Pastry Fit for Kings Galette des Rois
©David Scott Allen Cakes & Cookies · Christmas & Holiday · David Scott Allen · Provencal Recipes · TasteWe love New Orleans, but certainly had to agree when David describes the NOLA Kings Cake as “A perfectly nice yeast bread hopped up on sugar and decorated by a kindergarten Jackson Pollock.” In his Cocoa & Lavender post, David walks the reader through the process of preparing an Epiphany galette (cake), a dessert served during the Christmas period ending on January 6th (Epiphany). According to David, the New Orleans version and the French version have little in common, except for the feve.
Galette des Rois
A classic Christmas cake made from puff pastry, filled with frangipane and a small treasure or feve hidden inside.
Ingredients
Galette de Rois
- 1 pound all-butter puff pastry recipe follows
- 1 cup ground almonds
- 1/2 cup sugar
- pinch salt
- 4 tbsp butter softened
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1/8 tsp lemon extract
- 1 dried fava bean (fève), ceramic or glass toy doll, etc.
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp milk
Quick Puff Pastry
- 2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cake flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 pound unsalted butter cold, cut into small cubes
- 1/2 cup ice water
Instructions
Preparing the Galette de Rois
- Preheat oven to 375°F
- Combine the almonds, sugar, butter, whole egg, and extracts in the food processor. This is the frangipane; it should be the consistency of a thick paste.
- Divide the pastry into two pieces.
- Roll out each piece of pastry and cut into a circle about 10 inches wide and 1/8-inch thick (use a plate or cake pan as your template, being careful not to press down on the dough.
- Place both circles of dough on parchment and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- Put one circle of pastry (and its parchment) on baking tray and spread the frangipane evenly, leaving a 3/4-inch border.
- Press the trinket into the paste and cover with frangipane.
- Using a pastry brush, “paint” the 3/4-inch border with water.
- Place the second sheet on top and press the two pieces together around the edge, sealing completely as you go, then crimp the edges decoratively as you would a pie. (It is very important to seal the pastry well before crimping, otherwise the filling will ooze out.)
- Mix the egg yolk with the milk and brush the entire top of the galette with this mixture, being careful that it stays on top and doesn’t touch any of the sides. (It might keep the sides from puffing up.)
- Using a very sharp knife, decorate the top of the galette with patterns of slashes, being careful not to go all the way through to the frangipane.
- Bake on bottom rack for about 30 minutes, but keep an eye on it. It should be golden with tinges of brown. Serve warm.
Preparing the Puff Pastry
- Put flours and salt in the bowl of the food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse a few times to mix.
- Scatter butter on top of flour, and using on/off button, pulse until butter is the size of lima beans, no smaller than peas.
- Add almost all of the ice water and 12-15 times.
- If it’s too dry add the rest of the water and pulse until the dough almost comes together. Don´t let it form a ball of dough; don't over process.
- Dump out the dough onto a generously floured work surface and pat it into an 8-inch square.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rectangle, about 8-inches by 15- to 18-inches. (This will look like an absolute mess in the beginning! Don't worry - it will come together!)
- Flour the dough and rolling pin as needed to prevent sticking.
- Make the first turn: with the aid of a dough scraper, lift one third of the dough, and flip it down onto the middle third.
- Do the same starting from the bottom with the remaining third of dough. (People describe this as a business letter fold.)
- Turn the dough a quarter turn clockwise, so that the short side is parallel to the working surface and the long side with the opening is on your right side.
- Repeat the rolling into a rectangle, the folding in three and turn to the right another three times for a total of four times.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Repeat the rolling, folding, and turning of the dough two more times, for a total will be six turns.
- The pastry needs to be refrigerated for at least 1 more hour before using it.
- Makes 2 pounds.
Notes
Make the puff pastry in advance as it needs to be refrigerated and folded - this is the secret behind the flaky pastry.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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2 Comments
I just made one this past weekend and was reminded how good it is! And, I got the fève, so the party is on me next year!
It sounds like 2022 will be a lucky year!