Photo: Natalie Levin
For quite a long time, I wanted to make Galette des Rois – king’s cake. This is a classical French cake made of 2 layers of puff pastry filled with almond cream. It is very easy to prepare, but its appearance is very impressive and people who love puff pastry desserts will love it.
Traditionally it is customary to hide a small toy-crown in the cream (hence the name – the cake of the kings), which is revealed only once slicing the cake, and the one who receives it in its slice is considered very lucky for the new year.
This year it finally happened and I made Galette des Rois for Rosh Hashanah. I made most classic version and added some honey glaze that added both sweetness and beautiful shine at the top pf the cake.
This Galette des Rois cake is really easy to prepare and you can make it even today, keep it unbaked in the freezer and bake it on the eve of the holiday to get a fresh cake that will make everyone say WOW.
Photo: Natalie Levin
Photo: Natalie Levin
Galette des Rois – The King’s Cake
Ingredients
- ½ kg. butter puff pastry (thawed in the refrigerator)
For the almond cream:
- 125 grams almond meal
- 125 grams cold butter cut into cubes
- 125 grams (3/4 cup) sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 25 grams (2 ½ tbsp.) all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp. milk or water
- 2 tbsp. of amaretto liqueur or brandy
For brushing:
- 1 beaten egg
For glazing:
- 2 tablespoons honey
Dough:
- On a floured surface roll out the dough to a thickness of 3-4 mm and cut into 2 parts.
- Cut one part of the dough into a 25 cm circle and the other to a 22 cm circle.
- Place the 22 cm circle on a baking pan lined with baking paper and pierce it with a fork. Also pierce the second (larger) circle and store in the refrigerator until the almond cream is ready.
Almond Cream:
- In a food processor with a steel blade, put almond meal, butter, sugar, salt and flour and blend into a crumbly mixture.
- Add egg, milk and amaretto and process until you get a very uniform and thick cream.
- Transfer the cream to a piping bag fitted with a smooth 2 cm piping tip and drizzle onto the 22 cm dough circle in the pan, leaving a 2 cm margin.
- Remove the second circle of dough from the refrigerator and cover the cream.
- Tightly press the two circles of dough together and get rid of scraps.
- Freeze the cake for about 15 minutes.
- Brush the cake with beaten egg and, if desired, mark several cuts on the top of the dough for decoration using a knife.
- Heat the oven to 200c degrees.
- Bake the cake for 15-20 minutes and then lower the temperature to 160c degrees and continue baking for another 25-30 minutes or until the cake gets a deep golden color.
- Cool the cake on a rack.
- Before serving, brush the top with honey and serve.
- The cake is at its best on the day of preparation, but it can be prepared and kept in the freezer until the baking part.
- Instead of almond meal you can use any other ground nut you like.
- Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.
- It is important to use high-quality pastry for good results.
Photo: Natalie Levin
Photo: Natalie Levin