Epiphany – This Friday is galette des Rois, des Reines and feves – Current News – Articles

Epiphany, galette des Rois and traditions

It’s Friday January 6, 2023, and if you haven’t seen the ephemera of the day, today we celebrate the feast of Mélaine, but it’s also the feast of galette des Rois, Queens and beans on “Epiphany”. Above all, it will be an opportunity to catch up with colleagues during a coffee break, share a cake during a meal or snack with family or friends, and take advantage of the opportunity to draw Kings and Queens. Whoever finds a bean in their cake becomes the “King” or “Queen” for the day and usually wears a symbolic crown made of gold cardboard.

Since then, Galette des Rois has become a culinary tradition that takes place every year on January 6, Epiphany Day in most French-speaking countries. It consists of a cake-shaped dough, usually a large pie, that is shared between members of a family or a group of friends. According to tradition, a bean, that is, a small porcelain or plastic figurine, is hidden inside the cake.

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A tradition dating back to ancient times

The origin of this tradition dates back to Roman antiquity, where the cult of Saturn was celebrated by offering him cakes and casting lots to determine who would receive a particularly bountiful portion. Over time, this tradition became mixed with other customs, especially those celebrating the arrival of Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the Three Kings to the Child Jesus. Thus, the galette des Rois became the pastry symbol of Epiphany and its accompanying celebration.

Apart from the Galette des Rois tradition, Epiphany is a Christian holiday celebrating the visit of the Three Kings to the Child Jesus. According to tradition, the Three Wise Men, also called the Three Wise Men or the Three Kings, were led by a shining star to Bethlehem, where they found the newborn Jesus in a manger. They brought him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Various types of galette des Rois

There are several variations of Galette des Rois depending on the region and country. Here are some examples of galettes des Rois that you can taste by department:

Galette des Rois with Frangipan: this is the most common version of galette des Rois in France. It consists of a puff pastry or brioche pastry filled with pastry cream flavored with almonds and rose water and dusted with powdered sugar.

Galette des Rois with apples: this version of galette des Rois is very popular in Normandy. It is filled with apples cut into thin slices and mixed with pastry cream. It is often decorated with powdered sugar and butter crumbs.

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Chocolate galette des Rois: This version of galette des Rois is very popular among gourmands. It is filled with melted chocolate and pastry cream, sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Galette des Rois with candied fruit: This version of galette des Rois is very sweet and especially popular with children. It is filled with candied fruit and pastry cream, sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Kings brioche: Kings brioche is a cake-shaped pastry similar to a galette des Rois. The brioche of kings is mainly celebrated in Italy where it is known as “pantone” or “colomba pasquale”. It is celebrated in other European countries, such as France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium, where it is known as “Kings’ cake” or “Kings’ brioche”. Brioche des Rois is usually made from orange flavored brioche dough and topped with powdered sugar. It is often decorated with candied fruit and orange peel.

There are many other variations of galette des Rois, such as pecan galette, hazelnut galette, almond galette, and chestnut galette. There are even some who choose a delicious galette des Rois with charcuterie. In the end, everyone can choose their favorite version of galette des Rois according to their taste and preferences!

What is the recipe for Galette des Rois?

When it comes to recipes, there are plenty of them to make a good galette des Rois pastry. The most complicated will undoubtedly be finding a bean to accompany it, even if some have a few drawers in the kitchen from previous years. Google “Galette des Rois recipe” for direct access to the ingredient list, as suggested by Marmiton.org.

“Pastry for Galette des Rois” is the same as the query “Almond pastry for Galette des Rois”, where you can get direct access to the list of ingredients of the recipe offered by, for example, HervéCuisine.com. . Then, while you’re cooking, you can visit TeteaModeler.com, which explains how to make a Kings crown from thick paper for easy printing, cutting, and assembly.

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So don’t waste time and start checking if you have all the ingredients in your kitchen: 2 pastry doughs, ground almonds, sugar, eggs, butter and, depending on the recipe, a little rum, bitter almond extract, dough. cream for a smoother texture like real frangipane, a pinch of salt… In fact, there are as many ingredients as pancakes, we can even say that there is a different Galette des Rois recipe for each region, each department. And we are not talking about amateur chefs who do it a little “in their own way”, with the requirements of the most available ingredients in the kitchen.

Not forgetting some Bretons who decided to make a galette des Rois Kouign-amann. It must be said that the galette des Rois is the most favored pastry by the French, even if it is traditionally consumed in Provence or the south of France. Finally, if you’re wondering why we mostly drink cider with galette des Rois, there’s actually no particular tradition of drinking cider with galette des Rois. In fact, it is likely that cider is served with Galette des Rois due to its popularity in certain regions of France. In any case, remember that there is no absolute rule about what drink to serve with galette des Rois, everyone is free to choose the drink they like best.

After going under the table to determine who will have each stake, bon appetit and a good draw of Queens or Kings…or not. And you can open a bottle of sweet cider, cream or sparkling wine to accompany it.

(Reading time: 4 minutes | The illustration for our article comes from Jackmac34 on Pixabay. If you are interested in the image, you can donate on the site before uploading it)