King Cake -in english-

 What is a King Cake ?

A king cake is a type of cake associated with the festival of Epiphany in the Christmas season in a number of countries, and in other places with the pre-Lenten celebrations of Mardi Gras / Carnival. It is a popular food item during the Christmas season (Christmas Eve to Epiphany).

King Cake in French-speaking countries:
Two versions exist: in northern France and Quebec the cake (which can be either circular or rectangular) consists of flaky puff pastry layers with a dense center of frangipane. In the south of France, the cake, called gâteau des rois is a torus-shaped brioche with candied fruits.

How we eat it: Tradition holds that the cake is “to draw the kings” to the Epiphany. A figurine, la fève, which can represent anything from a car to a cartoon character, is hidden in the cake and the person who finds the trinket in their slice becomes king for the day. 

Little fact: The French President is not allowed to “draw the kings” on Epiphany because of the etiquette rules. Therefore, a traditional galette without figurine or crown is served at Elysée Palace in January.

I will give you here the recipe for the northern version of the French king cake, called "Galette des rois", which is the sweetest and most elaborate.

Ingredients: 

- 2 large rolls of ready-to-use flaky pastry - 120 g of melted butter
- 2 drops of liquid bitter almond aroma
- 2 eggs
- 120 g of white sugar
- 120 g of ground almond
 - 1 figurine


Take your flaky pastries out of the fridge without unrolling them.
Heat your oven up to 180°C.

In a bowl, whipp the melted butter. Add the bitter almond aroma (no more).
- Add the eggs and half of the sugar.
- Whipp energetically while adding the rest of the sugar, then add the almond powder. Do no whiten the mixture.
- Display the flaky pastry in the tart mould, jabb it with a fork.
- Pour the mixture and add the figurine.
- Cover with the second flaky pastry and refold the edges. Draw with a knife on the tart. 

Baking:
Put the tart in the oven for 30 minutes at 180°C.

Let me know if you tried it !