Galette des rois

It is January 6, Epiphany, the day commemorating the Magi’s visit to the baby Jesus, with not-so-practical gifts of gold, mirth and frankincense. OK, so maybe gold was an ok gift :) . In any case, even before I met my future French son-in-law, I used to go at this time of the year to the French bakery to buy galette des rois, delicious cake eaten on this day. It is made of layers of flaky puff pastry, filled with frangipane (almond paste). Note the pronunciation, from Italian: ˌfrandʒiˈpaːne. There are other types of filling, but this one seems the most traditional. Inside of the cake, there is a ceramic figurine, called fève, and whoever finds it is supposed to have good luck. Plus, that person is supposed to be the one to buy the cake next year. Traditionally, the cake is cut into as many pieces as there are guests, plus one, for an unexpected visitor. 

Galette des rois is popular in Belgium, France, Quebec, Switzerland, as well as Spain and Latin America as rosca de reyes. Originally, the hidden find was a broad bean (hence the name fève), but in 1870, it was replaced with a figurine made of ceramic or plastic. Many people collect the figurines, but we just enjoy the taste or the cake, especially when accompanied by a good French cider. Cheers!