Friday 31 January 2014

Galette des Rois

Tonight we're invited to our neighbours, Jean Noel and Natalie Bourreau, for galettes. Galettes des Rois (King Cakes) are traditionally served to celebrate the feast of the Epiphany on January 6th but as we were away this is a belated celebration.

Because of the gluten problem, I've baked one to take along, although I've not done the traditional Galette des Rois which has a pastry topping because if I end up the only one eating it, I'll burst!

Taking liberties with tradition is a tricky thing in France as it’s not always a good idea to mess with a good thing, but it is tradition to bake a fève(bean) into the tart and whoever gets the bean (preferably a child – and crafty parents have learned to cut around the pieces to make sure a kid gets the trinket!) gets to be the roi (king) for the day and wear a gilded paper crown that bakeries often give with the galettes.

Well, I just hope I'm not going to offend too many traditionalists but mine doesn't contain a fève either! But there again, every website you read has a different version!

3 comments:

Jean said...

I wonder if the galette your neighbours serve will be home made? Most people seem to buy them, but as they're quite expensive that should probably be accepted as a real treat.
I bet they'll be mega impressed with your version!

GaynorB said...

I would go for BOB.... a bit of both! Your cake looks delicious.

Colin and Elizabeth said...

Jean, you were absolutely right - the galette was shop bought! Mine went down ok and we enjoyed the evening despite completely losing the thread of the conversation on several occasions!!

Thank you, Gaynor!