Epiphany
Happy Epiphany! Throughout France people are celebrating by baking and eating galettes des rois. This simple “King cake” is a delicious combo of puff pastry and almond cream. Not to be confused with the King Cakes of southern France, or Provence, which are made of brioche scented with orange blossom water and covered with candied fruits. I’ve been watching these traditional galettes show up on Instagram every January and this year, for once, I was on the ball to make my own. Bakeries across France are apparently only allowed to sell galettes des rois during the month of January, and have taken it upon themselves to make them more elaborate every year. Some bakeries have even begun playing around with fillings to keep people coming back for more. Having tasted the original I can tell you they didn’t ever need to change.
As with most home bakers in France I skipped the homemade puff pastry and bought mine frozen. Frozen puff pastry is ALWAYS a good decision. It’s easy to use, can be found in blocks or sheets, and produces an excellent product. The almond cream filling, or frangipane, is incredibly easy to make and will likely become a new staple around my house. There are countless recipes for almond cream online but in this instance I turned to David Lebovitz. He adds a bit of orange zest for a greater depth of flavour. I used zest from the whole orange, rather than the half that he calls for, and rubbed it straight into the sugar to really perfume it. Traditionally a bit of rum is added to the mix, but I chose bourbon since that’s what I had on hand. And more bakeries are even opting to exclude the rum all together. So you choose! The one thing I didn’t include was the little fève, or bean, that’s usually included in the galette. Tradition says the finder of the fève, typically a child, is crowned king for the day and graced with good luck.
Whether you make your own puff pastry, or buy it frozen and ready to use, this galette des rois is a classic that deserves to make an appearance in your kitchen every January.
Galette des Rois (recipe adapted from David Lebovitz)
100g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
100g (1/2 C) granulated sugar
zest of one orange
100g (1 C) almond flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp bourbon (or rum)
1/8 tsp almond extract
1 package puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk and pinch of salt)
In a small bowl rub together the orange zest and sugar. Add to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and cream together with the butter. Add the almond flour and kosher salt, continue to mix until just combined.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each. Add bourbon and almond extract, mix until combine. May seem a bit lumpy, this is normal. Cover and chill in fridge for at least 30mins.
Meanwhile roll out half the puff pastry to 1/8” thick and cut a 9” circle (use a bowl or base of a springform pan as a guide). Place on parchment lined baking sheet and cover with a second sheet of parchment.
Repeat the process with the second half of puff pastry placing it on top of the other disk (parchment between) and top with parchment or plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 30mins.
When ready to assemble set aside the top disk of puff pastry, leaving one disk on the parchment lined baking sheet. Spread almond filling evenly onto the pastry leaving a 1” rim around the edge. Brush the exposed edge thoroughly with water and top with second disk of pastry, pressing to seal.
Using two fingers and the back of a pairing knife dimple, or crimp, the edge. To do so place two fingers on the edge (pointing outwards) and using the back of the pairing knife pull a bit of the dough up between. Continue, moving over one dimple at a time, until you’ve made it all the way around.
Using the tip of a pairing knife score the top of the dough however you’d like (curving lines from centre is typical but more elaborate patterns are welcome). Brush with egg wash, taking care not to brush outer edge where the two layers of puff connect or you may inhibit the rise. To allow steam to escape poke 4 or 5 holes into the top with the tip of a pairing knife, or a small skewer.
Place in a 375F oven for 30mins, until nicely golden brown. Transfer to a rack and allow to cool completely.
Enjoy!
*David Lebovitz makes mention of some people complaining that their filling escaped a bit during the baking process. I had this exact thing happen to me. I did not lose as much filling as it looked as though I was, and the only thing affected was the visual on the trim in that one spot. To help prevent this from happening you can add 2-3 tsp of cornstarch to your almond cream. I may try that next time to see how it works out.
