“Epiphany” may not be a great deal in the U.S., not popular as a christian celebration like it is in Western European countries. As is in recent years, hispanic immigrants and their catholic faith population have grown up in the America, people are getting recognize it, perhaps from the King Cake (Gateau des rois, Rosca de Reyes), and learning about the the reason and tradition again. I was one of them but for me it was through working in the restaurant, not in the church. Many King cakes are a circular shape of yeasted cake (more like bread, brioche) decorated with colorful candied fruits.
Galette des Rois is a very popular French version of King Cake, made from puff pastry, filled with almond cream. It sounds like large round almond croissant but also ingredients are basically very much the same. It is quite simple cake and easy to make, if you use store bought puff pastry dough (widely available today), then all you need is making almond cream, and bake it. It looks wonderfully delicious and guaranteed to please everybody.
We have plenty almond production in California, so almonds are always very good, and seems no one dislike almonds. Just make sure do not forget placing a fève (dried bean), as a traditional tinket, a small prize hide in the filling, and a gold paper crown (you can make it yourself). Whoever lucky one gets a piece of the cake with fève, can also get a golden crown and be a king for the day!
King Cake / Galette des Rois
A cake for celebrate “Epiphany” (January 5th or 6th)
Recipe adapted from traditional recipes.
The galette des rois is two rounds of puff pastry filled with almond cream, or a mixture of almond cream and pastry cream (Frangipane cream), and a hidden fève (dried bean) as a trinket.
For one 9 ½ -inch round cake, serves 8.
For cake:
King Cake / Galette des Rois (1-2021)
A cake for celebrate “Epiphany” (January 5th or 6th)
Recipe adapted from traditional recipes.
The galette des rois is two rounds of puff pastry filled with almond cream, or a mixture of almond cream and pastry cream (Frangipane cream), and a hidden fève (dried bean) as a trinket.
For one 9 ½ -inch round cake, serves 8.
For cake:
16 ounces (450g) puff pastry
8 ounces (250g) almond cream**
1 dried fava bean/ fève (optional)
1 egg beaten with1 teaspoon milk
1 trinket (a dry bean or ceramic or porcelain)
A gold paper crown
**For the Almond Cream Filling:
1/2 cup (75g) almond meal
1/4 cup+ 2 tablespoons (75g) granulated sugar
1 egg (50g)
4 tablespoons (55g) butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla or almond extract
1 tablespoon dark rum or grand marnier (optional)
1 tablespoon flour or corn starch
Note. When working with puff pastry, it’s important to keep it well-chilled and work quickly when rolling as it tends to get stubborn as it warms up. Keep the second piece in the refrigerator until after you’ve rolled out the first. After rolling, brush off any excess flour. And make sure to seal the edges very well to avoid the filling leaking out.
Frozen puff pastry can often be found in the freezer section of well-stocked supermarkets. Avoid brand that list fats other than butter in the ingredients for best results. If you don’t want to use alcohol.
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