Authentic Galette des Rois Recipe – French Kings Cake (2024)

Christmas is over. The New Year has just begun. But the celebration’s not yet over.

I have the joy of introducing you to one of the coolest annual French traditions you’ve never heard of.

It’s a Kings Cake! Où, en français, Galette des Rois.

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A delightful celebration of the 3 Kings arrival to see the Baby Jesus, Kings Cakes are served all over the world from Europe to Latin America.

Strangely, even with the massive influence that Europe and Latin America have on the United States King’s Cakes are largely unknown in English speaking communities.

So I’m here to right that wrong and offer you an excuse to bake one more deliciously flaky, wonderfully authentic French pastry with my tried and true Galette des Rois recipe.

My Kings Cake is the traditional recipe from the north of France. The Kings Cake from the south of France is called a Gâteau des Rois and looks more like the Roscas De Reyes from Mexico. I encourage you to go to a Mexican bakery on January 6th next year and get yourself a Rosca De Reyes.

They’re pretty amazing too.

A Little History of the Galette des Rois

King’s Cake has been around since the Middle Ages and is part of the 12 days of Christmas which was usually celebrated from about Christmas Eve to about January 5th. Traditionally, King’s Cake season started on January 6th and went until Fat Tuesday, which falls any time between February 3rd and March 9th.

January 6th is a holiday, celebrated mostly by Catholics, called Epiphany commemorating the presentation of Christ to the gentiles in the form of the 3 kings. Also known as 3 Kings Day.

It’s the most traditional day on which the Kings Cakes or Galettes are eaten. If you’re interested, you can find out more about the history of Kings Cakes and all the different versions available.

These days you’ll find Kings Cakes in French bakeries starting about mid-December through mid-January.

But you don’t need a French bakery. You can easily make your own!

They’re super simple and absolutely delicious and if you bring this baby to a get-together you’ll be overwhelmed by guests asking what it’s called and how they can get one.

Fun French Kings Cake Traditions

One of the most fun parts about Kings Cake is the process around eating it. There’s a prize to be found! Meant to represent Baby Jesus.

Originally the prize was just a fava been that had been baked inside. Fava bean in French is “fève”. The prize is no longer a fava bean but the name “fève” stuck. So no matter the prize, it’s still called a “fève” in France.

But when I was a kid the prize was some kind of a porcelain figurine. There weren’t many when I was young but the options have expanded dramatically. There are now cartoon characters and superheroes in addition to the more traditional Baby Jesus. You can see some in the picture above.

We even had one a few years ago where the prize was the porcelain figure of the roadside box that automatically gives you speeding tickets! Why in the world anybody would consider that a prize still baffles me.

You don’t have to bake the “fève” in, you can add it from the bottom once the galette has cooled.

The tradition in my family was that everybody would get together, and as an adult started to cut the cake the youngest person in attendance would go underneath the table.

The adults would then ask the kid underneath the table to choose who would get the next slice.

It was a fun, silly way to distribute a cake and it took me years to realize that rather than being a way to guarantee that everyone had a chance at getting the prize it was instead an opportunity for the adults to guarantee that I got the prize nearly every single time.

The prize was not only the little porcelain figure, but also the honor of wearing the golden paper crown that the bakery included with every Galette des Rois.

Sometimes it would even come with 2 crowns, so the king could name a queen or vice versa.

We’ve kept the tradition alive here in the US and have collected several French paper crowns.

The good news for those of you who would like to try making a King’s Cake at home is that Burger King offers a perfectly suitable crown for anyone who asks. And as a prize, those little plastic babies would work perfectly.

So go, try my Galette des Rois recipe and bake a delicious Kings cake. Enjoy an authentic French tradition and be part of a celebration that is literally 1,000 years old.

Galette des Rois Recipe