[1] Crown your “king cake”; the person who finds the charm gets to wear the crown (photo © BainFrance.Blogspot).

[2] An elegant version from Parisian baker and confectioner Pierre Hermé (photos #2 and #3 © Pierre Hermé).

[3] Beautifully designed tops.

[4] Gâteau des Rois from another great Parisian bakery (and the temple of macarons), Ladurée (photo © Ladurée).

[5] Souvenir du Sud, by Chef Anthony Terrone at the Peninsula Paris. It is in the shape of a calisson, a traditional Provençal candy (photo © Air France).

Bûches de Noël, fruitcake and Christmas cookies are enjoyed throughout the holiday season. In France, the celebratory confections continue into January with an Epiphany Cake, or Galette des Rois, French for kings’ cake (a galette is a flat cake of pastry).

You can order a Galette des Rois from a French bakery. Alternatively, a recipe to bake your own is below.

But first, some background.

In January, the windows of French pastry shops showcase Galettes des Rois to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany‡, or Fête de l’Épiphanie in French (January 6th).* The cake is enjoyed beginning a few days before Epiphany, and continuing for a few days after. Some families get a new cake every day!

January 6th is also known as the Twelfth Night, the last night of the 12 days of Christmas. To celebrate, Galettes des Rois are baked throughout France.

Epiphany Cake/Galette des Rois is traditionally a puff pastry (pâte à choux) cake filled with frangipane (almond cream). Other fillings can be substituted, including almond paste, apple, caramel, chestnut, chocolate ganache, and pistachio.

In Provence, in the south of France, the cake, with the medieval-era name of Gâteau des Rois, is an orange-blossom-flavored brioche crown. This style can also be found in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries.

Other versions of the Galette des Rois are made in Belgium, Germany, Portugal, and Switzerland.
 
 
ESSENTIAL: THE FÈVE

But one thing can’t be substituted: the fève. Originally a bean, hidden inside the cake, in modern times it has transformed into a more festive charm (initially a baby, representing baby Jesus) or another trinket that is hidden inside.

The trinket can be anything from a miniature car to a cartoon character (Hello Kitty? Sponge Bob Square Pants?). When we made this cake for a group of adults, we used a key chain featuring a miniature bottle of Champagne.

The French residents of New Orleans made Epiphany Cake part of the Mardi Gras celebration, and it became known as King Cake, but it’s a different style than the French Galette des Rois. Here’s more about it.

Galette des Rois is believed to have originated sometime in the 13th or 14th century, and was initially known as Gâteau des Rois.

A gâteau is a raised cake, frequently iced, while a galette is generally flat, crusty and often filled. The style, the terminology, or both may have changed over time.

While the cake may have originated during the Middle Ages, the tradition of the fève actually has roots stretching back to the Roman Empire. During this time, the Romans celebrated the holiday of Saturnalia, a festival in honor of the pagan god Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture.

According to the Roman writer Justinius, “it has been ordered that at the Saturnalia slaves should everywhere sit down with their masters at the entertainments, the rank of all being made equal” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia].

A “king” for the day was decided via a cake with a hidden bean baked into it.

This tradition has traveled up through the ages. For example, 14th-century Besançon monks of Eastern France would hide a gold coin in a loaf of bread and elect the chief of their chapter based on who got the gold coin.

During this period, the royal court of France had a custom that whoever got the bean in the cake would have to provide drinks for the entire assembly [source]. 
 
 
GETTING THE SLICE WITH THE CHARM

The person who gets the slice with the charm becomes “king” or “queen” for the day and gets to wear the gold paper crown (provided by the bakery or your nearest party store, if you bake your own cake). But it’s an entailed honor:

By tradition, the king has to provide next year’s galette. You can forgo that French tradition in favor of making the Epiphany Cake your annual party treat.

Hiding some type of token in food is a pre-Christian tradition, with roots in the Roman feast of Saturnalia.† A dry bean would be hidden in a dish prepared for the household staff. The slave who got the slice with the bean would be awarded the “kingship” of the day, which included drinking, gambling, and “general bawdiness.”

