Wednesday, December 30, 2009

French King Cake/Galettes Des Rois

A king cake sometimes called as king's cake or three kings cake is a type of cake associated with the festival of Epiphany in the Christmas season in a number of countries.. It is popular in Christmas season in France, Belgium and Switzerland etc.

The French king cakes have a small trinket often a small plastic baby, sometimes said to represent Baby Jesus inside, and the person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket has various privileges and obligations (such as buying the cake for next year's celebration).In France, the cakes can be found in most bakeries during the month of January. The cake consists of flaky puff pastry layers with a dense center of frangipane ( a cream prepared with almond powder,eggs, butter, sugar and almond essence)..The cakes are usually sold in special bags, so that 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 trinket 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.The person who gets the trinket is declared the King or Queen of the day. Every year we used to buy this king cake and this year i prepared at home to give a trial, the cake turned out fantastic..


2nos Puff pastry sheet
1cup Almond powder
2nos Eggs
1/4cup Sugar
1/4tsp Almond essence
1/4cup Butter (room temperature)
1no Egg yolk
1tbsp Milk

Beat the butter, sugar together in a bowl until they turns soft, add the eggs one by one and finally add the almond powder & almond essence, mix everything well and keep the bowl in fridge for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 400F, line a baking tray with a baking sheet, add the milk to the yellow egg yolk and beat well.

Place a puff pastry sheet ,brush the edges of the pastry sheet with the egg-milk mixture..pour the already prepared almond mixture over the pastry sheet and spread them evenly,dont spread over the brushed egg mixture.

Place the another pastry sheet over and give a press over the edges,so that they get well stick...

Make a small hole in the middle of the pastry sheet and with a knife make some lines over the pastry sheet as ur desire, brush now the pastry sheet with the remaining egg-milk mixture and bake in middle rack of the oven for 20-25minutes or until they turned brown.

17 comments:

prasu said... Reply To This Comment

wow............priya lovely pastry french king cake, it's tempting dear...I can imagine the fluffy pastry with all that glaze and alomd flavor...........ummmmmmmmmmm.......lovely dear.

Unknown said... Reply To This Comment

Wow!!! That look so cute...I need to try this..yummyyyyyyyy

Sarah Naveen said... Reply To This Comment

Oh wow!!! Thats terrific!!! I m drooling here..Yummy yumm.
Happy New year to you and your Family

Anonymous said... Reply To This Comment

lovely snippet Priya.If ever I visi paris, can I visit u? will u make me atleast 2-3 of the various dishes that r featurd in ur blog?

pls pls..illanu mattum sollidatheenga

Home Cooked Oriya Food said... Reply To This Comment

wow - that looks awesome and a completely new type of cake...

chef and her kitchen said... Reply To This Comment

It really looks amazing....

Tina said... Reply To This Comment

Looks good and delicious.....Really yummyyyyyyy....

Indhu said... Reply To This Comment

love this recipe... the first picture looks awesome!

Sushma Mallya said... Reply To This Comment

wow What a name,Name really suits the look of the cake,looks so rich and love the glaze too...Wish u and your family a very happy new year priya...

Myvegfare said... Reply To This Comment

Hi priya, I have on a break for almost 2 months, and now I know what all I have missed, you are amazing your cakes, muffins, soups etc., are terrific, you are soooo good!, what creations, this french king cake looks so delicious dear, I came here to wish you a very happy new year and love to see lot more of your dishes in the year ahead,I think I will need to spare a day to go through all the recipes I have missed.

Puzzles to Print said... Reply To This Comment

I'm definitely making my own this year, maybe several. Your recipe looks perfect. Thanks!

my kitchen said... Reply To This Comment

Lovely cake,yum yum

Cham said... Reply To This Comment

Epiphany is the first sunday after Christmas! I terribly miss this galette des rois!
Bonne Annee 2010 :)

chakhlere said... Reply To This Comment

OMG!!! Thats absolutely stunning. Looks yummy. I am so tempted to make it.

Wish you and your family a very Happy New Year!!!

Gita Jaishankar said... Reply To This Comment

Very interesting info Priya, cake looks awesome and so tempting:) Wish You a Very Happy New Year dear!!!

Cool Lassi(e) said... Reply To This Comment

Fit for a King certainly. Happy New Year

Mahimaa's kitchen said... Reply To This Comment

wow.. looks so elegant. the cake does keep up to it's name :)thx for your contribution.