Recipe: Lemon and Yuzu Galette des Rois

Who says January has to be all about vegetables and salads? Not the French, who celebrate the first month of the year with galette de rois, a puff pastry cake. The tradition begins on Epiphany (6 January), and is designed to honour the arrival of the Three Wise Men in Bethlehem, hence its nickname, the king cake. There are two main styles: in northern France it’s usually made with two circles of puff pastry sandwiching a frangipani filling, while the south tends to favour a brioche-style cake covered with candied fruit. All tend to hide a little charm inside, known as a ‘fève’ hidden inside, and the person who discovers it is declared the king. Keen to give it a go yourself? Here, Mayfair restaurant Bar Des Prés shares its recipe. Alternatively, head to the eatery this month to try their version.

Recipe: Lemon and Yuzu Galette des Rois

For 2 galettes that serve 6 each

Puff pastry (4 discs of 230g each)

Détrempe: 

• 540g all-purpose flour 
• 150g tourage butter (French butter or butter specifically for puff pastry) 
• 25g water 
• 23g fine salt 

Butter mix: 

• 620g of tourage butter (French butter or butter specifically for puff pastry) 
• 270g of all purpose-flour 

Detrempe: put the flour, salt, and water in a mixer with a dough hook. Add the cold diced butter when the dough starts to form and mix until it’s incorporated in the dough. Make a 975g portion and roll out. Leave it to rest for 3 hours. 

Butter mix: mix the cold diced butter and the flour with a spatula. Make a 440g portion and leave it to rest 3 hours in the fridge. 

Make 2 single folds and 2 double folds. The single fold 7mm, the double fold 5mm, roll out the dough to a 2 mm thickness. Roll the dough out to 1,8mm thickness and make a 22cm diameter disc. 

Almond yuzu cream: (235gr per galette)

• 140g almond powder 
• 15g custard powder 
• 110g icing sugar 
• 25g Barley water cordial 
• 1 whole egg 
• 110g butter 
• 1 lemon 
• 1 yuzu 

Peel the lemon and yuzu and extract the juice. Cream the butter, add icing sugar, and mix with almond powder and custard powder. Slowly add the egg, and finally the juice. Put aside in the fridge. 

Lemon and yuzu confit: (60gr per galette)

• 125g Lemon peel 
• 125g Yuzu peel 
• 175g Sugar 
• Water 

Peel the lemon and yuzu, blanch the skins 5 times to remove the bitterness, add the sugar and cover with water. Simmer for 30/40 minutes. 

Egg wash:

• 2 whole eggs 
• Water 
• Beat the eggs and water together. 

Making the galette: 

Take two discs of puff pastry, brush water around the edge of one disc at a 2cm width from the edge. Pipe almond cream on top of the first puff pastry disc, garnish with lemon and yuzu confit. Put the second puff pastry disc on top of the first. With a knife, chip the edges nicely to seal the edges of the puff pastry. Brush the egg wash on top and score as smoothly as possible. Cook at 180°C for 45 minutes. Garnish the cooked galette with the zest from a lemon and a lime.

Recipe from Bar Des Prés