In fact, in France, the charm/trinket is known as la fève, the French word for bean. Americans have adopted the idea as the Mardi Gras king cake (Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is celebrated from right after Epiphany until Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday).

French chef Héléne Darroze, who commutes each week between the kitchens of the Connaught Hotel in London and her own two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, recalls celebrating the Epiphany feast as a child.

Growing up in southwestern France, “each year there would be a series of family parties, and the person who found the token in the cake would buy the charms for the following day’s galette.”

Ingredients

Héléne Darroze’s epiphany cake is filled with chocolate ganache (photo © Héléne Darroze).

1. ROLL out the puff pastry to a thickness of 3/4″ (2mm) with a rolling pin and leave it in the fridge for 1 hour. Cut two rounds of pastry (9-10 inches in diameter) and leave in the fridge.

2. MAKE the frangipane: Mix the butter, sugar, and almonds with a spatula. Add the egg and crème pâtissière little by little and finish with the zest.

3. PLACE one of the rounds of puff pastry on a pastry tray and brush some egg yolk around the edge. Pipe frangipane into the middle, add the “feve” and cover with the second round of puff pastry. Press the edges a bit and leave them in the fridge for an hour.

4. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F (180°C/gas 4). When at temperature, brush the top round with egg yolk. With the back of the knife, make small score lines from the center to the edges in a crescent shape. Repeat all the way around. Pierce with fork tines to vent. Bake for about 40 minutes. Serve warm.

Variations

 
TO SERVE

 
 
Find more of our favorite cake recipes on TheNibble.com.
 
___________________

*Epiphany derives from the ancient Greek theophany, “vision of God,” referring to the revelation of the divine nature of Jesus Christ as told by the Magi. The holiday traditionally falls on January 6th. The night before, the eve of the Epiphany, is called Twelfth Night, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and “a time of merrymaking.”

†Saturnalia, a festival spanning December 17-23, honored Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture.

‡Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. Here’s more about it.

‡‡Important: Do not bake anything plastic or anything metal with paint in a cake. The plastic and paint will melt. Instead, turn the baked cake over and insert the trinket from underneath. It is easier to insert a coin, which will not impart anything harmful (just wash it first).
 
 

Start the new year with a new cookie recipe. Photo courtesy GoBoldWithButter.com.

This French shortbread cookie, topped with a beautiful candied lemon slice, is something special. The base is a vanilla sablé (classic French shortbread): butter, sugar and vanilla.

The candied lemon slice takes some time. The key to maintaining a lovely slice, says the blogger Stresscake, who created the recipe, is to candy slowly and gently. “It’s not a quick process by any means,” she says, “but it is pretty easy, mostly hands off and well worth the effort for these beautiful and unique cookies.”

The recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies depending on size.

Ingredients For The Candied Lemon Slices

 
Ingredients For The Cookie Dough

 
Preparation: Candied Lemon Slices

1. SLICE lemons into thin, even rounds about 1/8-inch thick, using a sharp knife. Try to slice evenly and take care to keep as much of the flesh intact as possible. Discard ends, carefully remove and discard any seeds.

2. BRING 1¾ cups water and 1 cup sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add sliced lemons and bring back to a gentle boil. Reduce heat as low as possible to maintain a gentle simmer, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat, cover and let sit at room temperature at least 4 hours or overnight. Gently drain the lemons and discard the liquid (it is rather bitter).

3. BRING remaining 2 cups sugar, 1½ cups water and 2 tablespoons corn syrup to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add lemon slices and bring back to a gentle boil. Reduce heat as low as possible to maintain a gentle simmer and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat, cover and let sit at room temperature at least 4 hours or overnight.

4. BRING same mixture back to boil and repeat this process 2-3 more times until lemon rind is tender and translucent, adding ¼ cup to ¾ cup water as needed to keep syrup liquid. If syrup becomes too thick, it may begin to caramelize, which should be avoided.

