Traditional galette des rois

The dough

Mix all the ingredients for the dough, except the water, to obtain a dry dough with a uniform, crumbly texture. Then add the water and mix on low speed to obtain a homogeneous dough without kneading it.
Roll the dough out into a square shape of 40 x 60 cm, put it on a baking sheet, covered with plastic film and leave to rest for at least 5 hours in the refrigerator.
After letting the dough rest, give it three single turns with an hour’s rest between each turn, and then let rest for 12 hours. Give another two single turns with at least an hour’s rest between the turns.

Tip

Always work with cold puff pastry and let the rolled out dough rest before starting to make turns. Rather than rolling out the dough to the desired thickness immediately, roll it out in steps. This will give a better result of the finished product.

Mix the butter and sugar to obtain a light, airy mixture.
Add a pinch of salt and the eggs one by one. Then add the egg yolks, the ground almonds, the almond extract and sifted flour.
Mix until a homogeneous mixture is obtained.
It can be left in the refrigerator to set before use.**

Tip

**If intending to store in the freezer for longer, 15 g of vinegar can be added as an antioxidant.

Take three cake rings to prepare the Galettes, with diameters of 22 cm, 23 cm and 21 cm. Roll out the final dough to 2 mm (2.5 mm for the cocoa version) and let it rest. After refrigeration, cut out 14 x 22 cm discs and 14 x 23 cm discs. The 22 cm discs will be the pastry bases, keep the 23 cm discs in the refrigerator.
Using a piping bag, pipe about 150 g of the filling onto the base, leaving 3 cm around the edges. Pipe the filling onto all the Galettes, adding any garnishes, and placing them on baking sheets in the refrigerator as you go along.
Remove the bases, sheet by sheet, and brush the 3 cm area around the edges with a little water. Cover them with the 23 cm discs and press the edges together firmly. Place in the refrigerator and prepare the rest of the Galettes.

When all the Galettes have been covered, take the first baking sheet.
Take the 21 cm cake ring, centre it over the Galette and cut off the excess dough around the edge (about 1 cm) with a sharp knife.
Immediately place each cake in the freezer to facilitate the decoration stage.
When all the Galettes have been trimmed, pick up a Galette that is lightly frozen and turn it over so that the flat side is on top.
Brush with a mixture of egg yolk and a little milk, and possibly some red dye, for a livelier style of decoration.

Heat the oven to 205 °C. Cook at this temperature for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180 °C and continue cooking the Galettes for another 15 minutes.

Tip

To ensure the pastry puffs up nicely, and is thoroughly cooked without any hard bits, heat the oven sufficiently before cooking.
Don't overcook the Galettes, as this will make them too dry.