Galette De Rois

So today was the first day at work that I felt like I was working an assembly line. I felt like I was a slave worker. I actually heard my chef yell and things were mad!! It's because of these Galette De Rois. Those were the cakes I mentioned. I have pictures and I did some research on them as well. This is the explaination (translated into english from wikipedia france)

"Is a cake celebrating the Epiphany and traditionally sold and consumed a few days before and after that date. The cake is made from puff pastry filled with frangipane "similar to the pithiviers (filled cake), or not (dry cake), Belgium and northern France. In half South of France, she is brioche. In Occitania, the galette des rois (called cake of kings) is a pastis, a kind of brioche, flavoured with orange flower and containing fruits and sometimes called kingdom. In Provence this dessert is called cake of kings and consists of a sort of brioche scented with orange flower covered with sugar and candied fruit. Traditionally, it is an opportunity to "draw kings" Epiphany: a figurine is hidden in the cake and the person who gets the bean becomes king of the day and will provide the next cake.
This practice is rooted in Saturnalia of ancient Rome. The Romans used the bean as ballot to elect the king's feast at these festivals. The beans were replaced in 1870 by porcelain figurines or - more recently - plastics. The collection of these small objects is called favophilie. To ensure a random distribution of the shares of cake, it is customary that the youngest is placed under the table and appoint the beneficiary on the part that is designated by the person in charge of the service.
Previously, the practice was that we shared the cake in as many shares as diners, plus one. The latter, called the "hand of God", "part of the Virgin" or "share of the poor" was intended for the poor who are the first to submit homeless. Although it is now increasingly hard to find, the cake of Besançon was once used to draw the Kings. It is a dry cake made from puff pastry covered with sugar and butter."

Now in american it is called the King's Cake. This blurb was taken from Wikipedia US.
"A king cake (sometimes rendered as kingcake or kings' cake) is a type of cake associated with the festival of Epiphany in the Christmas season in a number of countries, and in other places with Carnival. It is popular in Christmas season in France (galette/gateau des rois), Portugal (Bolo Rei), Spain (Roscón de Reyes and in Catalonia called tortell), Greece (vasilopita) and Bulgaria (banitsa). In the United States, which celebrates Carnival ranging from Mobile, Alabama to East Texas, centered on New Orleans it is associated instead with Carnival traditions.
The cakes have a small trinket (usually a small plastic Baby Jesus) inside, and the person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket has various privileges and obligations.In southern U.S.A., the tradition was brought to the area by colonists from France and Spain. King cake parties in New Orleans are documented back to the eighteenth century. A little bean was traditionnally hidden in it, a custom taken from the Saturnalia in the Roman Empire: the one who stumbled upon the bean was called "king of the feast." In the galette des Rois, since 1870 the beans have been replaced by porcelain and, now, plastic figurines; while the gâteau des Rois often contains both a bean and a figurine. Samuel Pepys (whose wife was French) recorded a party in London on Epiphany night, 6 January 1659/1660: "...to my cosen Stradwick, where, after a good supper, there being there my father, mother, brothers, and sister, my cosen Scott and his wife, Mr. Drawwater and his wife, and her brother, Mr. Stradwick, we had a brave cake brought us, and in the choosing, Pall was Queen and Mr. Stradwick was King. After that my wife and I bid adieu and came home, it being still a great frost."[1] The choosing of King and Queen from the pie, usually by the inclusion of a bean and a pea, was a traditional English Twelfth Night festivity (see there for other early English references)."

So...as you can see...these are SUPER popular. Anyway...we've been making over 500 a day. and i'm NOT exaggerating. So i took some pictures.

First the dough is rolled out. Then I (sometimes- or someone else) puts on egg wash on the outter edge and then pipes on (depending on the type)only almond cream or almond and pistachio cream. At the top is the heart that we put in as the trinket. On the back it says "mulot paris". Then my other job is to put on all of the nuts. I have to put them on in a round. ARGH! And i have to be quick about it because then is the next step.

Someone else puts on the top and then i dust the flour off the top and then make indents on the side three finger widths apart. Then after this is done (a certain amount) there is a HUGE process for storing them. I can't explain it all because even I am confused. But it's timed and you have to put things and out of the freezer. It's crazy.

This is Birke cutting out the circles! EEKS...see the leftover. WOW.

This is the store. and that is NOT the half of them!!!!!!

These are the heart ones :)



I brought two of them home. This is the pistachio one after it's cooked. They are soooo yummy! Chef and a few other people get to do the lines before they are cooked.

Anyway...today was a LONG day. I was happy to leave work :) But enjoy the galettes...i know i am!!!