The King's Cake - La Galette des Rois

So easy to make with a unique but delightful flavor, this King's Cake can really be made anytime of the year.

In France, we refer to it as La Galette des Rois and it's a huge part of French culture. It is sold all throughout January in boulangeries all over France, to celebrate the Epiphany. The exact day to celebrate it is on January 6th but we like to enjoy this cake for as long as we can in France. In my family, we usually have it on Sundays and if we're ever invited at someone's house for lunch or dinner, we bring a Galette des Rois.

The fun part about eating this cake is that we hide a tiny king or queen figurine (which today, can really be anything from Homer Simpson to a boat), called "une feve” inside of it. The person who finds the “feve” in its slice of cake becomes symbolically the “king” or “queen”. In France, bakeries always include a paper crown with the cake that you purchase.

You might not find a paper crown or feve exactly like in France, but don't let it discourage you from making it; you’ll be amazed at how simple and delicious this cake is! Snuggled between two puff pastry sheets is an almond filling called frangipane, used in a lot of pastries in France. That's why sometimes you might hear French people refer to this cake as "une tarte a la frangipane". I made it for our New Year's Eve dinner and everyone enjoyed it a lot. It could even become a last-minute kind of cake, if you keep puff pastry in your freezer and almonds or ground almonds around the house... I was able to find ground almonds at Central Market in the bulk food section (anyone knows if it sold pre-packaged in the US? Let me know). In France, you can easily find ground almonds in the baking sections of supermarkets. Instead of rum in France, we often use kirsch in this recipe but I personally find rum to be more sweet and subtle. You could skip the alcohol part altogether if you prefer, but it really adds a nice warm background taste, without really tasting like alcohol.

If you make the cake in advance, I really suggest that you re-heat the cake before you serve it. For that, put it in a 240 F degrees oven for 5 minutes. Do not re-heat it in the microwave as it would make the dough too soft and less crispy. Serve with Champagne, a Clairette de Die or even a good quality cider.

Galette des Rois (a la Frangipane)

2 sheets of puff pastry

1 cup of ground almond (If you do not have any ground almond, pulse 4 oz of almonds to a fine powder in the food processor)

1/2 cup of sugar

4 tbsp of unsalted butter, at room temperature (it's very important that the butter is very soft)

1 egg, at room temperature

2 tbsp of rum

1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tbsp of water, for the egg wash

2 tbsp sugar mixed with 1 tbsp water, for the simple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter a tart dish. Prepare the frangipane by mixing together the eggs and the sugar until pale yellow. Combine the butter, the almond powder and the rum.

If the puff pastry you bought is rectangular, roll it out on a floured surface into a circle big enough to fit the tart dish. Lay the first puff pastry dough on the bottom of the dish and spread the frangipane filling all over, leaving a one-inch border all around. Cover with the second puff pastry sheet and seal the edges with your fingers or with a fork.

Draw simple straight line designs with the tip of a knife on the surface of the cake (without pushing too hard) and brush all over with the egg wash. Poke a tiny hole in the middle. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, prepare the simple syrup by bringing the water to a boil in a saucepan and completely dissolve the sugar into the water. Allow it to completely cool. Take the galette out of the oven, lightly brush the syrup all over (it will make it shiny) and put back in the oven for 5 minutes. Serve lukewarm.