Galette des Rois, bitter orange and spices

I know I told you I’d bring you a recipe for Panettone for Christmas. But, uh, it’s not gonna be possible. The reason is not that I don’t want to publish it, but the day I do, I want to do it with a process that works. I can share with you the why of each thing, how to solve the possible problems (that will arise, I assure you)… And that requires a lot of time for testing. In fact, I’ve been making panettone every other day for weeks, but I think I have a few more months left, hahaha. In any case, today I come with this Galette des Rois, to compensate for these almost two weeks without video recipe, because I have been immersed in panettones. I’m still with them, but combining more things since I’ve seen that it’s a very long way.

If you want to surprise your family at this time of the year, I can’t think of a better option than this one. Ok, yes, it’s true that I’ve left you many wonderful… But this is definitely another option to keep in mind.

Galette des Rois origin.

Galette des Rois, is a cake traditionally prepared and consumed in France, Quebec, Acadia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium and Lebanon during the Epiphany, a Christian feast, celebrated on January 6th of each year. It is a cake made with puff pastry and frangipane/almond cream filling. Classic, simple and spectacular.

Despite being associated with the Christian era, despite the fact that many Calvinists, Lutherans and some Catholics opposed this pagan custom, it has an earlier origin.

Apparently, on the feasts dedicated to Saturn, it was customary to “designate the royalty”.

Galette des Rois, has its origin in Saturnalia, Roman festivals held between late December and early January, where the Romans designated a slave to be “king for a day”. These festivals of Saturn, favored the inversion of roles to thwart the harmful days of Saturn, Greek deity chthonian or telluric (of the earth).

During the feast, within each family, the Romans used the bean of this cake to award the prize of being the “Saturnalicius princeps” (Prince of Saturnalia or King of Disorder). The designated one enjoyed being “king for a day”, this one had the power to grant all his wishes during that day. He/she could even “give orders”, but the next day he could be executed or return to his life as a servant. This only “improved” his/her life for a few hours.

They had a very curious way of distributing the galette portions so that it was randomly among the attendees. The youngest child, who is called Phoebe (Febo or Apollo, referring to a person in the innocence of age who should represent the oracle of Apollo) is placed under the table and an older child cuts the portions. The child named the beneficiary of each portion. In this way the pieces were distributed, including the one with the bean, until it was given to someone. The recipient enjoyed being “king for a day”.

Over time, this tradition was continued. As many portions were cut as there were guests in the house plus one more piece that was reserved in case some poor person knocked on the door that day.

Today, many households continue the tradition of cutting the portions and having a small child, an innocent hand, divide the portions randomly among the guests. The winner of the bean is given his crown and must also pay for the galette.

If you look, it’s the same tradition we follow (in Spain) with our Roscón de Reyes.

The Middle Ages.

It is said that Luis II de Borbón wanted to show his piety on Three Kings Day by choosing the poorest boy in the whole city to be king for one day. He chose an eight-year-old boy, dressed him in royal robes and had his own officers serve him. The next day, when the boy was to leave the palace, the King gave him 40 francs. In addition, each knight was to give him one franc and the squires half a franc. The child collected a total of 100 francs which was given to his parents so that their child could be educated in school.

¿Galette des Rois or Pithiviers?

In Paris it is called “Galette“, but we can also find it under the name of “Pithiviers“, named after the city where it was born in the Loiret region.

The Galette that is made today is just as it was made in ancient times. The pastry dough dates from the 17th century and was invented by the pastry chef Marechal Condé, although others believe that it was the painter Claude Gelée (painter and pastry chef) who invented it. But this type of puff pastry or laminated dough dates back much further. The Greeks already worked with phyllo dough.

The original Pithiviers, has nothing to do with the current Galette. This sweet has its origins in Gallic culture.

Pithiviers in the ancient Gallic language means “four”, in this case it would be a crossroads. It was a prosperous area since it was a commercial epicentre, almost all the routes from all corners of Europe converged in this city. The Gauls traded a wide variety of raw materials, almonds being one of them.

This is how the sponge cake, Pithiviers, came about, made from ground almonds, sugar, butter and eggs. If you look at it, there is a great similarity, if not the same, as the almond cream used to fill the Galette des Rois.

The difference is that the Pithiviers, after baking, is covered with a glaze made of icing sugar and water. Finally, it is decorated with candied fruits.

Both preparations, the sponge cake with icing and the almond cream cake covered with puff pastry, are sold in Pithiviers as classic and traditional local sweets.

Frangipane and almond cream.

When we make the galette, or any other sweet made with this type of cream, we must differentiate well between frangipane and almond cream. Because it’s not the same.

• Almond cream: Made exclusively with almonds, butter, eggs and sugar. This option is more expensive. It is usually used in bakeries and artisan pastry-shops.
• Frangipane: It is a mixture of almond cream (2/3) with pastry cream (1/3). This option is more economical. It is usually the most used in the industry.

The almond cream came to us thanks to Maria de Medici, wife of Henry IV, who, on leaving Italy to get married, was given the recipe for “almond cream” by the chef of her greatest suitor. The Count of Frangipani around 1580.

Transformations over time.

During the revolutionary period, it seems that the Galette des Rois was not very civic-minded. So the figurine of the baby Jesus (representing the bean) was replaced by a bonnet phrygien, the flagship cap of the French revolution. Moreover, one did not choose to be king, it was not republican to crown someone “king for a day”.

The concept of the “bean” has changed and is even adapted to the purchasing power of each person. There could even be gold pieces inside. From 1870, the beans were replaced by porcelain figures or, even today, some plastic ones.

Preparing the Galette des Rois at home.

My version has a different touch from the traditional recipe. I felt like giving it Christmas flavors. Of course, in case you don’t want to add oranges and spices, you just have to omit them and carry out the rest of the recipe as I explain.

The galette I have made is slightly inspired by the Pain d’ épices.. I have added spices (cinnamon, ginger and all spices) to the almond cream, as well as pieces of candied orange (in this post you can see how I make them), accompanied by a fine base of bitter orange jam. For me the taste is extraordinary, the combination of the bitter touch together with the spices and the sweet. But, I recognize that this is only for those palates that love bitter orange.

Making this traditional sweet at home is very easy. Besides, we have an advantage and that is that it doesn’t need to be eaten at all, something that allows us to organize ourselves very well with the hustle and bustle of these days.

It can be done with homemade or store-bought puff pastry, but keep in mind that with the latter the results will not be good. In fact the difference in taste, texture, presence… has nothing to do with it. I assure you.

To simplify the process a bit, I’ll show you how to make it with quick/blitz puff pastry. Without complex laminates or anything like that. Just as I taught you when I left you the recipe for Carbayones from Oviedo. We can leave the puff pastry done the previous afternoon, the next morning  assemble the galette, fill it (we only have to mix the ingredients) and bake it. We only have to let the galette rest for a few hours in the fridge, but it does not need our attention. Ready to enjoy at midday or in the afternoon/evening. Your family will love you forever and ever 😉

In my case I haven’t put the traditional bean or figurine in the filling, I have them reserved for the dates when I’m going to make them again (together with Roscón de Reyes), but it’s so simple as to put it on the cream and press it gently. Do not cheat by making a mark on the pastry to know where it is, eh? 😉