Galette des Rois

On 6th January, which is Epiphany, all across France you will be able to buy a galette des Rois in the boulangerie’s or patisseries. They are made from flaky pastry, filled with a rich frangipane (almond paste) filling.

This year I decided to make my own. It’s actually not too difficult. The trick for me was to buy the flaky pastry, and in France this is often sold already rolled and cut into rounds.

The rounds I bought though, I felt were a little too big, so I got Brian to cut them down, with slightly more accuracy than I think I would have had. I then placed one round onto a piece of non stick paper on a baking tray, and spooned the frangipane filling on. I’d made this earlier, and had left it to tighten up slightly in the fridge. You obviously don’t want it too runny, otherwise it will not stay in the centre of the pastry. The top layer of pastry then had to be placed carefully on, after having brushed water around the edge to help seal the two pieces of pastry together. The two pieces are secured by gently pressing a fork around the edge. Take time to do this well, so that no filling oozes out in the oven.

I then asked Brian to cut the decoration in on the top, he is just far more accurate with this type of thing than me. After that I brushed it with a milk and egg yolk mix, before baking it for 25 minutes at 180°c. I’m hoping it will be a tasty seasonal dessert for our guests tonight.

Frangipane filling

150g ground almonds
100g castor sugar
good pinch of salt
100g butter, unsalted (cut into cubes, and warmed to room temperature)
zest of an orange
2 large eggs
Optional - a dessertspoon of almond liqueur

• Mix all the dry ingredients together

• Add the butter to the dry ingredients and blend them all together into a thick, soft paste

• Gradually add the wet ingredients, continually stirring. If it appears too sloppy add a little more of the ground almonds

• Cover and leave to firm up in the fridge