“How about Galette des Rois cake & tea?” the very chic and very French Myriam says to me one day when we’re deciding on where to meet up. My mouth immediately salivates and my mind goes into overdrive at the very idea of trying this iconic French pastry. Never heard of it? Please, allow me to explain. Eaten since the Middle Ages the Galette Des Rois or King’s Cake is a treat eaten in the New Year after the 6th of January to celebrate the Epiphany when the Three Kings visited the baby Jesus.
The Parisian version of the cake is made of a multi layered puff pastry filled with a layer of almond frangipane whilst the Provence version uses brioche. The top layers are patterned and baked to a beautiful burnished bronze. Inside is a single charm (a fève) which was put in to draw the kings to the Epiphany. It can take any form but religious symbols are popular. At the beginning, it was said that a bean was used and whoever received it was crowned king or queen for the day and was asked to buy a round of drinks so people who didn’t want to stump up for the round would simply swallow the bean. To avoid this, they started making the charm out of porcelain. Today plastic charms are used but the porcelain ones remain a collector’s item.
For the French, their introduction to this pastry cake is from when they are young. On or around the 6th of January, everyone gathers. A child or the youngest person in the room hides underneath the table while the cake is cut under a napkin with the napkin hiding any clues should they cut into the charm. The child then nominates who each slice should go to and whoever lands the lucky charm is King or Queen, dons the crown, chooses their King or Queen partner for the day and everything that they wish for that day is followed. Myriam confides that it is particularly embarrassing for teens to have to choose their fellow king or queen and she recalls once receiving the fève and then neatly tucking it into her cheek and pretending that she hadn’t in order to avoid choosing a king.
Today it is available in French patisseries from the begining of January and comes with a paper crown and a special bag that allows for easy reheating. It is so iconic that extravagant versions are now being created with jewellery houses and couture designers teaming up with various patissiers to create a Galette des Rois with a signature trinket.
Laduree’s 2010 Galette Des Rois with Christian Lacroix crown
Charms by Christian Lacroix for Laduree’s 2010 Galette Des Rois (photos from the Laduree website)
This year Laduree teamed up with Christian Lacroix who created a collection of charms and the paper crown. Sadaharu Aoki’s version features green tea frangipane as well as a berries and rose one.
Sadaharu Aoki’s Berries and Rose Galette Des Rois
Sadaharu Aoki’s Green Tea Galette Des Rois
Sadaharu Aoki’s Almond Galette Des Rois (photos from Sadaharu Aoki website)
Progress photos of the Galettes being made at Sadaharu Aoki
The Mack Daddy of patissieres, Pierre Herme makes an Ispahan version of the galette with a puff pastry, almond cream with rose, raspberry and lychee.
Hermé‘s Ispahan Galette Des Rois (photo from Pierre Hermé website)
A very big thankyou must go to Myriam who ventured all the way to Victoire Balmain where she picked up a pre ordered Galette Des Rois. The 22cm diameter Galette Des rois is $30 and feeds about 10 people although tradition dictates that the cake should be cut into as many slices as there are people present plus one extra. This extra slice is called the part du Bon Dieu (God’s slice), the part de la Vierge (the Virgin Mary’s slice) or the part du pauvre (poor man’s slice) and is supposed to be given to the first poor person that visits the home.
She cuts into the flakey puff pastry and I take a slice. It’s rich with a buttery almond aroma and I crunch through the many multitudes of layers all the while showering down little fragments of pastry onto my clothes until we reach the soft, fragrant centre of almond frangipane. It’s deliciously rich but also one of those things I’m sure I could eat more of. We happen upon the charm, a little blue and white porcelain Virgin Mary. And Myriam gives it the ultimate French stamp of approval for taste.
So tell me Dear Reader, what is the seasonal food that you most look forward to each year? Is it a cake like this? A fruit? A drink?
Galettes Des Rois are available until the 17th of January and must be pre-ordered.
Victoire Bakery
285 Darling Street, Balmain, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9818 5529
If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?
What is NQN up to now? 
NQN on Facebook
RSS
43 Comments | Add your own
Figs figs figs! I’m almost more upset to have missed out on figs than warmth through having switched hemispheres and seasons.
Would love to try Sadaharu Aoki’s galette, as I adore the combination of green tea and sweet azuki paste.
OMG!! m loving this bakery!!
and loving all of them!!!! yummy!
Loving the bakery posts.
That is one great looking galette cake!
wow these look incredible
I went to victoire bakery when I met up with Trissa. They have the best cheese sticks. Oh carbs yummmmmm
Sounds like you had a great time!
My favorite thing about the holidays is pumpkin pie.
