EDIT: On the occasion of Epiphany, we invite you to reread this report on the secrets of the success of the galette des rois, published on January 1, 2018.
The frustration is over. Eleven months that we tick off every day separating us from the first galette des rois of 2018. The New Year’s Eve meal digested (and the hangover over), it is time to enjoy puff pastry, frangipane and to break a tooth on the bean. Ah no, not this year because in that of Claire Damon — including pastry Cakes and bread is located at 63, boulevard Pasteur in the 15th century -, it is “two almonds per eight cake*” which replace the bean.
Ah, I hear some grumpy people saying “but a pancake without beans, it’s not a pancake!” “. Let them rest assured, an earthenware almond and its white porcelain shell are given with the cake to distribute to the lucky ones who will end up king and queen.
Pastry cream in frangipane
With the question of the bean out of the way, let’s reveal the secrets of the success of Claire Damon’s cake, which sold 3,000 in the first three weeks of the year. The pastry chef took particular care in choosing the almonds for her cake. “They come from Occitanie (from a cooperative of Garons in Gard and a little from Corsica). These almonds have an ethical value but also a finesse, a fragrance. » This little extra taste encourages the one who worked with Pierre Hermé and Christophe Michalak to “keep part of the skin” for her almond cream. “That’s why she’s not white,” she explains.
Inside, we find “crushed almonds, rum, sugar, almond powder, butter and pastry cream. I add some to have a less disgusting frangipane. Traditionally, almond cream is made from sugar, butter and almond powder. It’s super rich, very, very fatty. With the pastry cream, we lighten it a little and it adds softness. For me, the important thing is not to be rich in butter but in almonds. »
Reverse paste and Pithiviers striping
Another secret of the boulevard Pasteur galette: the resting time of the dough. Claire Damon “praises slowness”. Six to seven days pass between kneading the dough and baking it! The reason ? “We use flours that are not very permissive, so we have to give them a lot of rest time,” explains the pastry chef. For her pancakes, she is a fan of inverted dough. “Normally, we enclose the butter in the dough, here, it’s the dough that we enclose in the butter. This allows you to have a much more crumbly dough with finer flakiness. The basic work is a little more technical but the taste result is better. »
Kneading is the first step of the pastry chef’s galette des rois. Next will come:
- day 2: “a double turn and a single turn, that is to say we fold the dough four times and three times to give it its sheets”
- day 3: “we start the operation again, one double turn, one single turn”
- day 4: we spread the dough and we cut the pancakes
- day 5: we assemble the pancake with the almond cream and close it
- day 6: chipping the pancake (“we make a small hem with the back of the knife” on the edge of the pancake), “we brown them twice in a row with a rest time and we strip them (Claire Damon favors the Pithiviers striping) »
- day 7: we cook the pancake. Out of the oven, Claire Damon brushes it with a syrup used for candied chestnuts
Having witnessed all the operations of preparing the pancakes, we can no longer hold it, we want to taste one. Eleven months of holding back. Arriving at the office, my colleagues look with envy at the box containing the cake. Some order on the one hand, others feverishly wait for the cutting. Shared (in far too many portions), the verdict is clear: the pancake is delicious and the absence of beans is quickly skipped in favor of the crumbs that remain to be tasted. Quickly, there are only three weeks left to eat king cakes.
At Cakes and Bread, Claire Damon offers two other types of galette: one with almond cream and wild blueberry compote from Auvergne (it’s her home), the other is a Polish galette with vanilla cream, candied fruits and almond cream, all cooked together which makes it caramelize.
*count 54 euros for a pancake for eight people
