La Galette des Rois

I never realised how much Francois loved this French tradition of Galette des Rois until he begged me to buy one this week!  It's nothing new to me, I probably first learned about it 10 years ago when I was living here and have had it a few times at Francois' parents house if we've been in France for New Year. 

The cake itself is delicious, I bought a "pomme/frangipane" one today, Frangipane is an almond-flavoured sweet pastry cream and this years Disney character is Samy. I explained it to Laila who thinks it's for her birthday and she thinks her birthday is tomorrow as I told her tomorrow is January! 26 sleeps till her birthday didn't sound as good apparently!

So Laila will for the first time get to cut a galette des rois, choose who has each slice and hope to win "la feve" and be crowned the king! 

“La galette des Rois” (the cake or "wafer" of the Kings) is a cake celebrating the Epiphany and traditionally sold and consumed a few days before and after this date. In modern France, the cakes can be found in most bakeries during the month of January. Two versions exist, in northern France the cake consists of flaky puff pastry layers with a dense center of frangipane. In the south the cake is a brioche very similar to the Catalan Tortell.

Tradition holds that the cake is “to draw the kings” to the Epiphany. A figurine, “la fève”, which can represent anything from a car to a cartoon character, is hidden in the cake and the person who finds the trinket in their slice becomes king for the day and will have to offer the next cake. Originally, “la fève” was literally a broad bean (fève), but they were replaced in 1870 by a variety of figurines out of porcelain or - more recently - plastic. These figurines have become popular collectibles and can often be bought separately. Individual bakeries may offer a specialized line of fèves depicting diverse themes from great works of art to classic movie stars and popular cartoon characters. The cakes are usually sold in special bags, some of which can be used to heat the cake in a microwave without ruining the crispness of the cake. A paper crown is included with the cake to crown the "king" who finds the fève in their piece of cake. To ensure a random distribution of the cake shares, it is traditional for the youngest person to place themselves under the table and name the recipient of the share which is indicated by the person in charge of the service.

Formerly, one divided the cake in as many shares as guests, plus one. The latter, called "the share of God," "share of the Virgin Mary," or "share of the poor" was intended for the first poor person to arrive at the home.

The French President is not allowed to “draw the kings” on Epiphany because of the etiquette rules. Therefore, a traditional galette without figurine and crown is served at Elysée Palace in January.

Oh and a little story I just remembered, is especially for my dear American friend Gisa who should be reading this and I hope she doesn't mind me telling it!  One year in Bath a group of French friends got together to celebrate the new year, one had brought a Galette des Rois from France especially for us all to share. While he was in the kitchen, Gisa thought she would be helpful and start slicing the cake to serve up to everyone. I don't know if she will ever forget the horror on his face when he came back in the room!! The tradition as above is for the cake to be served among all people present, the youngest person must choose who gets each slice and the lucky winner gets the crown! Poor Gisa was rather red-faced as she ate her slice once it had been distributed correctly!! Never mess with a French tradition!!!