{"id":1209015,"date":"2019-05-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/haussmann.galerieslafayette.com\/galeries-lafayette-celebrate-their-kings-and-queens-with-the-finest-galettes-des-rois\/"},"modified":"2019-05-31T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-30T22:00:00","slug":"galeries-lafayette-celebrate-their-kings-and-queens-with-the-finest-galettes-des-rois","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/haussmann.galerieslafayette.com\/en\/galeries-lafayette-celebrate-their-kings-and-queens-with-the-finest-galettes-des-rois\/","title":{"rendered":"Galeries Lafayette celebrate their kings and queens with the finest galettes des rois!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Galette des rois: the tradition around the \u201cCake of Kings\u201d<\/h2>\n

The French love their culinary traditions and while you thought the food fest was over past Christmas and New Year\u2019s Eve, it actually is not. 12 days after Christmas, on January 6th, comes the Epiphany commemorating the visit to baby Jesus by the three Magi (Kings), or Wise Men. The \u201cGalette des rois\u201d which literally translates as \u201ccake of kings\u201d, was intended to \u201cdraw the kings\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nowadays, the cake of kings is eaten all through the month of January and contains a \u201cf\u00e8ve\u201d (a bean) which is basically a trinket, hidden inside. Whoever comes upon the trinket in their slice of cake gets to be the \u201cking\u201d for a day. The tradition dates back to the 14th century when a gold coin was placed in a piece of bread. The coin became a bean and the bean a porcelain trinket!<\/p>\n

Tirer les rois: \u201cDrawing the kings\u201d<\/h3>\n

The French have this tradition that when serving the galette des rois, the cake should be cut as to offer one slice per person, plus one, symbolically for the first poor passing by. The youngest person in the room, the innocent hand, hides underneath the table and calls out names of those present. The distribution will be done accordingly. And this is all to do with the little charm inside the cake: void cheating and the lucky\u00a0\u201cf\u00e8ve\u201d being served\u00a0to himself or to the favorite person.\u00a0The fans even collect the charms year after year!<\/p>\n

The President\u2019s galette<\/h3>\n

During the French Revolution, the name was changed to \u201cG\u00e2teau de l\u2019egalit\u00e9\u201d (Equality cake) because it wasn\u2019t exactly socially acceptable, maybe even dangerous one would say, to be a king! And to date, it is considered against the \u201c\u00e9tiquette\u201d to draw a king at the Elys\u00e9e as it would be highly inappropriate to \u201cfind a king\u201d in the Presidential Palace! So every year, a huge galette, made for 150 people, is served at the Elys\u00e9e and the artisan pastry chef is instructed not to put a \u201cf\u00e8ve\u201d in it.<\/p>\n

French bakeries sell the galette with a paper golden or silver crown. And even if becoming a king for one day does not have any influence, children, and adults, still get excited about it!<\/p>\n

Celebrating the kings and queens at Galeries Lafayette<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Originally, there are two types of king\u2019s cake across France. In Paris and the north of France, it is a puff pastry tart filled with an almond cream called frangipane. In southern France, it will generally be an orange blossom flavored round brioche cake with a hole in the middle (suggesting the shape of a crown) decorated with candied fruit. But then, other types of galettes can be found in different regions of France.<\/p>\n

The excellence of French gastronomy and the galette des rois\u00a0<\/h3>\n

Every \u201cp\u00e2tisseries\u201d will have its own cake of kings. Traditionalists might insist on the original recipe and shape but French chefs are getting more and more inventive, popping up different versions of the cake so as to stand out from the crowd to the fans\u2019 greatest tasting delight!<\/p>\n

At Galeries Lafayette, the most renowned Chefs will treat visitors with their special home-made galette! And cherry on the galette, the Chefs even make exclusive creations for Galeries Lafayette! The cakes will be re-shaped or offer new flavors, displaying treasures of imagination for Galeries Lafayette\u2019s visitors only!<\/p>\n

Impossible to resist the temptation to try one or\u2026 all of them! Some of them can also get highly imaginative when it comes to the \u201cf\u00e8ve\u201d and paper crown!<\/p>\n

\u00a0Yann Couvreur<\/a>, Dalloyau and many others are to be discovered at Lafayette Gourmet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That said, if you are not a galette fan, Galeries Lafayette offers a wide choice of pastries<\/a> to indulge your sweet tooth and make you the king or queen of your day! Here are a few of the best picks!<\/p>\n