Classic French King’s Cake — Galette des Rois

Epiphany

Epiphany is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child, and thus Jesus’ physical manifestation to the Gentiles (Matthew 2:1–12). Epiphany is celebrated 12 days after Christmas on 6th January (or January 19th for some Orthodox Church who have Christmas on 7th January) and is the time when Christians remember the Wise Men (also sometimes called the Three Kings) who visited Jesus.
Today most French people don’t really know the origin of the holiday. But everyone manages to eat a half dozen galettes during the month of January as it has become a social occasion for every business and club to wish each other blessings in the new year.

English Recipe

2 puff pastry crusts
140 g (1.5 cups) almond meal
100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
2 eggs
75 g (1/3 cup) softened butter *unsalted sweet cream
1 prize for the game *optional – see list
1 egg yolk

Place a puff pastry with its parchment paper on a baking sheet, prick it with a fork.
Mix the powdered almonds, sugar, 2 eggs, and the softened butter.
Spread this mix on the puff pastry leaving margin of two centimeters. Hide the prize in the almond batter.
Cover with the second puff pastry seal the outer edge. Make designs on the top with a sharp knife and brush with an egg yolk.
Bake for 20 to 30 min at 400°f / 200°C.

To play the traditional game you hide a dry bean somewhere in the cake before baking. At the time of serving the youngest person in the room gets under the table while someone else cuts the slices of cake, and calls out. Who is this slice for? And the youngest calls out names from under the table where there is no possibility that they could see which piece might have the bean. Whoever gets the bean is crowned king or queen for the day.
* Here are some suggestions you could use as a prize in your cake:

a dry bean
a whole almond
a coin
a ring
a marble

Keep in mind, every guest needs to know that this is a game and that they are supposed to conscientiously search their piece for a prize. Will someone accidentally swallow the prize occasionally? When someone hides an engagement ring in a dessert, they take care to ensure their fiancée discovers it. Personally, I’ve never seen any prizes eaten, but you do hear legends. So don’t use anything you wouldn’t be comfortable swallowing …and passing.

Recette en Francais

2 pâtes feuilletées
140 g de poudre d’amande
100 g de sucre fin
2 oeufs
75 g de beurre mou
1 fève
1 jaune d’oeuf

Placer une pâte feuilletée sur une plaque avec son papier cuisson, piquer la pâte avec une fourchette.
Mélanger la poudre d’amandes, le sucre, les 2 oeufs et le beurre mou.
Étaler la pâte obtenue sur la pate feuilletée. Laisser deux centimentres de marge. Y cacher la fève.
Faire des dessins sur le couvercle et badigeonner avec le jaune d’oeuf.
Enfourner pendant 20 à 30 min à 200°C