That sounds like a fun tradition. I like the hitting eggs together at Easter in Greek families, and the uncles with a the wooden egg
I have always wanted to see one as there is a recipe for it in Domestic Goddess, special to Nigella because Epiphany is her birthday
Food is the best part of any special occasion. I suppose Christmas cake, not just any but the real deal, is the one I look forward to the most.
My most anticipated seasonal food would have to be pastelles. A pastelle is a cormeal meat pie seasoned with spices capers olives raisins, wrapped in a banna leaf and steamed. It is very time consuming to make so it is usually only done at CHristmas time.
I love, love, love this cake and the tradition behind it. Being that my husband’s birthday falls on the Feast of the Epiphany I guess by default he gets to be King for the day but I wonder what they do in France when it’s a person’s b’day. Are they automatically king for the day?
the paper crowns are so cute! looks like some lovely pastry to try one day for me
That cake looks yum!! I guess I’ll have to wait til next year to try it
My favourite seasonal food – gingerbread!! It’s very much a Christmas food for me…even though I can eat it any time of the year, it just screams ‘Christmas’ to me. Especially if it’s a gingerbread house!!
This story brought back happy memories! I taught in a school in the south of France for a year, and we had a Gallette des Rois every lunch time for a couple of weeks! I look forward to mince pies all year round, and even though I still have a jar of mincemeat in my cupboard, it just wouldn’t feel right eating them outside of December! xxx
I can see why you were salivating! And what a beautiful history. I really enjoyed this post, NQN!
Thank you for sharing this story with us. I always love learning new things about different cultures and this one is most interesting. The galette looks stunning.
I did an exchange for 4 months over Christmas/New year when I was 15 and I remember having about 5 of these cakes at different peoples houses in January – they all wanted to show it to me. It was so delicious, though I never got the feve
I also came back 8kgs heavier, very traumatic for a girl of that age, but with the pastries calling my name, in hindsight it was definitely worth it 
oh I want to get in the car and head there RIGHT now – how gorgeous does this look?
I feel completely ignorant as i had never heard of these – but wow they are truly beautiful!
It has a CROWN!!!!
Yum! These sound absolutely delicious =D.
I look forward every year to all the summer fruits. I love going to the fruit shop in summer. Mangoes, strawberries, nectarines. My favourites by far are white peaches and blood plums. Yum!!
I’ve heard of this cake before, but I’ve never actually seen it. I’ve only imagined it, and it looks even more ethereal than I ever imagined!
Oh! We did this in Montreal last year, and I totally forgot about it. I did not get the charm, but was happy anyway as the cake was so delicious
The seasonal food I most look forward to are grapes, but I am looking forward to getting stuck into lots of hot cross buns soon!
The crowns are adorable.. Oh I’ve yet to dive into such deliciousness. YOU area foodie.
The smell of mangos, peaches and pine needles always signals holidays and Christmas to me!
aren’t we lucky to have that inFrance !!! even at work se share the galette and this is a moment of gathering which is very nice ; the only bad thing is that bakers and boulangers take advantage of this and now this can become very onerous just for a puffy pastry and almond ; anyway we love that and see that this is shared all over the world !! cheers from Paris (and yes this year I got for once the charm ! )
Hello there daaaaahling, I’ve left you an award on my blog, check it out.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
*kisses* HH
Cherries herald Summer for myself and family, we eat them by the box! Unfortunately,this year’s crop was a bit disappointing in the flavour,size and texture stakes, so we’ll just have to be patient and wait for next season or the US cherries in July.
Loving the Galette Des Rois cake and the enchanting story behind it.
What a wonderful tradition! The green tea version looks very nice. I can imagine how crispy and rich they can be
Sounds like a fun cake to share with a big group! And not to mention delicious to eat
I’ve never heard of this cake! How cool. It looks utterly delicious as all good French pastries are
My favourite seasonal cake is Kalacs – A Hungarian Christmas bread (I think some other Eastern Euro countries make this also). It’s sweet kind of like brioche and shaped into a long log and rolled within is different flavourings. There is cocoa, crushed walnuts with sugar or my favourite; ground poppy seed with sugar.
You should make it one day Lorraine!
Yeayy, I’m glad you enjoyed my Galette des Rois, our lunch together brought me back straight to the streets of Paris!!
Now what is my favourite seasonal food? hum… Being a chocolate addict, I LOVE the Easter chocolate egg-hunting season. Also love summer stone fruits, juicy apricots, nectarines, peaches, etc. Oh, and figs!
oh puff pastry. why must you tempt me so?
incidentally, the term “chic” shall probably never be used to describe either me or anything i make.
very interesting and i love the pastries ..:)
I had never heard of this pastry before, so I was happy for the info…the buttery almond flavor sounds absolutely fantastic. Every year I wait for cherry season!
Its time like this that my nut allergy is annoying! That cake looks so yummy!
