Galette des Rois - Epiphany Tart, the Tart of Kings

The French tradition of serving this round, flat, almond, frangipane-filled puff pastry tart on the Twelfth Day of Christmas or Epiphany Day, 6^th January, has biblical origins and is when the ‘magi’, or ‘three kings, the three wise men’ arrived in Bethlehem, and visited baby Jesus. A ‘fève’, or ‘bean’ is traditionally hidden in the galette, which is sliced with a piece for every person present, plus an extra slice called ‘part du Bon Dieu’, ‘God’s piece’, or part de la Vierge, the Virgin Mary’s piece.
Over time the bean, has been replaced with a tiny porcelain trinket or figurine, still called a ‘fève. The person who receives the piece containing the fève is ‘crowned’ king or queen for the day. These ‘fèves’ are quite collectable; sometimes you will see them for sale at French markets, as I did recently in Paris at the Marche d’Aligre. I bought about 10 to add to the collection I have at home.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

For the galette puff pastry
1 quantity of puff pastry, 500g
For the glaze
1 large egg and 1 tbsp water
For the Almond Cream – Frangipane
90g unsalted butter, at room temperature
100g castor sugar
1 egg yolk
100g ground almonds – I also like to use 50g ground almonds and 50g blitzed in the food processor for extra texture
1 tsp cornflour
¼ – ½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ – ½ tsp almond extract
1tsp rum or kirsch

Method:

Prepare the almond cream: in a medium-sized bowl, cream the butter with the sugar until it is soft, light, fluffy and pale yellow. Add the egg yolk, the cornflour, ¼ tsp vanilla, ¼ tsp almond extracts and rum. Add the remaining vanilla and almond extracts if the mixture can take more liquid.
For the almonds, you can use all commercially ground almonds or a mixture of ground almonds and 50g coarsely blitzed in the food processor. I like the extra texture this gives to the frangipane. Add the ground almonds and carefully stir to mix well until combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
For the puff pastry: cut the 500g of pastry in almost half, with one piece being a little bigger than the other. Roll out the puff pastry pieces to about 5mm thick suitable for 2 large discs. Using a template, cut 2 circles, one 2.5cm larger than the other, about 24 and 27 cm. Place both pastry discs on baking trays and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
For the egg wash, whisk together the egg and the water in a small bowl, then set aside.
To assemble: remove the pastry and the almond cream from the refrigerator.
Place the smaller pastry disc on the baking paper-lined oven tray for your base. Prick the centre, avoiding the pastry edge by 2.5cm. Glaze the border with the egg wash, being careful not to let any drip over on the edges of the pastry. This will / can stop the pastry from rising.
Form the chilled and firm almond cream into a round cake and place it into the centre of the base up to the 2.5cm border. Add your ‘fève’, now, pressing it into the almond cream.
Place the second pastry round over the almond crème and gently press this pastry top, using the side of your hand and the flat of your fingers, around the almond cream. Press the edges onto the bottom round to adhere. Then press more firmly around the pastry edges to seal well and secure while the galette cooks. If you wish, you can use the tines of a fork outside the edging all around the galette.
Make 3 holes in top layer to allow the steam to escape.
Glaze the entire top of the galette with egg wash, again being careful not to let any drip over on the edges of the pastry.
Decorate the galette with the traditional pattern resembling a wheel of swirling spokes. To do this, trace a pattern in the top of the galette by scoring with the back of a small knife to create the traditional pithivier series of curved lines from the centre. Refrigerate the galette for 30 minutes.
At this point, you can cover the galette well, seal and freeze.
When ready to cook: preheat the oven to 220°C.
Remove the galette from the refrigerator and brush it again with egg wash.
Reduce the oven temperature to 190℃, and bake the galette in the centre of the oven until it is puffed and deep golden on top, about 30 – 35 minutes or more. Check after 20 minutes and if the pastry is getting too dark, reduce the temperature to 185℃ and continue cooking until a lovely golden colour.
Remove the galette from the oven and sprinkle with icing sugar and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes or until caramelised. Cool on a wire cooling rack.
Before cutting, let the galette cool for about 20 minutes. It is best served warm and fresh from the oven but may be also served cold. Cut into pie-like wedges, and serve with whipped cream, crème Anglaise and ice cream.