Recipe: Galette des rois with frangipane cream

I recently wrote that the galette des rois is the traditional cake for the Epiphany in France and is eaten throughout January (read my previous article to find out what a galette is, and what’s the tradition behind it).

It is made of a crunchy puff pastry exterior with a creamy filling (usually the predominant flavour is almond) and whoever finds the small “fève” (a small sculpture hidden inside the cake) becomes “king/queen for a day”.

Last year I mademy first attempt at making a galette des rois, and although the result was tasty, the appearance was, well… have a look here.

So this year it was a great satisfaction to come out with something much nicer!!!

As first step-by-step recipe of galette des rois on the blog, I chose to go traditional and I opted for a filling of frangipane cream, a delicate mix of almond cream and pastry cream.

Of course I also made the puff pastry myself, but you can buy a ready-made one at the supermarket (just be aware that it will never be as good as mine!) 🙂 and in that case making a galette becomes a super easy and quick job!

Now who will be king or queen for a day? 🙂

Galette des rois with frangipane cream

Print recipe

Ingredients

Crust

300g	Puff pastry (6 folds)

Almond cream

75g	Unsalted butter (room temperature)
80g	Powdered sugar
1	Egg
80g	Ground almonds
6g	Corn starch
15ml	Rhum

Pastry cream

100ml	Milk
25g	Granulated sugar
1	Egg yolks
4g	Corn starch
1/2	Vanilla bean, split
10g	Unsalted butter

Egg wash

1	Egg yolk (beaten)

Directions

Pastry cream

Heat the milk with half of the sugar and the vanilla bean in a saucepan

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and corn starch

When the milk is boiling, pour it in three times over the egg mixture and mix every time to prevent the yolks from curdling

Put back the liquid mixture into the saucepan and cook on medium heat whisking continuously

Allow the pastry cream to boil for 2 minutes then remove from the heat, add the diced butter and whisk again until it is fully incorporated

Pour the cream in a large pan so to have only a thin layer of cream. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Almond cream

In a bowl, soften butter with a spatula to give it a creamy texture and add sugar to obtain a thick dough

Incorporate the egg and then the almond flour

Add the cornstarch and finally the rhum

Mix the pastry cream with half of the almond cream (or all of it, according to your taste) to obtain a frangipane cream. You can use the rest of the almond cream for other preparations.

Assembling the galette

Roll out the puff pastry (after the 6 folds, you can roll it out in two directions, turning it 90° each time) to a large 3mm-thick rectangle.

Using a lid or any round object, gently cut two rounds of puff pastry with a pointed knife (the top should ideally be about 1cm bigger than the bottom)

Flip the bottom round, place it on parchment paper and pipe a spiral of frangipane cream on the round, leaving a 3cm edge

Don't forget to put your "fève", a small object that is not to be eaten (and is NOT made of plastic!). Put it on the side, otherwise there will be no surprise when cutting the galette.

Brush the edge with water.

Place the top round on the bottom one, covering completely the cream and trying to match the edges as much as possible. (Tip: the puff pastry must be cold enough to be handled easily; you can move the top round by folding it in half first)

Make sure the top part adheres to the bottom one, by pressing slightly with your fingers all around the edge.

Press well a second time to ensure the top part adheres to the bottom part (don't be afraid to leave your finger marks)

Adjust the shape of the galette by cutting uneven parts then flip the galette so that the top becomes the bottom (important! This way you will decorate the smoother part)

Decorate the side of the galette by making an inward mark with the back of a knife blade every 2cm.

Brush completely the top with the egg wash and make a small hole in the centre of the galette with the tip of a knife. This will prevent the puff pastry from rising excessively and cracking.

Make a decoration on the top with the tip of a pointed knife (I drew some curves from the centre, but the classical pattern is just made of perpendicular lines to obtain squares). Make sure not to cut the puff pastry completely otherwise the dough will crack while baking. Also make 5-6 small holes in the decoration lines to make sure the air can escape and provide a proper rise. Store in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Mark the decoration lines a second time with the tip of the knife. Finally bake at 200°C for around 10 minutes then let the oven reach 180° C and bake for 25-30 more minutes, until the galette becomes a golden brown.

Note

The egg wash should be used before making the decoration to ensure the lines are visible and of a different colour in the baked product. Remember that the scraps of puff pastry cannot be mixed together and rolled out for a high-rising product such as the galette. Nevertheless you can put them one on top of the other (to keep the layers intact) and roll them out to make fruit tarts or a napoleon.

Recipe: Galette des rois with frangipane cream

Galette des rois with frangipane cream