Now that Christmas is behind us, it’s time to start practicing for the first tradition of the year: the famous King Cake, called Galette des Rois in French! Back in 2016, I decided to bake it myself. I do not regret at all it is very simple for a very good result. Starting in 2017, my challenge was to achieve the same thing but in Canada with different products. After years practicing, I’m happy to share my recipe.
Before going any further, if you’re unfamiliar with this tradition, here’s a little explanation. In France, we eat the galette des rois on January 6. If you’re in France, you’ll find them in every bakery. Traditions vary from region to region. I’ll share mine with you: the youngest person hides under the table. Meanwhile, another person cuts the slices. The person hidden under the table allocates the slices without seeing them. This way, even if the bean is visible, the distribution is not influenced. The other tradition: the person who finds the bean has to buy the next galette.
For this recipe you will need:
- 2 puff pastry (you can find them on the frozen shelf in Canada, at No Frills, Loblaws … or you can do them yourself)
- 80 grams of butter.
- 2 eggs.
- 200 grams of almond powder (you will find some at Bulk Barn for example).
- 150 grams of sugar.
- 1 egg yolk.
Preparation of the king cake:
- Preheat the oven to 210 degrees C (410 degrees F)
- Spread your first puff pastry on a baking sheet.
- In a bowl mix
- butter
- eggs
- almond powder
- sugar
- Spread this mixture in thick layer on the first paste leaving 2 centimetres empty on the edge to be able to weld the second paste.
- Hide the bean.
- Moisten the edges to help the 2 doughs weld together.
- Put the second dough on the first one.
- Weld the edges.
- Brush with egg yolk. Doing it before the drawings will give you a better result.
- Make drawings on the top.
- Next, drill a few tiny holes through the wafer to allow the heat to escape. This will prevent the solder joints from exploding and coming apart.
- Put in the oven for 30 minutes.
All you have to do is enjoy! You can double the quantities for garnish if you want something more greedy.
Bon appétit and especially good luck to all to be the king or the queen;)
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