Paul's Galette des Rois

For me the Christmas holiday season officially ends with the Epiphany. This is the day when we take down our Christmas tree and pack up the ornaments. This is also the day for one last holiday treat, and one of my favorites: La Galette des Rois, a puff pastry cake filled with frangipane. As many of my friends know, I never say no to anything made with puff pastry. The galette typically contains a fève inside. Whoever finds this charm in his or her slice of the cake becomes the king or queen and gets to wear the crown.

Back in the days when all butter puff pastry was readily available at Whole Foods, I used to make a galette myself. Now, with no access to good puff pastry, I got lazy and decided to just buy one. We purchased the galette at Paul for NT$680.

The galette not only came with a crown but a sheet about the story of the cake. I suppose the galette is a new thing for Taipei. The sheet also tells you the cake contains a fève, I guess this prevents someone who doesn't know and accidentally swallows it.

The galette was good and we all enjoyed it.

My only complaint was the fève was placed pretty much in the center of the cake. This meant when I cut the cake into wedges, I felt the fève with the knife and later saw the fève on the side of a piece. This took away the sense of surprise. Since I knew which piece contained the fève, I gave it to our own little "royalty." The fève is a small yellow crown inscribed with the Paul's name and the year 2010. Our older daughter got to wear the crown and be the Queen.