Galette Des Rois

Galette Des Rois is French for Kings Cake. I remember this puff pastry almond tart from my childhood in Paris. Before the 6th of January these galettes would show up in the windows of the local patisserie, along with gold paper crowns. They were made to celebrate Epiphany, the time when the three kings came to visit baby Jesus.

They are also made for 12th Night, the end of the Christmas holiday season or Mardi Gras, the celebration before lent...

What I loved was the ritual and the dense almond filling.

First the ritual. Usually served at a party, the youngest person hid under the table while the oldest person cut the cake. From under the table the youngster would call out who would receive each slice. Once the cake was all divvied up, everyone would carefully begin to eat.
Baked inside the cake was a small ceramic figure, whoever got the figure wore the crown and was king !! ( I can hear mothers and dentists cringing at the potential for expensive tooth repairs ;-). In the recipes I found, a dried bean can be substituted for the figure.

Now the recipe...I had made versions of this cake before but was never completely satisfied.
I looked at a lot of recipes online, most had you make your own almond paste and were very complex. I already had some plain marzipan that I wanted to use up. You can find it at most well stocked grocery stores or Cost Plus in season. Or if you want to make it from scratch try this almond filling from David Lebovitz.

In the past the filling had oozed out of the pastry, so I decided to chill the filling for a couple of hours and make the galette in a pan.
Here's what I came up with.

Laurie's Galette des Rois

Ingredients

1 lbs frozen puff pastry ( 2 sheets)
300 grams plain marzipan (about 10 ounces)
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs + 1 egg for an egg wash
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

tart pan with removable bottom, 11 inch ( other round pans about this size will do)
dried bean or ceramic figure and crown ( optional)

1) To get the puff pastry ready to use I like to defrost it the night before in the fridge, that way it is ready when you are.

2) To a standing mixer bowl add the butter, sugar and marzipan cut into chunks.

3) Mix well.

4) Add the eggs one at a time on low speed.
5) Continue to beat on high speed for 3 minutes.
6) Gently fold in the flour.
7) Chill the filling for several hours or overnight.

8) Preheat the oven to 400 F.
9) Remove the puff pastry from the fridge.
9) Lightly spray your pan with oil.
10) Lay one sheet of pastry on the bottom of the pan, making sure it comes all the way up the sides.
11) Beat one egg and brush on the pastry in the pan.
12) Carefully spread the chilled filling, use your fingers to work it all over the pan.
13) Brush the filling with egg wash. If you want to add the figure or bean, now would be the time to press it into the filling.
14) Cover with the second sheet of pastry and carefully seal the edges by pinching them together. Sorry I don't have photos, I was too busy improvising ;-)
15) Brush the top with more egg wash. Using a sharp knife score or cut a pattern on the top.
16) Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan on a baking rack for an hour.

 17) Carefully remove from the pan.

This galette would make a great brunch treat as well.