A French New Year's Tradition: the Galette des Rois Recipe!
On
the sixth of January, France celebrates the Epiphanie, which
commemorates the three kings which went to the stables after Jesus's
birth, bringing him presents. Although I'm not a religious person, I
quite like that day because in France we have a sweet treat that's
been a tradition that I haven't seen anywhere else: the
galette des rois!
Basically the 'Tart of Kings' - I have been struggling to find an
accurate translation as this is something proper to the French, but
in short, it is like a pie filled with marzipan. Like the Twelfth
Night cake, it has a little token inside it - originally, a bean was
placed inside, but in time it's been replaced by cute little
porcelain figures. The person who finds the figurine is named king or
queen, and has the honour of wearing the much-coveted crown on their
head! This is a fun tradition to celebrate, no matter if you're
religious or not. To be honest, the galette doesn't hold a particular
religious meaning actually - it's just an excuse to eat a yummy treat
again! :P
So
I'm sharing my recipe with you today! It was my first time using this
recipe, and the galette turned out really soft, and the marzipan is
super tasty but very light at the same time thanks to the custard
cream that is added to the almond cream - a success!
The
recipe is to carry out in different steps; follow the following and
it'll be quick and simple:
~ The Almond Filling ~
~ Ingredients ~
~
2 eggs
~
25cl of whole milk (but works with semi-skimmed milk too)
~
30g of flour
~
50g of sugar
~
vanilla extract
1/ In
a bowl, beath the two eggs with the sugar. Then add the flour.
2/ Boil
the milk, and add it in the bowl while it's still boiling. Mix
everything together, then put the preparation in the saucepan. When
it's boiling again, whisk the preparation for around three minutes
straight (be careful that it doesn't cling to the pan). Once the
texture is thick and creamy, the custard is ready.
3/ Put
the custard cream in a bowl, and cover it with cling film. Put it in
the fridge for an hour to an hour and a half.
~ The Marzipan ~
~ Ingredients ~
~
3 egg yolks
~
100g of sugar
~
125g of almond powder
~
125g of butter
1/ Mix
the butter and the sugar together. To make it easier, I advise you to
melt the butter for around 20 seconds - you don't want it to be too
liquid, just easier to work with.
2/ Once
the paste is homogeneous, add the egg yolks, and then the almond
powder. Mix everything together.
3/ Take
the custard cream from the fridge and add it to this preparation. The
custard will make the marzipan lighter and creamier.
~ Assembling the galette ~
~ Ingredients ~
~
2 sheets of puff paste
~
two egg yolks
~
a token (or a raw bean if you want to make it traditional)
1/ After
pre-heating the oven at 200°C, put the first sheet of puff paste in
a round cake tin. Make the borders look even on the sides. With a
kitchen brush, put some egg yolk in the outer corners of the paste.
2/ Add
the marzipan, starting from the middle. Be careful not to put too
much on the sides of the tin, stop at around 2cm of it. You can use a
pastry bag, but the easy way, using a spoon, works great too.
3/ Add
you little token somewhere in the galette - I chose a cute little
crown, my mom got a set of those in a bakery recently.
4/ Cover
with the second sheet of puff paste. Make sure that it looks even,
and stick the borders of the paste with those of the first sheet, to
close the galette.
5/ With
the remaining egg yolk, cover the galette so that it turns crispy and
golden. With the tip of a knife, gently create some designs to give
shape to the galette. You don't want to cut into it though, so it has
to be very mild. Create two or three small slits on the sides to
prevent the galette from swelling.
6/ Finally,
put the galette in the oven for 10min at 200°C, then another 30min
at 180°C.
How
good does that look? Even though it seems to take lots of time to
prepare, it is not difficult at all and it is something very
different from we tend to eat as treats in general. January is the
only time of the year when these are sold in stores, so we always eat
loads before it stops!
If
you like marzipan, then this is totally for you. The association of
the crispy paste and the soft marzipan is great, and this would make
a nice new experience for those of you who have never tried galette
before. My French friends and I baked one last year when we were in
England, and none of our housemates knew about galette. And I have to
say, all of those who tried it loved it! ;)
This
time, my little brother got the figurine that was inside. Next time,
the crown will be mine!
Have you ever seen galettes before, did you know about them? Also, do you have any traditional food that you've never seen anywhere else?
Lots of love,
Julia x
Lots of love,
Julia x
17 commentaires
mmmmm this looks delicious! I'd really appreciate it if you checked out my latest post!
ReplyDelete-Morgs x
http://justmorgs.blogspot.co.uk
Thanks Morgs! I'll check it out of course :) xx
Deletemmmmm this looks delicious! I'd really appreciate it if you checked out my latest post!
ReplyDelete-Morgs x
http://justmorgs.blogspot.co.uk
Mmmmm that looks lovely. And because I obviously can't find them in England, I could definitely make one!
ReplyDeleteThe recipe looks quite accessible so I might have a go at it. Thanks for sharing our culture!
Mika | www.la-french-connection.com
It is definitely an easy recipe! It's cool sometimes to have a little bit of France in England :P xx
DeleteWhen I saw the first picture of the tart, I thought it would be filled with cheese or some other savory filling; never did I imagine it would be a marzipan tart! Needless to say, I hadn't previously heard of this before. I'm sure it's delicious, especially if you've got a sweet tooth :P
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Julia :)
It does look like a savoury tart, it's true! Much like a chicken pie that you have in England :P If you can try out some galette one day, make sure you do - you'll love it! :D xx
DeleteI've never heard of this but it sounds delightful! Hope you had a great day celebrating! :) xx
ReplyDeletewww.adaliascloset.blogspot.co.uk
Thanks Adalia! I did, although I didn't have the crown in the end :( xx
Deletedelicious!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.alovelystyle.com/
Thanks Rakel! xx
DeleteOMGG it looks so delicious! you are making me hungry HAHA:) thanks for sharing. Do you want to support each others blog by following each other? Please let me know so I can follow you right back:)
ReplyDeletexoxo
www.theclosetelf.com
Thank you Hilary! I'll check out your blog ;) xx
DeleteYour recipe posts always look so delicious and this one is no different!:D
ReplyDelete- www.veebzboo.com
- www.youtube.com/veebzboo - What I Got For Christmas 2015
Thanks so much :D xx
DeleteThis looks so interesting, I'd love to make it!
ReplyDeletelouleecutie.blogspot.co.uk
Trust me, if you make one you won't be disappointed! xx
Delete