As for seasonal foods, since meeting my wonderful hubby I have been introduced to many Russian delights but my favourite would have to be Paskha at Easter. Think the yummy filling from a cheesecake just without the base or pastry! So good.The kulich (a type of sweet bread) that is served with it is pretty good too.
Hmm, that looks very similar to a Pithivier. Just flatter, without the heavy sealing on the edges and poofy center.
That sounds fab. How sad that I am reading this post on the 18th – one day after they stop making them!! Probably a good thing given how much sugar bingeing has been going on of late…
Next year….
Hi Hannah-Ahh yes aren’t figs such a great seasonal fruit!
I know, how good does that look?!
Hi nora-Hehe cool!
Hi joey-I do love baked goods!
It was so pretty! I say was as it’s now long gone 
Hi snooky doodle-They’re fabulous!
Hi Katherine-Ahh cheese sticks? Interesting, I must try them!
Hi Julia-We sure did!
Ahh pumpkin pie is lovely I agree!
Hi Fiona-Doesn’t it just! So sweet (literally) so I totally love it
Hi Amy-Ahh great idea! I should have a look so that can make one next year! Yum, yes the whole kit and caboodle and soaking for ages really builds up the excitement!
Hi Wizzy-Ooh I’ve never heard of that one. That sounds fantastic! Hehe he might definitely argue that!
Hi Simon-Aren’t they cute! Next year perhaps?
Hi Liv-It was fantastic although you could perhaps try to make it (although I don’t think it’s very easy
). Ahh yes gingerbread is so Christmassy!
Hi Angela-Oh that is fantastic! Makes me want to work there!
Hehe yes some things are best saved for special times 
Hi MaryPoppinsinHeels-Thankyou so much darling!
Hi Phuoc-You’re welcome! I really loved learning all about it too!
Hi Alex-Hehe that’s sweet but yes dangerous for the waistline!
Yes it’s really like an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other! 
Hi brussellsprout-Don’t worry I didn’t know much about them either. I had no idea they were that fabulous!
Hi Blond Duck-Haha!
Hi Lauren-Thanks, yes it was so good. That’s why I had to have seconds
Hi Amy-Me too! I also love white nectarines and sugar plums too, so good!
Hi sophia-It’s really amazing stuff!
Hi Conor-Yes I agree it’s worth it even if you don’t get the charm as you get the cake
Ooh yes timely reminder! 
Hi so Spiffy-Thankyou so much!
Hi Moya-Yes me too! LD Aren’t they great smells!
Hi pierre-Ahh so it’s done at work too huh!
Yes I saw the Herme one was E70! Congratulations on getting the charm! 
Hi Heavenly Housewife-Thankyou so much darling !xxx
Hi matilda-Yes I go mad for them too
I got some great ones from Young-really meaty and sweet! Isn’t it sweet! Like a cake fairytale 
Hi john-Isn’t it!
I’d love to try making a green tea one 
Hi Jacq-It was so much fun really!
Hi Esz-Aren’t they always great! That sounds lovely. I looked it up and it looks fantastic! I’d definitely love to make that one day!
Hi Myriam-Thankyou so much for introducing me to it! I had only heard the name so it was a delight to learn all about it
Yum! Yes Easter is a great season for food and I love those fruits too, especially figs! 
Hi grace-Aww no I’m sure you’re being modest!
Hi zurin-Hehe thanks!
Hi Faith-I love reading about traditions and am fascinated with history and food together! Yum yes we’re nearing the end of it here sadly
Hi Jo-Oh no! You poor thing
I think they sometimes make them with other filling too. Mmm Pashka sounds wonderful as is Kulich! 
Hi anna-I guess it’s like a large pithivier with a sweet filling
Hi spice and more-Oh no! What a shame but something perhaps to look forward to next year?
Great read. I didn’t realise there was so much to know about the Galette Des Rois. Love the crown and charms too.
Can you say “mouthwatering!?
Love the galette des roi, I’m sure I have had this in the distant past, my favorite seasonal dish is a tradition in our family of chicken, ham or turkey, croquettes, This year we did turkey and a week later the ham ones, they can take two days to make but less than that to disappear! Oh! and another tradition is olle bollen, this tranlates to oil balls! but the apple ones, done correctly, can be light, fluffy, crispy and delicious!
Hi Y-I had no idea too! You have to love any cake that comes with a crown
Hi Artemis-Haha yes it was!
Hi Wildkatoz-They sound wonderfully special! Wow 2 days, that must make it something really to look forward to!
2 Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[...] at the library and see that there is a book wallpaper rather than actual books. We then try the Galette Des Rois that Myriam had purchased earlier that day. They don’t mind at all and bring us knives and [...]
[...] really, the sky’s the limit. The frangipane filling also forms the basis of the festive Galette des Rois, a layered construction of puff pastry and almond frangipane with a lucky charm tucked inside. [...]
Post a Comment