Le 6 janvier - La Galette des Rois

Jan 6

1 min read

Bonne Fête des Rois !

Did you know? In France, the 6th of January marks La Journée des Rois or L'Épiphanie. It’s one of my favorite days of the year — no surprise if you know how much I love sweet treats!

The day is celebrated with the Galette des Rois, a pastry symbolising the visit of the Three Kings. This tradition dates back to Roman times and has become a family favourite.

The Galette des Rois comes in two forms:

Northern France: A flaky puff pastry filled with creamy frangipane.
Southern France: A brioche-style cake topped with candied fruits, known as the Couronne des Rois.

Northern Galettes des Rois with three kings fèves — Galette des Rois from Northern France with some fèves and the paper crown

As my family is Breton, we always go for the puff pastry version — the best one, of course! Inside the Galette is a hidden fève (a small charm). Whoever finds it is crowned rois or reine and wears the golden paper crown. Over the years, I’ve found fèves shaped like Elsa from Frozen (exciting!) and even Spiderman (less so...).

Broiche style Galette des Rois from south of france with th paper crown — Galette des Rois from Southern France

To keep things fair, slices are assigned by children hiding under the table, shouting “Pour qui celle-là?” (Who is this slice for?). Once everyone has their piece, we dig in, hoping to find the fève and be crowned.

This year, we’ll be celebrating with an Astérix and Obélix fève — wish me luck!

Bonne Fête des Rois!

Camille

Images courtesy of www.freepik.com