French-style “Kings’ cake”

Between the 6th of January and the end of the month, French bakeries are filled with a special cake called galette des Rois. The cake is one of the ways that French people celebrate the Epiphany –the arrival of the Three Wise men– which happened on January 6th according to Christian tradition. This galette is a cake with a surprise, since there is one lucky charm, la fève, hidden inside. The person that gets the slice with the lucky charm becomes “the king/queen” for the day. French bakeries include a paper golden crown with the galette, which the king of the day is supposed to wear. The epiphany is celebrated in Spain as well in a similar way, by eating the roscón de Reyes (“Kings’ donut or Kings’ cake“) The roscón is a crown-shaped brioche decorated with candied fruits and filled with pastry cream or whipped cream.

There are different types of the galette de rois in France. I’ll share with you the traditional one, which is a round cake of puff pastry with a dense filling of frangipane (almond paste). Next year, I plan to bake –and share with you!– the Spanish version of the roscón de Reyes. 

Yield: 8 portions

Ingredients:

• 2 rolls of puff pastry
• 100g butter
• 100g sugar
• 125g ground almond
•  2 eggs + 1 egg to spread on top of the cake
• 2 tea spoons of amaretto or rhum

Step by step

• Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC.
• Start by preparing the filling – the crème frangipane. Melt the butter, put it in a bowl and add in the sugar and ground almonds.

• Mix the ingredients well together and then add the two eggs. Continue mixing until you get a smooth consistency. Then add the amaretto.

• Spread each puff pastry in the shape of a round plate; one will be the base of your cake and the other the top. Brush the edges of the bottom pastry with water, pour the Frangipane in the middle and spread it to cover all of the pastry while avoiding the edges.

• Cover the frangipane and the base with the other pastry and roll the sides towards the inside to seal the galette.

• With the help of a knife, mark the top of the pastry from the centre to the edges like the spokes of a wheel or in a zig zag pattern, then brush it with beaten egg.

• Bake it in an oven for ca. 15 minutes at 220ºC and then 15 minutes more at 180ºC.
• Serve warm or cool and enjoy!