Galette des Rois: A Celebration of the Epiphany

The Christmas season is winding down now. The last major celebration day of the Roman calendar, the Epiphany, took place this week on January 6th. Also known as the Twelfth Day of Christmas, this holy day honours the visit by the three wise men to the manger of Christ. And in France, it is celebrated with a special cake: Galette des Rois – Three Kings Cake. A tasty concoction of frangipane – almond batter – wrapped in buttery puffed pastry, it is most delicious when served warm from the oven.

Gifts of the Magi

I’ve baked Galette des Rois several times over the past few years. And while it looks like a simple recipe, it can be a bit tricky. I’ve had mixed results, with the filling usually seeping out of an opening in the pastry shell. So, when my sister Marie gifted me with a copy of Le Cordon Bleu‘s wonderful new cookbook, Pastry School: 100 Step By Step Recipes (you may recall me mentioning it in my post Discovering the Secrets of Macarons) for Christmas, I decided to see if I could improve my results using their technique.

This bake also gave me an opportunity to use my new embroidered Queen Bee apron, one of the charming products I’ve created for my Boutique L’Abeille Française. It provided a touch of gold to represent the first gift of the Magi.

Step By Step

I started by mixing up the batter and setting it in the fridge to cool while I began preparing the puffed pastry. I followed the detailed directions and corresponding step-by-step photos closely. This included scoring the bottom layer with the circle which would contain the filling and then giving it a generous egg wash.I then piped the frangipane onto the pastry, staying well within the scored circle to help prevent leakage.

A Magic Bean

Now Galette des Rois is more than just a cake. It is also a game that dates back to medieval times. Before covering the frangipane with the top layer of pastry, a ceramic  fève – bean – is inserted into the batter. And once the galette is baked, it is laureled with a paper crown. Whoever finds the fève in their piece of galette is crowned Roi – King – for the day. Traditionally, the fève is in the shape of the infant Jesus. However, today French pâtisseries use a variety of shapes with some even becoming collectibles. This year my fève was a ceramic wasp, a souvenir from Arles, France that I received from my friend Mary several years ago.

Crowned, Sealed and Delivered

A crucial step in preparing the Galette des Rois is crimping the edge to ensure a strong seal between the two pastry layers. Here again, the Cordon Bleu cookbook was instrumental in showing me how best to do so. That done, I egg-washed and scored the dome of the galette, then let it rest for a while.  Once it was in the oven, I went out to shovel the few centimetres of snow that had fallen overnight. After fifteen minutes, I went in to reduce the temperature, as directed. I was delighted to see that the dome of the galette had turned a beautiful golden brown. And that the outer seam was holding. No leaks!

Delighted with my success, I packaged up a piece for my neighbour whom I’d run into while shovelling. He had told me that he had attended mass earlier in the day to celebrate the Epiphany. So I thought a piece of Galette des Rois for him was a fitting gift on this day of gifts.

Oh, and this little baking event also gave me the chance to use another lovely Christmas gift from Marie – the sweet ‘gift’ potholder you see above. To see more of Marie’s creative quilting talents, check out her delightful Quilt Bee blog.

Cuisine Tip: Take a short-cut in baking Galette des Rois by using store-bought puff pastry. Just ensure that it is made with butter rather than oil to get the desired flavour.