French food Friday - Galette des rois

Bonjour me belles,

I hope that you are having a fabulous week. The first day or so of 2018 felt a bit odd but I am now in the swing of things.

Yesterday I decided to make us a galette des rois and I am happy with the result. Note I have already eaten a rather large slice as I felt that I should try it before serving it to other people.
The cake is traditionally shared at Epiphany, on 6 January and it celebrates the arrival of the three wise men in Bethlehem.

Note if it is all gone by the time Saturday arrives I will make another on. Merci to Raymond Blanc's Foolproof French Recipes which is my go to book whenever I need to make French Boyfriend something French.

INGREDIENTS

For the puff pastry
400g	Puff pastry, all butter, ready rolled
½	Egg yolk, free range/organic, beaten )
For the almond cream
75g	Butter, unsalted, at room temperature
75g	Icing sugar
75g	Almond,ground
1	Egg, free range/organic, whole
1	Egg yolk, free range/organic
1 tbsp	Dark rum or cognac
For the glaze
1	Egg, free range/organic, whole
½	Egg yolk, free range/organic
1½ tsp	Single Cream

METHOD

To cut out the pastry

Using metal rings or plates as guides, cut out a 20cm round from one pastry sheet for the base, and a 22cm round from the other for the top. Place on a tray and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour Any excess pastry can be kept for other use.

To make the almond cream

In a large bowl, whisk the butter, icing sugar, ground almonds, whole egg, egg yolk and rum or Cognac together to a smooth paste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to assemble.

To make the galette

Spoon the almond cream onto the centre of the puff pastry base. Using a palette knife, spread the cream evenly over the pastry, leaving a clear 2cm margin around the edge.

Brush the pastry rim with beaten egg yolk and carefully drape the other puff pastry circle neatly over the top. Press the pastry edges gently together to seal and expel all air, using your fingers and thumb. Cover loosely with a sheet of greaseproof paper and refrigerate or freeze for 1 hour to firm up the pastry before finishing

To finish the galette

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4 and place a baking stone or baking tray inside to heat up. Using a sharp knife, trim the edge of the galette to neaten. With the back of the knife, crimp the edge of the pastry all around .

For the glaze

Lightly beat the egg, egg yolk and cream together until evenly blended. Brush the galette with the glaze.

Now, using the back of a knife, score a spiral of curved rays starting from the centre of the galette and extending right to the edge. Alternatively, you could simply criss-cross the top of the galette with the knife.

To bake the galette 

Carefully slide the galette onto the preheated baking stone or tray in the oven and bake for 45 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden brown. Carefully lift the galette onto a wire rack and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

bon appetit à tous, Leeann