There's nothing like a homemade galette des rois to make you forget about the buche de Noël (Christmas log). Frangipane, puff pastry or braided brioche, almonds, chocolate or citrus fruits, French pastry chefs are not lacking in audacity to revisit the iconic dessert of the beginning of the year playing with flavours and textures. From Paris to Provence, via the Rhone Valley and the Hauts-de-France, we look at the most creative galettes.
Pierre Hermé: the bitter one
Almond cream with lemon, candied grapefruit zest, to celebrate Epiphany, pastry chef Pierre Herm invites sweet tooths to get lost in the orchards of Sicily. A galette des rois with citrus flavours that meets the crispness of the puff pastry. Not only fruits grow in this plantation... In 11 galettes, kings and queens of the day will be able to win numbered ceramic palets in the shape of a golden or silver macaroon coin: collector's beans made by La Monnaie de Paris. And what if the month of January was transformed into a treasure hunt for adults and foodies.
Pierre Chauvet : the most generous
Galette in the north, brioche in the south, really? Pierre Chauvet prefers not to decide the question that divides France in two during the Epiphany... It must be said that his two stores, located in Aubenas, in the Ardèche, and in Valence, in the Rhone valley, are close to the front line! No jealousy with this signature creation composed of a two-tone braided brioche, a roasted hazelnut frangipane and a hazelnut praline... Cherry (or rather chocolate) on the cake, the dessert is topped with a milk chocolate bar. Maybe we can wait until the end of the month to start a diet (or not).
For a gustatory journey to discover the flavours of the region, foodies can be seduced by the frangipani cakes with Ardèche chestnuts or homemade spread, given that another (substantive) debate between gourmets is resolved...
Discover the creations of Pierre Chauvet, chocolate maker in the Rhone Valley, south of Lyon
Lenôtre : the most cocooning
There are winter days when one would stay indoors for hours sipping a hot chocolate by the fire or against the window watching the rain or snow fall, only if this cocoa-flavoured pick-me-up was accompanied by a comforting pastry. Etienne Leroy, the new head of sweet creation at Lenôtre, has found the solution by imagining a cup-shaped galette des rois decorated with a chocolate sauce and marzipan volutes. An optical illusion or, as the French would say, un trompe l’oeuil, as artistic as the taste, with a delicious blend of almond cream and dark chocolate resting on an inverted caramelized puff pastry: a guaranteed crunchy effect!
Chocolat Sève: the most Lyonnais
In Lyon, the praline is almost as popular as the rosette and Beaujolais. It is not surprising to find the little crunchy red almond seeds in the galette des rois. Richard Sève prepares them in an authentic copper turbine dating from the end of the 19th century, accompanied by Madagascar vanilla beans. This year, the cakes are stamped with the letter "s" in the form of a scroll as a seal. An innovation made possible by a new cooking technique. Something tells us that you will soon order your own personalized galette with your own label... The label of Lyon!
Ladurée: the most Basque
Halfway between the Basque cake and the traditional galette, Ladurée's signature galette des rois offers a marriage of textures - soft, flaky, creamy - but also of flavors. This flaky brioche is accompanied by a pistachio almond cream, pistachio slivers, and a few notes of orange blossom. A balanced and comforting creation by Julien Alvarez reminiscent of Ladurée fragrances. We take the opportunity to complete his collection of beans with a macaroon or an Ispahan. Good luck!
Terre Blanche: the most Provencal
Associated with the tradition of the 13 desserts of Provence, the calisson is not only eaten on Christmas Eve but all year round, Jérémie Gressier has understood this. To celebrate Epiphany, the new pastry chef at Terre Blanche Hôtel Spa Golf Resort, located in the Var hinterland between Provence and the Côte d'Azur, is offering a galette des rois inspired by the famous confectionery: vanilla almond praline and citrus marmalade grown in France's Pyrenees region enhance the iconic frangipane almond cream. A 100% Provencal dessert!
Philippe Conticini: the most feminist
What about the women? For the third year in a row, Philippe Conticini has teamed up with Les Eclaireuses media to offer a galette des... queens! Crispy inverted puff pastry, soft frangipane with hazelnut powder, the recipe is inspired by the iconic galette des rois of the famous Parisian pastry chef, with one exception: the presence of a gianduja disk that lets hazelnut flavors escape, causing an explosion in the mouth. Another difference is that the beans hidden inside carry feminist messages such as "important", "indispensable", "powerful", "essential", "necessary"... A series of committed beans to offer to a woman of her entourage. Or to give to yourself!
Maison Méert : the sunniest one
There is a sweet summer scent coming from the kitchens of the Méert house in Old Lille, one of the oldest pastry shops in France and in the world, whose façade is a listed historic monument. A true institution, the Méert confectionery is no less creative and innovative, offering for Epiphany a revisited "galette des rois" made with apricot confit and crunchy almonds that accompany the almond frangipane cream. A cocktail of flavors that will make you forget the winter gloom!
Discover the creations of the Méert house in Lille, in the Hauts-de-France
Maison Vérot : the most porcine
Lovers of savory treats have their revenge (finally) with this galette des rois with atypical flavors. No frangipane, chocolate or hazelnuts in the galette imagined by Maison Vérot, but pig stuffing from the Perche region and duck foie gras, all wrapped in a crispy puff pastry. A creation that has the merit of opening the appetite!
La Maison du Chocolat: the most cocoa-flavored
Chocolate, lemon, hazelnuts, this is the shock treatment proposed by La Maison du Chocolat to face the winter and give back colors to the gourmands with the Soleil des Rois cake. In the role of the prescriber, Nicolas Cloiseau, Meilleur Ouvrier de France. His secret? A trio of flavors and contrasts subtly combined and administered in three acts. First, a melting heart with a hazelnut cream with candied lemon zest accompanied by a full-bodied dark chocolate ganache. Then a caramel puff pastry with pearls of lemon juice and dark ganache. Finally, as a decoration, a chocolate crown and roasted hazelnuts. The prescription is of course renewable...
The Peninsula Paris: the most Tahitian
Anne Coruble prefers not to choose between the galette des rois and the brioche des rois.
To celebrate Epiphany, the pastry chef at the Peninsula Paris plays with textures and flavors to offer a soft and crispy crown of kings with the scent of Tahitian vanilla and almonds. Gourmets will appreciate the salted caramel puff pastry... As for the beans, they honor the lions of the Peninsula hotels. Let's hope they bring happiness and fortune to the new crowned heads!
Royal Monceau : the most praline
What if the prize for the most gourmet galette this year went to Quentin Lechat, pastry chef at the Royal Monceau Raffles Paris? Not impossible with the praline with almonds and Brazil nuts inviting to travel as well as the frangipane cream with island flavors: a bit of rum and vanilla and it's all the taste buds that scatter. More classic, the inverted puff pastry with Isigny butter is brilliantly executed.
By Kévin Bonnaud
