Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Galette des rois 2015

I made the traditional galette des rois (cake of the kings) on Tuesday. The puff pastry was good, but I was not all that happy with the way the cake rose; it came out a little lopsided. I think it was because I forgot to notch the edges of the cake as I usually do. No matter. It tasted perfectly delicious.

The finished cake, well risen (one side more than the other) and nicely brown and crisp.

The technique is not complicated. I cut my block of puff pastry in two, then rolled out the first one. I used a dinner plate to cut out a circle of dough. Then I spread the almond cream (a mixture of ground almonds, butter, sugar, and an egg) in the center of the circle. I placed the fève into the almond cream at one edge. This year's fève (literally "fava bean" but nowadays it refers to the little prize inside the cake) is a ceramic fresh-water salmon called un omble.

The little ceramic fish came from a commercially made galette many years ago.

I rolled the second block of pastry out, cut another circle, and laid it over the first, having first painted some beaten egg around the edge to seal it all. Next, I used a knife to cut a pattern into the top of the cake. It was at this point that I should have used the knife to make little notches all around the edges of the cake, but I forgot. I then painted the top of the cake with more beaten egg before putting it into a hot oven for 20 to 30 minutes.

The assembled cake ready for the oven. It would easily serve six people.

As I said, the cake puffed up a little more on one side than the other, even though I turned it around halfway through the baking. Oh well, stuff happens. It tasted great, and Ken got the prize in his slice. He was king for the day! Yesterday.

10 comments:

  1. I'll help you eat a slice! looks dee-lish!

    ReplyDelete
  2. "He was king for the day! Yesterday."
    heh heh :)
    I always show my students one of your posts to show how the galette is made :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Since you make this beautiful cake, I suppose you could secretly be king every year lol. It's good you make it fair. I love hearing about the king cake every year and intend to make one moi meme next year.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hate missing this little event this year. Your cake looks fabulous! After living in France only a short time (6 years), I'm already feeling homesick for it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow what a atasty cake.. A slice for me, please

    ReplyDelete
  6. Do you have any advise about making puff pastry? Bought puff pastry has soybean oil in it and I am allergic to soybeans. I would love to learn how to make mine own.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. madonna, it's not hard. You should look up a recipe on line for the proportions that work for you. The main thing is that you need to be near your kitchen for most of a day to let the dough rest (30 minutes to an hour in the fridge each time) in between rolling and folding it. It needs at least six "turns," but I usually do a few more. So making the dough a day or two in advance of when you need it is best. It will also keep perfectly well in the freezer, but you have to thaw it slowly before using it.

      Delete
    2. Here's a post I did about puff pastry — pâte feuilletée — a while back when Walt made a batch. It might help some.

      Delete
  7. W. - Thanks so much. I am going to try it. I heard you should use European butter since it has less water in it.
    K - Thanks. I can't believe I missed this since I have poked around your blog quiet a bit.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me what you think!