One of my favorite ways to officially end the holiday season is with a French Three Kings cake, otherwise known as a galette des rois.

GALETTE DES ROIS… EASY TO MAKE!
Though it looks difficult to make, a galette des rois hardly requires any effort, especially if using ready-made pastry. The delicate French classic consists of almond cream slathered between two layers of flaky pastry. It is eaten to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th, though it is available at French bakeries throughout the entire month.
Usually, a figurine (fève) is hidden inside the cake. Tradition says that the youngest person in the household gets under the table and says who gets which piece. The person who finds the figurine is crowned king or queen for the day. Serve your galette des rois with a cool glass of Champagne!
Note: If you do not have a figurine, simply use a whole almond. To read more about the Feast of the Epiphany and see a beautiful work of art honoring the holiday, see my post on Georges Lallemand’s L’Adoration des Mages.

Here’s the recipe!

Galette des Rois
Serves 6-8

Ingredients

  • 100g butter, softened
  • 100g sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g almond flour
  • 1 ½ tsps almond extract
  • 2 25cm circles of puff pastry
  • 1 whisked egg
  • 1 stone figurine, or whole almond
  • 1 tsp apricot jam & 1 tsp water

 

Instructions:
Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Cream the butter and the sugar using a standing or hand-held mixer. Beat in the eggs one by one. Beat in the almond flour and almond extract. Place one of the pastry circles on the baking sheet and spread the almond cream over the surface, leaving an edge free. Don’t forget to place the figurine on the almond cream. Brush the whisked egg along the edge and cover with the second pastry circle. Seal the edges well with your fingers and then crimp. Brush the galette with beaten egg and place in the fridge for one hour. Preheat the oven to 200℃. Remove the galette from the fridge, brush with egg again and carve a nice pattern on the pastry using the back of a knife. Make a few air holes in the pastry. Bake the galette for approximately 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180℃ and give the galette an extra 20 minutes. Check after about half an hour to see if the galette is not browning too much and cover with foil if necessary. Whisk the jam and water and heat. Brush the cooled galette with the jam and serve.