Today we are celebrating the Epiphany, Christ’s baptism by John the Baptist (Eastern churches) and the day on which Les Rois Mages (the Magi), the three kings Gaspard, Balthazar and Melchior came to pay their tribute to the world famous baby born Jesus (Western churches).
La Galette des rois is a typical french tradition celebrated on the Epiphany, the tradition is to discover who will be the king or the queen for a day by having “la fève” hidden in the galette, historically a dry fava bean (hence the name) but now it became a little porcelain figure. The ritual says; the youngest child of the family hides under the table, an adult divides the galette in even slices, and the child decides which slice goes to whom. Whoever gets the fève in his serving is named King (or Queen) for the day, gets to wear the paper crown and picks who the Queen (or King) will be.
La Galette des rois is a traditional confection consisted of puff pastry pie garnished with butter with infinite options of stuffing. Today’s recipe is the galette à la frangipane et chocolat which is a blend of crème d’amande and crème pâtissière (pastry cream) and chocolate. With kids, chocolate is always a winning option!
You will need:
500g puff pastry (thawed if frozen), divided and rolled out to 2 circles, one is slightly bigger than the other (30cm diameter).
Filling:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1 tbsp liquor of your choice (rum, grand marnier, bourbon….)
- 1/2 cup crème pâtissière
- 1/3 cup chocolate grated or cocoa powder
- 1 egg + 1 tbsp water room temperature for eggwash
Accessories:
- la fève or porcelain trinket
- 2 crowns
- Beat the butter until creamy. In a bowl combine sugar and almond flour. Add the butter to it and mix until smooth. Stir in the liquor and eggs one at a time and mix well at each addition. Add the crème pâtissière and finally the chocolate.
- Place the smaller of the 2 circles on a piece of parchment paper. Pour the prepared filling in the center and spread it inside the circle leaving a ring by a width of 2.5cm (about 1 inch) around. Using a pastry brush, brush the outer rim with water to serve as glue when you place the second puff pastry circle on top. Place a porcelain trinket of your choice in the crème, not in the center but closer to an edge, or your knife will keep running into it when you divide the galette. Press it down gently to bury it. You can put 2 trinkets to increase the chances if you have more than one kid, ditch the rules and let’s have some fun;)
- Lay the second round of dough precisely on top of the first, smooth it out gently over the crème to remove any air pocket, and press it down all around the sides to seal. Using the back of the tip of your knife, draw a decorative pattern on top of the galette. Holding your knife upright, blade down, and using the dull side of the blade, push the dough inward to create a festooned pattern.
- Brush the top of the galette lightly with egg wash: Make sure it doesn’t drip over the edges, or the eggwash will seal the layers of the puff pastry and it won’t rise. Let it rest a minute then brush it lightly again with the eggwash. Using the tip of your knife, pierce the top dough through the pattern you’ve drawn to ensure an even rise. Transfer to a baking pan and bake for 30 minutes on 180°C and until puffy and golden brown.
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Let it cool to room temperature before serving.
Happy Epiphany everyone! دايم دايم
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