Galette des Rois with Apples

A twist on a traditional Galette des Rois using hazelnuts and apples.

galette des rois with apples on cake stand

I have always wanted to make a Galette des Rois for the Epiphany and finally plucked up the courage today. In France, it is a cake which is traditionally eaten on 6 January, although some shops and bakeries make the most of this event by selling them up to a few months before the big date. But like any seasonal treat, such as the Yule Log or Hot Cross Buns, the window for making a Galette des Rois is brief and I’m glad to have finally tried my hand at making one. Here is Rachel Khoo’s version from My Little French Kitchen.

A Galette des Rois is normally a layer of frangipane (almond cream) encased between two layers of puff pastry. A fève (a dried fava bean or ceramic figurine) is usually hidden in the frangipane, and the lucky person who finds this fève in their slice has the honour of being king for the day. Rachel Khoo’s version has a layer of sliced apples on top of the frangipane, and the puff pastry base is cut to resemble a crown. It’s certainly an impressive variation on an old classic, and the apples give a nice balance to the cake which can otherwise be quite rich from all of the puff pastry.

The following recipe is not complicated but, as you can imagine, it is a little fiddly, especially when it comes to lining the cake tin with puff pastry and cutting out triangles to shape the crown. Having said that, and now that I understand the concept of this recipe, I think I would be much quicker the next time I make this cake.

galette des rois with sliced apples

Despite having used a larger cake tin than that specified in Rachel Khoo’s recipe (the original recipe calls for an 18 cm cake tin), I ended up baking my cake for at least 1 hour and 15 minutes until the pastry was golden and the apples were sufficiently cooked. But I think much has to do with the type and/or brand of puff pastry you are using and even the type of apples.

I wanted my cake to have a bit of a glossy sheen like an apple tart you might find in a café, so I heated a bit of apricot jam and brushed this over the cooked apples once it was out of the oven.

All in all, it was a fun and delicious recipe to recreate, something I hope to do again next year.

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Galette des Rois with Apples

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5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: eatlittlebird.com
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 45 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 45 mins
  • Yield: Serves 6 to 8

Recipe adapted from My Little French Kitchen by Rachel Khoo

Ingredients

  • 2 x 175g (6oz) puff pastry
  • 150g (5 oz) shelled hazelnuts
  • 75g (2.5 oz) caster sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 egg
  • 100g (3.5 oz) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cooking apple (such as a Granny Smith apple)
  • 1 fève, large dried bean, or large coin wrapped in foil
  • apricot jam or honey

Instructions

  1. Line the bottom of a 20 cm (8 inch) springform cake tin with baking paper and grease the sides with butter.
  2. Roll out the first sheet of puff pastry to fit the base of the cake tin.
  3. Roll out the second sheet of puff pastry into a long rectangle 15 cm (6 inches) high and long enough to line the side of the cake tin. You may need to do this in two strips. Line the sides of the cake tin with the pastry strips, allowing for some overlap where they join up and also where they meet with the base.
  4. Press down on the overlaps with your fingertips to seal the edges.
  5. Use a sharp knife to cut out triangles from the sides of the cake tin to resemble a crown, leaving a band of at least 3.5 cm (1.5 inches).
  6. Place the cake tin in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  7. Toast the hazelnuts until golden. Leave to cool slightly before processing finely in a food processor.
  8. Add the caster sugar, salt, egg, and butter, and process until smooth.
  9. Spread the mixture over the base of the lined cake tin.
  10. Hide the fève in the frangipane.
  11. Peel, core and thinly slice the apple and arrange the slices on top of the frangipane.
  12. Place the cake tin back in the fridge and chill for another 30 minutes.
  13. Place a baking tray in the oven and preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).
  14. Place the cake tin on the hot baking tray, and reduce the temperature to 180°C (355°F).
  15. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
  16. Heat a few tablespoons of apricot jam or honey in a small saucepan and brush over the cooked apple to make it glossy.

Kitchen Notes

It is important that the cake is cold when it goes into the oven, otherwise the pastry may shrink and the “crown” may collapse.

It is also important that you leave a band of at least 3.5 cm (1.5 inches) when cutting triangles in the pastry for the crown, so that there is enough room for the frangipane to rise during baking.

OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly.

CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: Nutritional info per slice
  • Calories: 506
  • Sugar: 12.5g
  • Sodium: 140.6mg
  • Fat: 39g
  • Carbohydrates: 35.1g
  • Fiber: 2.9g
  • Protein: 7g
  • Cholesterol: 50.1mg

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10 comments

  1. Meenakshi 8 January 2015

    Oh frangipane itself is heavenly in a tart, I’m sure it tastes even better in puff pastry! The crown shape looks beautiful. After reading all your Rachel Khoo posts, I bought LPK for Christmas and am really enjoying discovering French food. I’ve only made her buckwheat galettes so far, but will be cooking through more in the days to come! Happy new year.

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 11 January 2015

      Happy New Year, Meenakshi! I’m so glad I inspired you to buy LPK and that you are enjoying the French recipes 🙂 I haven’t tried the recipe for buckwheat galettes (as I’m not the biggest fan of them), but I did try Rachel’s recipe for crêpes and they turned out beautifully 🙂

      I’m really looking forward to the release of Rachel Khoo’s new cookbook next month!

      Reply
  2. Christin 19 January 2015

    What a lovely blog! I came across it on my hunt for a recipe for chocolate crème pâtissière (which turned out wonderfully), and have spent some time since browsing around. I’ll add this to my list of regular spots to visit!

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 19 January 2015

      That’s lovely to hear! I hope you will enjoy your visits to this website 🙂

      Reply
  3. Rushi 23 January 2015

    Oooooh Thanh, your galette looks so pretty or should I regal, fit for a king. This recipe will have to wait until next year though…. Hope all’s well on your end. Big hugs over to you.

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 24 January 2015

      Thanks, Rushi! I hope you will get to try this recipe next year 🙂 Hope all is good at your end.

      Reply
  4. anna @ annamayeveryday 2 February 2015

    I love the triangles making the points of the crown, that is certainly the best Galette des Rois I have seen in ages!

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 7 February 2015

      Thank you! I think it’s a rather creative recipe, one which I would love to make again next year.

      Reply
  5. Madeleine 25 March 2018

    This is such a beautiful Galette des Rois! I don’t think I can wait until the next Epiphany to make this!






    Reply
  6. Julia 13 April 2018

    Oh, I can not wait to try this incredible Galette des Rois! Yummy! This made me drool






    Reply