Galette Des Rois (Kings Cake)

The Galette des Rois is typically a French tradition to celebrate l'Epiphanie: the day when the three kings came to pay their tribute to baby Jesus. In French those wise men go by Les Rois Mages (the Magi).


On the day of the Epiphany, families share a Galette des Rois, a flaked pastry pie filled with frangipane, a smooth buttery mixture of almond cream and pastry cream.

Some families celebrate with the Galette des Rois on the 6th and some on the first Sunday in January. But it's mostly considered fine to celebrate it all through the month of January, which is why I am celebrating now.


Another fun thing about the Galette des Rois, apart from how delicious a warm buttery almond pastry tastes on a rainy morning, is the traditional game that goes with it. Because hidden inside the Galette is a small little trinket or dried bean, I actually used a dried banana chip because it is what I had on hand, that when found bestows upon its owner the rights to the throne, aka they get to be king for a day! Paper crown and all.

Galette des Rois

*adapted from Chocolate Zucchini 

Ingredients

Pastry:

• (17 2/3 ounces) all-butter puff pastry, thawed if frozen

Crème d'amande:

• (9 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 125 grams (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) sugar
• 130 grams (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon) almond meal
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• good pinch sea salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 drop almond extract
• 1 tablespoon liquor of your choice, such as Grand Marnier or rum

For the eggwash and glaze:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• 1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar

Accessories:

- 1 porcelain trinket or dried bean

- Paper crown

Directions

1. Prepare the crème d'amande.
Beat the butter until creamy, but avoid incorporating air into it. In a bowl, combine the sugar, almonds, hazelnuts, corn starch, and salt. Stir with a whisk to remove any lump. Add to the creamed butter and mix until smooth. Add the almond extract and orange flower water, then the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or overnight.


2. Roll out the puff pastry.
Divide the puff pastry in 2 equal pieces, and roll each one out to form a rough circle a little larger than 12 inches in diameter. Use a sharp knife and an upturned plate of the right dimension to cut a neat 12-inch circle out of one, and a slightly larger one with the other, adding, say, 1/4 inch all around the edge of the plate.


3. Assemble the galette.
Place the smaller of the two circles on a piece of parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolk with a tablespoon water (or milk, if you have it handy) until smooth. Using a pastry brush, brush the outer rim of the dough lightly with the eggwash by a width of about 1 inch. Make sure not to wet the actual edge of the dough, or it will impede its rise.


Pour the crème d'amande in the center and spread it out inside the eggwash ring with a spatula.


Place a dried bean, or the trinket of your choice, in the crème d'amande -- not in the center but closer to an edge, or your knife will keep running into it when you divide the galette. And if it is an elongated shape, make sure to orient it straight toward the center of the galette, again, to minimize the possibility of you hitting it with your knife. Press it down gently to bury it.


Transfer the second round of dough precisely on top of the first, smooth it out gently over the crème d'amande to remove any air pocket, and press it down all around the sides to seal.



4. Score the galette.
Using the back of the tip of your knife, draw a decorative pattern on top of the galette. I chose to make a sun pattern: you start from the center and draw an arc to reach the edge of the galette in a single, smooth gesture, exercising just enough pressure to score the dough without piercing it. You then turn the galette ever so slightly, draw a similar arc nested in the first one, and repeat until the entire galette is scored.


Holding your knife upright, blade down, and using the dull side of the blade, push the dough inward where each sun ray ends, to create a festooned pattern.


Brush the top of the galette lightly with the eggwash: again, make sure it doesn't drip over the edges, or the eggwash will seal the layers of the puff pastry in this spot and it won't develop as well. Let it rest a minute then brush it lightly again with the eggwash. (As you can see on the picture below, my eggwash pooled a bit around the bulge of the crème d'amande, which resulted in a darker coloring around the sides; I didn't mind, but I'll be more careful next time.)


