French Galette des Rois
This is one of my favorite culinary French tradition: the Galette des Rois or French Kings Cake! Not only is it a very jovial tradition, a good reason to get together with family or friends, but the traditional Galette des Rois is also a terribly good cake!
From the end of December and throug the month of January, French bakeries are overflowing with Galettes des Rois. And for good reason, it is the only time of the year when, according to tradition, these cakes can be eaten.
Even if there are excellent in bakeries, there is nothing like making your own homemade galette with the traditional almond filling called frangipane.
The Galette des Rois, what is it?
The Galette des Rois is a French cake served on the occasion of the Epiphany, January 6th, a Christian holiday that celebrates the visit of the Three Kings to the baby Jesus. However, it is common to eat it between the end of December and January.
Although there many Galette des Rois or Kings’ cake recipes, but the most popular traditional French Galette is the one original from Northern France, a cake made with buttery puff pastry and filled with a generous layer of frangipane, an almond-based cream.
In South of France, you will also find a traditional cake to celebrate the Epiphanie but it is a brioche cake filled with candied fruits.
The particularity of the Galette des Rois, is that we add a fève, a small procelan or plastic figurine, which we hide in the cake.
When we eat the Galette des Rois, we generally make sure that each cake slices are distributed (it is therefore better to eat it with family and friends, 4, 6 or 8 people is ideal).
The lucky person who falls on a piece of cake with la fève inside then becomes “le roi” (“the King”) or “la reine” (“the Queen”) for the day and receives a paper paper crown.
Normally, I collect the fève and the paper crown from the galettes I ate in the past. But, you can also buy these figurines online or simply use an uncooked fava bean instead of a fève as it was used traditionally.
It is also traditional for the youngest person at the table has to stand under the table and distribute the slices of Galette des Rois randomly. Don’t worry, it is actually quite fun to do!
List of Ingredients
For this French Galette des Rois, you need the following ingredients.
- Puff pastry : To make this recipe, you need two puff pastries with a diameter of about 20 to 24 cm (8 to 9 inches). You can make them yourself, buy them ready-made puff pastry (make sure they are made with butter) or order them from your baker.
- Crème Pâtissière : You need crème pâtissière to make the frangipane.Crème pâtissière is make of egg, milk, sugar vanilla and cornstarch. I recommend you to make your own crème pâtissière, it only takes 5 minutes ! To save time, you can use a bag of ready-made vanilla cream but in my opinion it is much better homemade.
- Butter: You need butter for the almond cream. I choose a good quality European butter. It is important to leave the butter at room temperature at least 30 minutes before using it. You want a soft butter but not liquid.
- Sugar: I chose a simple white sugar.
- Almond flour: This is simply blanched and ground almonds. You can replace the almond flour with hazelnut flour.
- Egg: You need an egg for the almond cream and also an egg yolk for the egg wash.
- Cornstarch: You can add cornstarch to the almond cream but it is optional.
- Rum: You can add a dash of rum to the almond cream to enhance the taste of the frangipane. Personally, I prefer without alcohol and it is recommended if you want to enjoy the Galette des Rois with children. You can replace it with almond extract or orange blossom extract.
- Fève: The fève is the little figurine hidden in the cake as explain above.
You will find the exact quantities in the recipe card.
How to make a Galette des Rois?
To make a Galette des Rois, you have 4 steps:
- PREPARE THE CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE: Whisk an egg with vanilla and sugar, add the cornstarch, whisk again. Warm up the milk in a small pot and pour it into the egg mixture. Whisk well and pour back to the pot. Cook on medium heat stirring continuously until the cream has thicken. Let cool while you prepare the rest.
- PREPARE THE FRANGIPANE: Mix the soft butter and sugar with a spatula in a small bowl. Add the egg, almond flour, cornstarch (optional) and rum (optional). To make the filling for the galette, also called frangipane, mix the crème pâtissière with the almond cream.
- ASSEMBLE: Place a first round sheet of puff pastry on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Spread the frangipane on the puff pastry, leaving 2 cm (0,5 – 1 inch) of free edge. Hive the fève onto the frangipane, preferably closer to one of the edge of the galette than towards the center. Place the second puff pastry on top. Press the edges of both puff pastries together to seal them.
- DECORATE: Mix the egg yolk with a few drops of cold water. Brush the egg yolk over the galette. Use the tip of a sharp knife, without pushing too hard to create a decorative pattern on the top of the pastry.
- BAKE: Bake the Galette un the oven for 35 minutes at 180 °C (350 °F)until the top of the galette becomes golden brown. Place the Galette on a cooling rack before serving.
More French sweet recipes
Frequently asked questions
Can I freeze this Galette des Rois?
Yes, of course. You can wrap the whole Galette or some slices in a cling film and freeze it for a year.
How do I reheat Galette des Rois?
What makes Galette des Rois so good is the contrast between the flaky top and creamy frangipane filling! To make sure you get it right when reheated, I recommend to place the Galette back in the oven for 5 minutes at 180 °C (350 °F).
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French Galette des Rois
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Equipment
- 1 fève
- 1 paper crown
Ingredients
For the Galette des Rois
- 2 puff pastries round
- 1 egg yolk
For the crème pâtissière
- 1 egg
- 25 g sugar
- 1/2 vanilla bean or vanilla extract
- 12 g cornstarch
- 125 ml milk
For the almond cream
- 75 g butter soft
- 50 g sugar
- 1 egg
- 75 g almond flour
- 10 g cornstarch optional
- 2 cl rum optional
Instructions
PREPARE THE CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE
- Whisk an egg with vanilla and sugar, add the cornstarch, whisk again. Warm up the milk in a small pot and pour it into the egg mixture. Whisk well and pour back to the pot. Cook on medium heat stirring continuously until the cream has thicken. Let cool while you prepare the rest.
PREPARE THE FRANGIPANE
- Mix the soft butter and sugar with a spatula in a small bowl. Add the egg, almond flour, cornstarch (optional) and rum (optional). To make the filling for the galette, also called frangipane, mix the crème pâtissière with the almond cream.
ASSEMBLE
- Place a first round sheet of puff pastry on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Spread the frangipane on the puff pastry, leaving 2 cm (0,5 – 1 inch) of free edge. Hive the fève onto the frangipane, preferably closer to one of the edge of the galette than towards the center. Place the second puff pastry on top. Press the edges of both puff pastries together to seal them.
DECORATE
- Mix the egg yolk with a few drops of cold water. Brush the egg yolk over the galette. Use the tip of a sharp knife, without pushing too hard to create a decorative pattern on the top of the pastry.
BAKE
- Bake the Galette un the oven for 35 minutes at 180 °C (350 °F)until the top of the galette becomes golden brown. Place the Galette on a cooling rack before serving.
Nutrition
Very good:)
Wondering if you’ve made a variation with apricot or raspberry jam spread on bottom crust before frangipane piped on? Might be interesting (though perhaps not “classic”)
Hi Elizabeth,
It’s actually quite a sweet cake so I wouldn’t add jam but rather some apples cut in very thin pieces. You can even saute the apples pieces for 5-10 minutes in a pan with a bit of butter before adding them on the bottom of the cake.
Bonnie Idee!!
where does the vreme pat come into the recipe please?
Hi mary, you add it to the almond cream to make a frangipane 🙂