5. REMOVE lemon slices from syrup and spread out evenly on a wire rack set over a sheet pan. Let dry for at least 1 hour or overnight. Note: If you care to save the leftover syrup, it makes a rather nice drink mixed with sparkling water, or mixed with gin, tequila or vodka.

Preparation: Cookie Dough

1. MIX butter on low speed until smooth and creamy, in a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, about 1 minute (you don’t want it to get light and fluffy).

2. ADD sugar, salt and powdered sugar and mix until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down bowl as needed. Add egg yolk (save white for later), vanilla extract and lemon zest; mix for 1 minute. On low speed, mix in the flour just until blended, scraping bowl once or twice (dough will be very soft.)

3. DIVIDE dough in 2 or 3 pieces and shape each piece into log slightly smaller in diameter than your lemon slices (the dough will spread slightly during baking). Wrap logs in plastic wrap and roll on counter to round out the edges.

4. REFRIGERATE for at least 3 hours until firm. At this point the dough can be frozen, tightly wrapped, for up to 2 months.

1. POSITION oven racks in top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 325°F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

2. WHISK remaining egg white with a ½ teaspoon water to combine. Unwrap one dough log and brush lightly and evenly with the egg wash. Sprinkle about ¼ cup coarse sanding sugar around log and gently roll dough to coat, patting sugar where necessary until evenly coated. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into ½-inch thick rounds, turning the roll as your slice to keep the cookies round, and place on the prepared sheet pans, leaving about 1 inch between rounds.

3. BAKE cookies for 9 minutes until they just begin to set but haven’t yet browned.

4. TOP each cookie with a candied lemon slice then return to oven, rotating pans, and continue to bake until the cookies are slightly firm to the touch and golden brown on the bottom, about 8-10 additional minutes.

5. COOL cookies completely on sheet pans.

6. PACK in airtight container with wax or parchment paper between layers and store at room temperature for up to 4 days.
 
Find many more scrumptious recipes at GoBoldWithButter.com.

 
Find more of our favorite cookie recipes on TheNibble.com.
 
 

Rich in flavor and texture: a delicious potato-
mushroom casserole. Photo courtesy
PotatoGoodness.com.

It’s from the United States Potato Association, which has many more delicious potato recipes at PotatoGoodness.com.

PAN FRIED FINGERLING POTATOES WITH
WILD MUSHROOM SAUCE

Ingredients

1. MELT butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes; cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. (Tenting with foil will speed up cooking.)

2. STIR in fresh mushrooms, garlic and shallot; cook for 10 minutes more. Add broth, dried mushrooms, mustard and herbs; cook over high heat for 5 minutes or until most of the broth has cooked off.

3. STIR in crème fraîche and cook for 5 minutes more. Season with pepper and fresh thyme.
 
DO YOU KNOW YOUR POTATOES & MUSHROOMS?

(Honestly, though: Who wouldn’t willingly pay more for an orange or an apple that tastes great, rather than bland and boring?)

The good news is, blood oranges from California are in abundant supply from December through March; and if you keep trying them, you may find the ones with luscious, raspberry-orange-flavored flesh.

Named for their deep pink or red-streaked flesh, blood oranges are smaller than other oranges and have slightly rougher skin.

You can send them as a healthy New Year’s gift by calling Melissa.com at 1.800.588.0151, or email hotline@melissas.com with your request.

Blood oranges are not the same as Cara Cara* oranges, which are red-fleshed (the flesh is actually pink or raspberry in hue) navel oranges.

More about blood oranges.

*The variety originated at the Hacienda de Cara Cara in Valencia, Venezuela. The taste is sweet with undertones of cherry, and a low acid profile.
 

BLOOD ORANGE RECIPES

We love a glass of blood orange juice or a dish of blood orange sorbet (use any orange sorbet recipe). But there are many ways to enjoy blood orange juice.