A favorite dessert and snack for this time of year. Easy to make, and easier to eat! Surprise your friends (elsewhere than in France and Québec!) with a homemade version.
The kings' cake is a favorite snack and dessert for this time of the year. My kids adore it and request it often. I can purchase one from any bakery worth its name, but it really isn't hard to make from scratch (if you've some flaky puff pastry on hand).
Ingredients:
* two sheets pâte feuilletée (puff pastry)
For the Frangipane:
* 1 1/2 cups ground almonds/almond meal
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/3 cup sweet butter
* 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
* 2 eggs
* 1 tablespoon flour
* a pinch of salt
* an egg with 2 tablespoons syrup (I used maple) to brush on top of the pastry so it will golden in the oven.
* a bean or a whole almond or a small clay figurine to be your fêve.
If you haven't found almond meal, then use your spice grinder or your blender to make it yourself (as I did this time). Blend all the ingredients together in your mixer, and then spread onto one of the puff pastry sheets. Put your fêve in the frangipane then top with the other sheet. Draw a criss cross pattern with the back of a knife (careful to not puncture the pastry). Pinch the edges of the pastry. Brush with the whole egg wash.
Place in a medium hot oven (375) till nicely golden on top, about 20-30 minutes depending on your oven.
Enjoy as an afternoon snack with tea, or for dessert. In traditional French house the youngest child goes under the table and tells the server of the cake to whom each piece should go. Then, he who gets the fêve is king for the day. Best to have a crown in the house ready for his/her head!
