The Galette des Rois is made to celebrate the Epiphany, the arrival of the Magi to visit the baby Jesus, on January 6th. The Brioche des Rois is more traditional in southern France, while the Galette is the king in northern France.

 

INGREDIENTS:

[Serves 8 people]

For the pastry cream:

  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

 

For the almond cream:

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1-1/4 cup ground almonds
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • A splash of rum (optional)

 

  • 2 store-brought crusts, or you can make your own "pâte feuilletée"
  • 1 yolk for brushing the crust before baking
  • A paper crown and a "feve" (small trinket hidden in the pastry - you could use a dried bean)

 

 

 

Galette des Rois
©

AdobeFirefly

INSTRUCTIONS

  • For the pastry cream, beat the eggs and the sugar for 1 minute. Heat the milk and vanilla in a pot, then add the egg-sugar mixture. Heat on low until the mixture thickens. Cover the mixture with saran wrap, making it touch the top of the cream, and cool for 1 hour.
  • For the almond cream, mix the butter and the sugar. Add each egg yolk seperately, then mix in the ground almonds and the rum, if you wish.
  • Mix the pastry cream and the almond cream together. You can put this into a pastry bag to pipe onto the bottom crust in a spiral fashion, but I just pour it into the middle of the crust, keeping about a 1 inch border.
  • Add the "feve", but not too close to the middle in order to avoid hitting it when cutting to serve.
  • Brush some yolk on the outside border, place the second crust on top, and pinch to seal. You may use a knife to lightly cut some designs into the top of the galette.
  • Brush the remaining yolk on top, and bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 400°, then lower the temperature to 350° and continue baking for about 30 minutes.

     

 

working in the kitchen!

 The tradition is that the youngest person closes their eyes and says who each piece is for while the galette is being cut. The person who finds the "feve" in their slice is crowned King or Queen. For us, it was my husband Jean-François, and he wore the crown the whole day!

JF crowned king

 Jean-François is king for the day (Photo : Laura Crotet)

 

- Laura Crotet, France Just For You

If you would like to be royalty for a day while traveling in France, contact us to help you plan your trip.

France Just For You

Experts in self-drive tours in France

Travelers Reviews

5.0
Wendy
Celebrating my daughter Kelsey's Doctorate - Emilie planned the PERFECT / made to order itinerary for us! Serendipity led us to France Just for You - and has spoiled us for any other way to travel abroad. Perfect trip start to finish....there was no detail overlooked. The personal guidebook is to be treasured - a fabulous reference material and …
Lynne & Jeff
In 2013 I had 2 big reasons to plan a trip to France: a new grand baby boy in Avignon, and I wanted to surprise my husband with a trip to Normandy. He absolutely loves anything and everything he can find to read or watch that is related to WWII. So, I started exploring online for a custom tour designer that could put together a great itinerary for …
Lisa & Dave
Our 11 day trip in France planned by “ our Ladies “ at France Just For You was wonderful. There were no snafus, the lodging and activities were all more than expected, which all together created a great trip. We did well driving with the use of their excellent directions and gps coordinates that hooked up with Waze. We also were lucky to have warm …
DeLana
Emilie put together the best "bucket list" trip for my mother and myself. She listened to all of our requests and tailor made a vacation that was perfect. The attention to detail she paid our trip was mind blowing. She even had a full book made for us to guide us through our journey along with maps, tickets, etc. that were all date stamped …
Cynthia & Abe from Canada
There's a legitmate reason everyone is giving 5 star reviews. Truly personalized service. The guidebook and app were tailored to our requests, and the small details included, gave us great insight into the nuances of travelling in France. When an unavoidable problem came up, Emilie and Clelia were on it literally within minutes, getting it resolved …
Sue
This was our first trip to Europe with just the two of us doing all the planning. I was looking for someone to help with the details of lodging and transportation and found Emilie through this site. She planned an incredible trip for us to Normandy/Brittany, Loire Valley and Paris. She is easy to work with, responsive and organized. I told her what …

What are you looking for?