Babka Zana, Pierre Hermé, The French Bastards… Here’s our 2024 selection of delicious and creative broches and galettes de Roy to enjoy.
When there are many, there are more. The fowl, logs and other end-of-year feasts are barely over and now it’s the turn of the Galettes des Rois. A defining exercise for pastry chefs who work, sometimes for months, to create aesthetic broches and pancakes that are more ambitious in terms of taste. In pure tradition, garnished with flavors from other places—chocolate or even fruity—here are 22 of the editor’s great favorites.
Tradition binds
The years pass and the scenes repeat themselves: a log at Christmas, lamb at Easter and… frangipane pancakes for Epiphany. This year again, any self-respecting purist will opt for the galette des Rois in pure tradition. To meet these demands, Pierre Hermé created a creation consisting of frangipane with almond flakes and a golden, crispy puff pastry. Some add a touch of indulgence, like chef Leander Vivien of Paris in Burgundy. Inspired by calisson, the pastry chef flavors his frangipani with orange blossom and honey.
Originality
“Tradition is a guide, not a jailer,” British novelist William Somerset Maugham once said. A philosophy that appears as a benchmark in the imagination of some pastry chefs, such as Nicolas Clouzot of Maison du Chocolat and his creations in stunning presentation. For an eye, dark chocolate lace surrounds tangerine jelly. In the mouth, the crispy puff pastry is enveloped by tangerine frangipane and dark chocolate ganache.
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Another Parisian institution, La Grande Épicerie de Paris, puts pecans in the spotlight with a pancake reminiscent of an American Thanksgiving. A creation covered in butter and honey coated pecans, crunchy to the bite and garnished with madagascar vanilla almond cream. The whole thing is based on an inverted puff pastry made from phyllo dough. At the Four Seasons Hotel George V, Guillaume Cabrol’s galette takes on the flavors and contours of an apple turnover consisting of croissant dough, slow candied Reine des Reinettes apples and Valencian almond frangipane flavored with tonka bean.
Royal donuts
As for the brioches, Philippe Conticini opts for regressive flavors with a soft crown, marbled chocolate and filled spread. Baker Eric Kaiser, for his part, puts citrus in the spotlight with a creation somewhere between a croissant and a brioche, coated in candied orange and garnished with an almond cream infused with orange, grapefruit and lemon. So whether you are crowned king or not, everyone is a winner.
Source: Le Figaro
