January 6 is the Feast of the Epiphany, honoring the Three Wise Men’s visit to the baby Jesus.  In France, this holiday is celebrated in homes from Paris to Marseille, who  enjoy their annual “Galette des Rois” or “King’s Cake”.

Made of a light puff pastry, the Galette des Rois is filled with a delicious almond paste and baked to a golden brown. It is usually eaten as a dessert. Inside the galette hides a “feve”, a porcelaine figurine that many children collect year after year. The lucky person who finds the figurine is crowned “king” or “queen”, and there is even a paper crown for the coronation ceremony!

If you are lucky enough to be in Paris on January 6, you can buy a galette in just about every bakery or pastry shop in town.  Here is a list of the best according to Le Figaro magazine:

1- Stohrer: 51, rue Montorgueil (IIe)
2- Lenôtre: 10, rue Saint-Antoine (IVe)
3- Paul: 89, rue Saint-Antoine (IVe)
3- Gérard Mulot: 76, rue de Seine (VIe)
4- Kayser: 10, rue de l’Ancienne-Comédie (VIe)
5- Pierre Hermé: 72, rue Bonaparte (VIe)
6- Monoprix: 50, rue de Rennes (VIe)
7- La Grande Epicerie de Paris: 38, rue de Sèvres (VIIe)
8- Rollet-Pradier: 6, rue de Bourgogne (VIIe)
9- Ladurée: 16, rue Royale (VIIIe)
10- Dalloyau: 101, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré (VIIIe)
11- Hédiard: 31, avenue George-V (VIIIe)
12- Fauchon: 26, place de la Madeleine (VIIIe)
13- Arnaud Delmontel: 39, rue des Martyrs (IXe)
14- Stéphane Vandermeersch: 278, av. Daumesnil (XIIe)
15- Boulangerie Pain et Passion: 117, av. d’Italie (XIIIe)

Interested in making your own galette?  Here’s a good recipe:

(Serves Eight)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 lb frozen puff pastry
2 eggs
7 oz almond paste

Preparation:
Leave the puff pastry at room temperature for about 2 hours until defrosted but still cold.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Line a baking sheet or pizza pan with baking parchment or grease the pan and lightly sift flour on it. Shake off any excess flour. Roll each sheet of pastry into a circle about 12 inches across.

Place one circle on the prepared pan.

Mix the egg with the almond paste until smooth and spread the mixture evenly on the prepared circle of pastry, leaving a border 1 1/2 inches wide all around. If you have a small china, insert it into the almond mixture (you may also use a bean as the fève. The person who gets the fève is the King or Queen.

Place the second circle of pastry on top and press it down tightly around the rim.

Beat lightly the remaining egg and brush it on the top of the cake. With a long-bladed knife, press lightly but firmly through the egg glaze marking a crisscross pattern. 

Bake for 20–25 minutes until golden and puffed. Do not check for doneness for at least 15 minutes, as the pastry may collapse. Serve slightly warm or cold.