Galette des rois

Name: Galette des rois
Prep time: 3 h 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 4 h
Yield: Serves 6-8
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: ½ vanilla pod; 2 egg yolks; 50 g (1¾ oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature; 250 ml (8 fl oz) milk; 1-2 teaspoons rum; 45 g (1½ oz) caster sugar; 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind; 1 tablespoon cornflour; 2 x 375 g (12 oz) blocks ready-made puff pastry, thawed; 2 egg yolks, beaten; 1 egg yolk, beaten; 55 g (1¾ oz) caster sugar; 50 g (1¾ oz) ground almonds, sieved; 1 tablespoon plain flour; 50 g (1¾ oz) icing sugar, sifted

Preparation info

Serves
6-8

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
4 hr

Appears in

Christmas

By Le Cordon Bleu

Published 1999

About

This is the traditional Twelfth Night cake, which contains a lucky bean that represents the baby Jesus. The person who finds the bean becomes king or queen for the day. During the winter holidays, these cakes can be seen adorned with gold crowns in French patisseries.

Ingredients

Almond Cream

50 g (1¾ oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
50 g (

Europe
France
Dessert
Cake
Vegetarian
Mediterranean
Christmas
December
Winter

Method

To make the almond cream, beat the butter, sugar and lemon rind together using a wooden spoon or electric beaters, until light and creamy. Add the egg yolk, a third at a time, beating well between each addition. Stir in the almonds, flour and rum, cover and refrigerate.
To make the custard, prepare a bowl of iced water with a shallow bowl inside. Pour the milk