TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Galette des Rois à la FrangipaneGalette des Rois with Frangipane
- Total
- 3 hr
- Difficulty
- ★★★☆☆
- Serves
- 6 servings
- Prep 1 hr 15 min
- Cook 45 min
- Rest 1 hr
Frangipane, almond cream combined with pastry cream, is enclosed between 2 sheets of laminated puff pastry and baked for Epiphany on January 6. Patterns are scored into the top, which is brushed with syrup after baking for a glossy finish.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
This is the standard recipe, exactly as it’s made where it comes from — the highest Authenticity Score possible. Substituting ingredients changes this score; the app shows exactly how, ingredient by ingredient.
Ingredients (6 servings)
100Authenticity- Frozen all-butter puff pastry2 sheetsForm two sheets about 20 cm square; no gram weight per sheet is assumed. Before starting, thaw in the refrigerator according to the package directions until flexible but still cold. Allow this variable advance preparation in addition to the recipe time; keep thawed pastry refrigerated.
- Whole milk100 mlFor the pastry cream
- Egg yolks2 yolks1 for pastry cream and 1 for glazing
- Whole egg1 eggFor almond cream; bring to room temperature
- Granulated sugar105 g20g for pastry cream, 60g for almond cream and 25g for syrup
- Cornstarch8 g
- Plain cake flour10 gFor dusting. Use plain soft-wheat cake flour without added starch or leavening.
- Unsalted butter60 gSoften at room temperature
- Almond flour60 gFrom blanched almonds
- Dark agricole rum9 mlJust under 2 teaspoons. Use a dark aged agricole rum if available.
- Vanilla extract2 ml
- Water30 ml25 ml for the syrup and 5 ml for the glaze. Have a little extra water ready to moisten the edge.
Method
Cook the pastry cream and spread flat to cool
- 1 Make the crème pâtissière, or pastry cream. Heat 100ml milk in a small saucepan to just below boiling.
- 2 In a bowl, mix 1 yolk with 20g sugar, then mix in 8g cornstarch.
- 3 Gradually whisk in the hot milk, return to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly.
- 4 Once thickened and boiling with visible bubbles, cook for another 1 minute, stirring.
- 5 Check in the saucepan that the cream is glossy and thick enough to retain clear whisk marks, then spread thinly on a tray and press plastic wrap directly against the surface.
Ready when
Continue when the cream is spread on the tray and the plastic wrap is pressed against its surface.
Caution
Stopping the stirring can scorch the bottom and create lumps.
Refrigerate the pastry cream for 30 minutes
- 1 Refrigerate the tray for 30 minutes.
- 2 MeanwhileWhile chilling, bring the butter and egg to room temperature. Bring 25ml water and 25g sugar to a boil in a small saucepan to make syrup, then cool.
Ready when
Continue when the cream is cold throughout.
Make almond cream and combine with pastry cream
- 1 Use a flexible spatula to mix 60g softened unsalted butter and 60g sugar in a bowl without incorporating air.
- 2 Mix in 60g almond flour, then add 1 beaten whole egg in 3 additions, mixing after each.
- 3 Add 9ml rum and 2ml vanilla extract.
- 4 Work the chilled pastry cream with a flexible spatula until smooth, weigh out 120g, add and mix evenly.
Ready when
Continue when the cream is smooth and falls slowly from a spatula.
Caution
Whipping the butter makes the filling rise and then collapse during baking, spoiling its shape.
Cut pastry rounds, enclose the cream and score a pattern
- 1 From fully thawed cold pastry, form two sheets about 20 cm square. On a floured surface, roll one to about 22 cm square. Rest both sheets for 5 minutes, then cut the unrolled sheet into a 19 cm round for the base and the rolled sheet into a 21 cm round for the top.
- 2 Place the bottom round on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush a little water around its edge.
- 3 Mound the cream in the center and spread it gently, leaving a 2 cm border free of cream.
- 4 Cover with the top round, press the edges closed while expelling air and make diagonal notches around the edge with the back of a knife.
- 5 Mix 1 yolk with 5ml water and brush over the top without coating the cut edges. Use the knife tip to score shallow lines radiating from the center and make small holes at the center and several points near the edge.
Ready when
Continue when the edges are sealed without gaps and the surface pattern is shallowly scored.
Caution
Spreading cream to the edge causes it to leak during baking.
Chill the pastry for 1 hour
- 1 Refrigerate the baking sheet for 1 hour.
- 2 MeanwhilePreheat the oven to 190°C 20 minutes before chilling ends.
Ready when
Continue when the pastry is cold and firm.
Bake at 190°C for 25–30 minutes and brush with syrup while hot
- 1 Bake on the lower rack at 190°C for 25 minutes. Check for a deep golden top and browned side layers; if either is missing, continue in 5-minute increments. Remove from the oven only when both conditions are met.
- 2 Immediately after removing from the oven, brush a thin coat of syrup over the surface.
Ready when
Continue when the top is deep golden and glossy, the side layers are browned and the bottom is browned when lifted.
Rest at least 15 minutes, then cut into slices
- 1 Place on a rack for at least 15 minutes to cool slightly.
- 2 Cut into 6 pieces. Do not use a fève at a table with children around 3 years old or younger; objects about 4cm across or smaller can fit in their mouths. At other tables, if you have a fève (a small ceramic figurine) and foil, wash 1 figurine and wrap it in foil. As you transfer the slices to plates, quietly place it beneath 1 slice. Do not bake it into the cake. If you have a paper crown, give it to the person who finds the fève.
Ready when
The galette is ready when the cream does not run from the cut surface and pastry layers and cream are visible.
About this dish
In January, bakeries in northern France and Paris display galettes des rois with almond cream enclosed in laminated puff pastry. They sell throughout January and sometimes into February. In southern France, a brioche cake is customary for the same celebration.
Whoever finds the small ceramic figurine, the fève, hidden inside becomes king for the day and wears a paper crown. The Élysée Palace’s galette, however, still contains no fève. Ceramic figurines are said to have spread after 1870; before then, a fava bean was generally used.
There were also longstanding customs for distributing the slices. A 16th-century account describes a child sitting beneath the table and naming the recipient of each piece. In the Middle Ages, the cake was cut into 1 more slice than the number of guests, for the first poor person who came to the door.
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