How To Find The Perfect Fève For Your Galette des Rois - Molly J Wilk (2024)
In France, January 6th is officially considered Kings Day and to celebrate it’s tradition to enjoy a flaky and delicious Galette des Rois (or King Cake)!
Though there have been many iterations and riffs over the years, a classic Galette des Rois either has an almond filling or is made like a brioche cake. Whatever your style, the most important part of the tradition is to hide a little trinket called a fève inside while baking, whoever finds the fève is king or queen for the day!
In early traditions folks would use a whole almond, dried bean, another type of nut, or even a clean coin as their fève! If you’re a traditionalist, you can go this route or even start looking around your home for your own unique style fève!
You can use any trinket or charm as long as it’s around 3cm or less and is safe to go into the oven. Usually a ceramic or porcelain item is your best bet.
For more options, I love the selections available at Miniatures.comand Faboland.com! Both online shops feature a plethora of ceramic fèves that range from your favorite cartoon and movie characters to cars to garden vegetables and everything in between.
AND WHAT ABOUT THE RECIPE?
Now that you have found the perfect fève, the only next step is the perfect recipe, and luckily I have you covered!
The “king” is represented by the fève, once a fava bean, now a porcelain or plastic figurine, hidden inside the cake. The person who discovers the fève in their serving is declared le roi (the king) or la reine (the queen) and gets to wear the golden paper couronne (crown) that comes with cake.
Whatever your style, the most important part of the tradition is to hide a little trinket called a fève inside while baking, whoever finds the fève is king or queen for the day!
The galette des rois, celebrating Epiphany, the day the Three Kings (les rois) visited the infant Jesus, is baked throughout January in France. Composed of two circles of puff pastry sandwiching a frangipani filling, each comes with a crown and always has a trinket, called a fève, or bean, baked into it.
The goal being that everyone is hoping to 'win' the Roi/King – which in these days is a small porcelain figure hidden within the cake itself. This is a tradition that dates back to the Romans and Middle Ages where the prize was a bean.
Tradition dictates that when serving galette des rois, the entire cake should be divided such that each guest receives a slice, plus an extra, symbolic slice for any unexpected visitor, or poor person, that should pass by.
Customarily, each galette contains a hidden fève (a porcelain trinket), and the lucky person who finds a fève will be crowned queen or king. The Galette des Rois is a long-standing French tradition, starting sometime in the 14th century.
The best food and wine pairings with a frangipane puff pastry are a sweet white wine or a sparkling wine. Indeed, Champagnes go well with this sweet and gourmet dessert.
Families come together on or around this date to share their galette, into which is baked a small ceramic baby charm (the “fève”). Whoever finds the charm in their slice of cake is deemed King or Queen for the day – thus the name of the cake and the paper crown that famously adorns this popular confection.
Of course, we'll start with a dry white wine such as a Loire chenin for example, or a round chardonnay. These are natural wines that often go well with fish, but they will also go very well with your galette des rois. Plain sparkling wines can also be a very good match for your galette des rois.
Simply print out the cards, then have students close their eyes while you hide la fève behind one of the number cards.Have them open their eyes again and try to guess where it is hidden! Play continues until he has been found, then start a new round- my Kindergartners love playing this!
During French lessons, Junior School pupils have been learning about the traditional French celebration l'Épiphanie or La Fête des Rois (celebration of the three Kings). It is celebrated on 6 January, the Epiphany, when the Kings brought gifts to baby Jesus.
The galette is then cut up and served, and the person who finds the figurine in their slice, becomes honorary king or queen for the day. A big part of why galettes des rois are so popular is that everyone wishes to find la fève in their slice.
The galette des rois is a cake traditionally shared at Epiphany, on 6 January. It celebrates the arrival of the Three Wise Men in Bethlehem. Composed of a puff pastry cake, with a small charm, the fève, hidden inside, it is usually filled with frangipane, a cream made from sweet almonds, butter, eggs and sugar.
The galettes des rois most often comes with a paper crown worn by “the majesty” all day! The little charm is called “la fève” which means bean. It was initially a real dry bean which is a symbol of good luck and fertility because it is the first vegetable to grow in Spring after the winter solstice.
Another factor is that despite enormous government subsidies, the agricultural sector in France is struggling. Over the past for years, the number of dairy cows has decreased by around 250,000. All of this has seen the price of butter, a key ingredient of Galette des Rois, soar.
Hidden inside each galette is a surprise; a little porcelain charm/trinket/figurine. If you're not aware and chomp down gustily into the cake you could be in for an unplanned visit to the dentist!
Galette des Rois is believed to have originated sometime in the Middle Ages in the 13th or 14th century. In France, it was “customary to bake [this] cake” which was initially known as Gateau des Rois (Cruz 1). Given the celebratory nature of this food, a slice was often saved for any passing guests or the poor.
Families come together on or around this date to share their galette, into which is baked a small ceramic baby charm (the “fève”). Whoever finds the charm in their slice of cake is deemed King or Queen for the day – thus the name of the cake and the paper crown that famously adorns this popular confection.
Breton galettes, hailing from Brittany, refer to the savoury buckwheat crepes that ooze with cheese and runny egg. These also follow a similar principle of piling filling onto a carbohydrate base and folding up the edges, but are nevertheless more pancake than tart.
Introduction: My name is Barbera Armstrong, I am a lovely, delightful, cooperative, funny, enchanting, vivacious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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