Called king's cake or twelfth night cake in English, galette des rois is traditionally served on the 12th day of Christmas. As part of the festivities, a porcelain figurine is baked into the galette. Whoever gets the trinket is named either king or queen for the night—hence the name galette des rois (king's cake).

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Pâte Feuilletée (Puff Pastry)
(click here to find our essential classic Pâte Feuilletée recipe)

Crème Frangipane:

• 60 g (2 oz) Butter
• 60 g (2 oz) Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 Vanilla pod
• 10 mL (½ fl oz) Rum
• 60 g (2 oz) Ground almond
• 100 g (3 ½ oz) Crème pâtissière
  (click here to find our essential classic Crème Pâtissière recipe)

Crème Frangipane

1. Prepare the almond cream (crème d'amandes): Cream (crémer) the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg until well combined. Using a small knife, split the vanilla pod in half lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and whisk into the mixture. Add the rum and finish by mixing in the ground almond. Reserve the almond cream in a covered bowl in the refrigerator until ready to use.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the crème pâtissière until it is smooth and stretchy. Add the almond cream and stir with the whisk until the two are combined. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a medium round tip.

Assembly

1. Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour (fleurer). Unwrap the puff pastry onto the lightly floured work surface and roll it out (abaisser) using a rolling pin to a thickness of 3 mm ( ¹/₈ in.). Place the puff pastry on a baking tray lined with baking paper and return it to the refrigerator to rest for 10 minutes.
2. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and lay it out flat on the work surface. Using a cake ring or vol-au-vent circle as a guide, cut two circles out of the puff pastry, one 20 cm (8 in.) and the other slightly larger (refrigerate the trimmings for other uses). Place the larger circle on the baking tray lined with baking paper and reserve it in the refrigerator.
3. Brush the surface of the second round with water and flip it onto a baking tray lined with baking paper (wet side down). Brush a 2½ cm (1 in.) band of egg wash around the surface of the round.
   Note: It is important that the round be placed wet side down as the water will cause the dough to stick to the baking tray and prevent it from warping during cooking.
4. Pipe (coucher) a tight spiral of crème frangipane onto the disc of pastry (begin piping in the centre and work your way outwards, stopping just before the egg wash). Transfer the baking tray to the refrigerator for 10 minutes to let the crème frangipane harden.
5. Remove both baking trays from the refrigerator. Lightly dust the larger round with flour and gently fold it in half. Place it on top of the disc with the frangipane spiral, taking care to line up the edges of the 2 discs. Unfold the top disc so that it completely covers the bottom one and no air is trapped inside. Gently press down the edges to secure the egg wash seal and, using the cake ring as a guide, cut off any irregularities from the edge of the galette. Transfer the galette to the freezer for 30 minutes before baking.

Cooking

1. Remove the galette from the freezer, brush the surface with egg wash, and lightly score a chevron design on the top with the back of a small knife. Score the sides of the galette using the back of a paring knife (chiqueter).
2. Transfer the galette to the pre-heated oven and bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 170°C (340°F) and continue to bake the galette for a further 20 minutes or until golden. Remove the galette from the oven and slide it onto a wire rack to cool.
3. Serve the galette des rois at room temperature on a serving dish.

»This recipe requires many skills you could learn from studying Cuisine or Pâtisserie at Le Cordon Bleu