And to think all these years I thought the person who got the fève got the crown! Thanks for the enlightenment! Galette des rois is definitely one thing we miss about France. My husband and I both love the almond-flavoured ones (although to be honest, I didn’t realise they even came in different flavours). Last year, we celebrated Epiphany with friends with our own version of the galette des rois — I just baked a cake and hid a €2 coin inside, and my eldest daughter had made a crown out of construction paper. Our (German) guests were delighted.
I have seriously been considering taking a drive across the border to visit a French bakery this year, but an hour drive one way is still a long way to go to get a cake! Now, if we just happened to be out for a drive tomorrow…
Fraussie
January 6th, 2012 at 10:05 am
Don’t worry, you’re not the only one! Yes, one hour sounds like a long time to get a galette. There was a time when the “fève” became a silver or gold coin in France as well. A home-made crown once got “imprinted” on my mahogony table, though I don’t know how. The outline is quite distinct.
Maple Leaf
January 9th, 2012 at 10:40 am
I love galettes but I am picky about the flavour. My husband bought a lovely looking galette on Saturday and I was so disappointed when I tasted it. I could not figure out at first what was “wrong” with it but it did not have the usual almond flavour to it. It wasn’t that artificial almond flavouring that I hate but something else. After a while it dawned on me.. it was rum flavouring!! Yuck, yuck, yuck. What a disappointment! On Sunday we saw a group of close friends and had a galette with them, it had apple sauce in it so was more like a giant chausson aux pommes, which I like but to it isn’t a real galette. The problem is that I find it hard to find a galette at a reasonable price that has a natural almond flavour and a light flakey pastry. Seems that people have trouble combing the two and often add artificial flavouring which I can detect from a mile away!
Fraussie
January 9th, 2012 at 10:45 am
Yes, the price is the problem. The good ones (and our last one was definitely good) are expensive, even horrendously so. I certainly wouldn’t have liked having rum in it!
[…] see all the kids playing among the Buren columns and proudly wearing their crowns (they had the galette des rois today). I wouldn’t see all the people crowded into Miss Bibi’s tiny jewellery shop nor would I […]
[…] Brainy Pianist, who desperately wanted to see some snow, was searching for somewhere to go and I suggested Strasbourg so he and Thoughtful went there last weekend by train. It didn’t snow in Strasbourg – at minus 12°, it was too cold – but they saw a lot of snow on the way. Brainy Pianist, looking very much like the Michelin man, was dressed in long johns, two pairs of jeans, 2 T-shirts, 2 jumpers, 2 pairs of socks, a neck warmer and a scarf, two beanies, one with ear flaps, and rabbit-fur lined gloves he’d had the good sense to pick up in Rome after he read my post! He hadn’t thought to take a second pair of gloves, but Thoughtful did! Plus they were both wearing anoraks of course. Thoughtful alias The Terrorist […]
[…] is a photo of my fève collection from the galette des rois. You can click on it to see the fèves in more detail. You can see that some come from the same […]
[…] very complete description of the galette and its various traditions. You might also like to read my own post on the subject written a couple of years ago. […]
[…] It’s galette des rois time again. This is the cake used to celebrate the Epiphany in France, the 12th day of Christmas, January 6th, the day on which the three kings reached Bethlehem. It has become an essential part of New Year throughout the country and is practised in different forms that you can read about here and here. […]
[…] a cake containing a little figurine on 6th January, the feast of the Epiphany (see more information here on my other blog). The person who gets the figurine in their slice of cake then chooses a king or […]
And to think all these years I thought the person who got the fève got the crown! Thanks for the enlightenment! Galette des rois is definitely one thing we miss about France. My husband and I both love the almond-flavoured ones (although to be honest, I didn’t realise they even came in different flavours). Last year, we celebrated Epiphany with friends with our own version of the galette des rois — I just baked a cake and hid a €2 coin inside, and my eldest daughter had made a crown out of construction paper. Our (German) guests were delighted.
I have seriously been considering taking a drive across the border to visit a French bakery this year, but an hour drive one way is still a long way to go to get a cake! Now, if we just happened to be out for a drive tomorrow…
Don’t worry, you’re not the only one! Yes, one hour sounds like a long time to get a galette. There was a time when the “fève” became a silver or gold coin in France as well. A home-made crown once got “imprinted” on my mahogony table, though I don’t know how. The outline is quite distinct.
I love galettes but I am picky about the flavour. My husband bought a lovely looking galette on Saturday and I was so disappointed when I tasted it. I could not figure out at first what was “wrong” with it but it did not have the usual almond flavour to it. It wasn’t that artificial almond flavouring that I hate but something else. After a while it dawned on me.. it was rum flavouring!! Yuck, yuck, yuck. What a disappointment! On Sunday we saw a group of close friends and had a galette with them, it had apple sauce in it so was more like a giant chausson aux pommes, which I like but to it isn’t a real galette. The problem is that I find it hard to find a galette at a reasonable price that has a natural almond flavour and a light flakey pastry. Seems that people have trouble combing the two and often add artificial flavouring which I can detect from a mile away!
Yes, the price is the problem. The good ones (and our last one was definitely good) are expensive, even horrendously so. I certainly wouldn’t have liked having rum in it!
[…] see all the kids playing among the Buren columns and proudly wearing their crowns (they had the galette des rois today). I wouldn’t see all the people crowded into Miss Bibi’s tiny jewellery shop nor would I […]
[…] Brainy Pianist, who desperately wanted to see some snow, was searching for somewhere to go and I suggested Strasbourg so he and Thoughtful went there last weekend by train. It didn’t snow in Strasbourg – at minus 12°, it was too cold – but they saw a lot of snow on the way. Brainy Pianist, looking very much like the Michelin man, was dressed in long johns, two pairs of jeans, 2 T-shirts, 2 jumpers, 2 pairs of socks, a neck warmer and a scarf, two beanies, one with ear flaps, and rabbit-fur lined gloves he’d had the good sense to pick up in Rome after he read my post! He hadn’t thought to take a second pair of gloves, but Thoughtful did! Plus they were both wearing anoraks of course. Thoughtful alias The Terrorist […]
[…] the galette des rois or kings’ cake is probably the greatest symbol of the new year in France. A galette was […]
[…] is a photo of my fève collection from the galette des rois. You can click on it to see the fèves in more detail. You can see that some come from the same […]
[…] very complete description of the galette and its various traditions. You might also like to read my own post on the subject written a couple of years ago. […]
[…] It’s galette des rois time again. This is the cake used to celebrate the Epiphany in France, the 12th day of Christmas, January 6th, the day on which the three kings reached Bethlehem. It has become an essential part of New Year throughout the country and is practised in different forms that you can read about here and here. […]
[…] a cake containing a little figurine on 6th January, the feast of the Epiphany (see more information here on my other blog). The person who gets the figurine in their slice of cake then chooses a king or […]