minutes.
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