Using the tip of your knife, pierce 5 holes in the top dough -- one in the center, and four around the sides, piercing through the pattern you've drawn -- to ensure an even rise.


Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet or a tart pan with a removable bottom, and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.


5. Bake the galette.
Preheat the oven to 360°F. Insert the galette in the middle of the oven and bake for 30-35 min, until puffy and golden brown.


In the final minutes of baking, combine the tablespoon of confectioner's sugar with a tablespoon very hot water. When the galette is done, remove it from the oven, brush it across the top with the syrup, and return it to the oven for a minute; this will give it a shiny finish.


Place on a rack to cool completely (it will settle as it cools) and serve at room temperature or still warm out of the oven.

LOVE,

My Macaron Mission: Stage One

I don't often check Bakarella's Blog . Don't get me wrong she has cute stuff, but I'm afraid it ends there; it's just cute and it's never to inventive or challenging taste wise. However I did check her blog last week and was disappointed that she beat me to the punch on my next blog, rather, my next blog series. I was waiting for my San Francisco series to be done, which it now is btw, to begin a series of posts on my mission to make great tasting French Macarons. But you know what... I'm not Bakarella so I won't let her get me down. I'm an amateur baker and blogger with a lot of Sass, so I hope that my series can be more accessible and real.

As usual, we begin with a little history... Although predominately a French confection, there has been much debate about its origins. It has been cited that the macaron was first introduced in Venice during the Renaissance. Some have traced its French debut back to the arrival of Catherine de Medici's Italian pastry chefs whom she brought with her in 1533 upon marrying Henry II. Pierre Desfontaines of Laduree is credited for the modern interpretation of the macaron as a sandwich cookie, whereby two biscuits enclose either a buttercream, jam, or ganache filling.

Thanks Catherine!

My personal love affair with macarons began about 5 years ago when I went to visit my friend Allyse in Paris who was studying abroad there. The first place she took me the night I arrived was Laduree where I had my first macaron, well first 4 or 5, and ever since then I have been obsessed, as any sane person should be... they are magnificent! Lets take a look at their resume... They have great flavor and texture: almondy and light with limitless flavor possibilities for the buttercream or ganache filling. They come in many different fun colors and they are beautiful to look at! I'd hire them for any job! Especially the job of pleasing my senses.

Brilliant Mediocracy

I'm back in action! That's right I fought my way out of the fog, I'm alive and well and ready to report on all my amazing adventures! In reality, I spent the whole last week in San Francisco and probably spent more time eating my way through the fog than I did fighting my out of it. But in all fairness that's kinda what you have to do while your visiting San Francisco... 1. You don't live there so you can't really cook at home 2. There food is amazing! 3. There amazing food is cheap!

This might be a surprise to those who live in the LA area, as good food tends to be a little pricer and cheap food tends to be rather disgusting. But take it from me, Sweet Lady Sass, and sit back and enjoy a week of blogs on just how Sweet SF is.


Here's a cool shot of a park in Hayes Valley

Every good beginning should not begin at the beginning, as someone wise once said (myself), it should begin with context for the beginning, so I will fill you in on why my husband and I were in the city for a week.


Speaking of my husband, here he is!

Josh and I lived in SF most of last year. Both working in, learning about, loving, eating and trying to survive the city. Although we are in LA now, our plan is to move back up to the city within the next year to continue working in, learning about, loving, eating and trying to survive the city. This week was in preparation for that. It was a work trip I guess you could say, but it also served as a sweet reminder (both literally and figuratively) of why "The City" is the city we have been called to.

Now for the beginning. The trip started out with some brilliant mediocracy. I know I don't usually report on things that don't blow my socks off, but I feel it is important to because sometimes you are looking for a decent snack that is easy to find and never lets you down. As I say these things, my guess is that many readers may be thinking well that's what starbucks is to me, I can get my carmel latte and reduced-fat coffee cake and be a mildly happy camper. However, I am here to tell you that there is a better "go to" option in the city called La Boulange....