galette des Rois/ gateau des Rois

(In the south of France, King Cakes are called “galette”... galette seems to be an all-purpose French word for an imperfect pie... and in the north they are called called “gateau”... the French word for cake.)

History of the French King Cake

In the 17th century, Louis XIV took part in at least one Twelfth Night Festival where a bean or ceramic figures was hidden in the cake, also known as a Gateau des Rois, the Twelfth Night cake custom is still widely observed in France, where families and friends gather around one of the different cakes served at the cake soirees. In some regions the couronne, made from a brioche dough topped with a fruit festooned sugar glaze, is flavored. In Paris and other major cities, a fancier galette built with a frangipane (almond creamed paste), prevailed. In most areas of France, a tiny plastic king or queen is baked into the galette des Rois....

... “When we have a king cake party in France, we refer to the galette des Rois tradition , ‘pulling the king or queen.’” and, “the guest who received a serving with the trinket hidden inside picks a consort. Then the pair, who will host the next King’s Day party, are crowned with the gold and silver paper diadems that adorn the cake”.

In France, King’s Day celebrations end on January 31st “France’s brioche-like couronne became the forerunner of New Orleans’ King Cake with Creoles, colonials of French and Spanish decent who settled in New Orleans, adopted the French Twelfth Night cake custom and blended with the Spanish tradition of mounting a grand ball of Twelfth Night. from : http://www.voceronews.com/editorial3_29.htm


We knew our “king cake” roots were here in France and so we were eagerly awaiting the appearance of them all around the city. As we took our weekly Saturday walk to explore the city, we saw lots of crowns - kids wearing paper crowns and adults with them too. The windows of the bakeries were overflowing with king cakes of all sorts. They seem to be smaller than our New Orleans counterparts and they come in various flavors and colors. We haven’t bought one yet, but plan to do that soon!