How to Make Galette des Rois, the French King Cake | Claire Saffitz
In this episode, Claire Saffitz shows how to make Galette des Rois, the classic French King Cake made with flaky puff pastry and rich almond frangipane.
Traditionally enjoyed in France during January, Galette des Rois is a celebration pastry known for its crisp, buttery layers and deeply flavorful almond filling. Claire walks through the full process at home, from building laminated puff pastry to making a smooth frangipane and assembling a bakery-style cake with professional technique.
Whether you’re curious about French baking traditions or want to master an impressive pastry from scratch, this recipe breaks down every step clearly and confidently. If you love puff pastry, almond desserts, or classic European baking, this is a must-make.
Perfect for fans of baking tutorials, French desserts, pastry techniques, and Claire Saffitz recipes.
#kingcake #clairesaffitz #pastry
Galette des Rois
Ingredients:
PUFF PASTRY
450g flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons butter, melted cooled
225g water
3 sticks butter
FRANGIPANE
1 cup sliced almonds, preferably unblanched
⅓ cup sugar
½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces, chilled
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:05 Ingredients & Special Equipment
03:26 How To Make Frangipane
09:35 How To Make Galette des Rois
12:54 Assemble
18:21 Poke Vent & Bake
19:09 Remove & Let Cool
20:03 Serve
22:05 Cat cam
What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz is out now: https://geni.us/WjcIbfp
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Video Series:
Producer/Director: Vincent Cross
Camera Operator: Calvin Robertson
Editor/Motion Graphics: Hal McFall
Animation Credits:
Character Designer/Animator/Backgrounds: Jack Sherry
Character Rigger: Johara Dutton
36 Comments
Weirdly enough my favorite part of these videos is always "verdict: mmm". Like if it doesn't happen, I get weirdly disappointed.
One to try and recreate at some point would be tunnocks tea cakes – they're Scottish! A shortbread base, soft marshmallow dome and (milk or dark) chocolate coating. Would love to see you try them! 🏴
Claire's opening and closing of the food processor in this video feels like rage bait.
as a french person, love that you made an episode about galette des rois!! for the little backstory of this pastry, it's supposed to represent the moment when the thee wise men come to meet baby Jesus after his birth 🙂
the three wise men are called "rois mages" in French (which roughly translates to "wizard kings"), hence the name "galette des rois" (king's galette/pie/cake)
be careful though if you eat this in France there will most probably be a hard little token/bean ("la fève" in French) so try not to break your tooth on it because the crown will make you stand out anyway
5:45 hello Cal 😍
ohhhhh i want to try this with cashews. do they have cashew extract?
Julia Child agrees with wacking the dough.
Please, Claire, I would love a cookbook and/or cooking videos for toddler/kid foods. I'm begging!😅❤
"I'm not going to put a bean in because it seems like choking hazard" The entire nation of France is choking right now because you DIDN'T put the bean in Claire
Remember friends, New Orleans rules say the knife stays in the box and the calories don’t count if you eat it with your hands rather than off a plate.
Why use whole almonds instead of almond flour? Stronger flavor? Does it affect the texture? Why is it a 1:1 substitution?… is almond flour literally just pre ground almonds? So many questions! I wish i could take a patisserie course taught by Claire!
January 6th (a.k.a. "Twelfth Night," or the eve of Epiphany) also marks the start of Carnival season in any town or country that celebrates Mardi Gras or its equivalent. Carnival season stretches for weeks and reaches its climax on Mardi Gras day — the Tuesday before Lent. One of the great things about Carnival season (in New Orleans, at any rate) is that the post-holiday slump lasts only twelve days! Beginning January 6th, king cakes are suddenly everywhere, parades begin rolling on weekends, and the city gives itself over to the spirit of Mardi Gras. It's the best cure I know for the January-February doldrums. 😁
"seems like a choking hazard which is a thing I think about a lot these days" tell me you have a baby without telling me lol
Really enjoyed this! It was very interesting seeing the differences between your version and Chef Steps recent video of the same pastry/cake
If you find the baby, you're supposed to supply the next king cake!
I feel your food processor pain! No matter how many times I use it, I always forget how to use it and manage to get it wrong😂
More than a cake, « galette » is a term we use to name plain, flat and round food, most of the time made from flour or compressed cereals, and the « rois » (kings) here mentioned are the 3 magi from the christian bible. When we serve it, traditionally, the youngest guest hides under the table and decides blindly which slice goes to which guest. I hope those informations are helping in any kind of way, and that my english is not too broken… 😅
Absolutely do not ever edit out the baby playing background noise. That is a joyus sound.
I imagine blending the almonds first, to not overwork the butter, would result in a thicker frangipane
marinière bleue is the theme
This looks amazing. Also, I love the sounds of your little guy playing in the background. So sweet. ❤
very interestingly there is a Mexican version called Rosca de Reyes also with a baby Jesus. the slice that gets the baby has to host a celebration
Mont Blanc?
Could there be a variant with a jam/fruit layer? Really lean into the gourmet uncrustable vibes.
It was so much fun to see Claire show and explain all the steps for making a Galette Des Rois. I remember a “Great British Bake Off” where this pastry was the Technical Challenge. Now it’s nice to know what the contestants were aiming for. The baby noises in the background were a sweet bonus, thank you.
I only just now learned you have your own channel! Man i miss you with bon appetite tho 😭
I've always wanted to make this…weekend project!! Thc Claire.
Ma’am please we need part two of Bueno. Love all the videos but you killing us
The struggle with the food processor is real 😂.
I made this recipe from Dessert Person using the hazelnut-chocolate frangipane variation and I can confirm it was life changing. probably one of the best things I ever made!
We do it in Belgium as well, but you can only get them on the 6th of January, which is the 3 kings day (the once from the Jezus story). On that day children go round dressed up like the three kings and they sing a specific song asking people opening their door for some money (a bit like Halloween, but normally no sweets). We put in a bean or a tiny porcelain figure from the nativity scene. But every year you'll have one or two bakers putting in one gold thing (like a pin or something) in one of their cakes and they will be on national television 😂
Also, maybe a crazy idea, but I guess a lot of cultures have this thing of 'we eat this on this day of the year', what if you made a cookbook out of that? Like a across the world food calendar?
If you make smaller ones, 4-6 inch how long would you bake?
keep that baby quiet no one is here for that. giving it loud toys right off screen and hearing it whine is annoying af. we get it you have a baby and are used to loud obnoxious sounds. not all of us are and just want to watch calming baking and that kids are the opposite of calming.
The New Orleans version is more like the version from the south of France that you can get in a city like Marseilles; the one you're making is from the north of France, easily found in Paris around this time of year.
Can you make the other king cake next?!!!👑💜💚💛
As a french bitch, i find it extremely offensive that you didn't put la fève inside the galette, just kidding but its truly one of my favorite pastries and the tradition is that the youngest person at the table should go under said table and decide who is getting each slice, as the person who is cutting the galette serves it. And yes the person who gets la fève is crowned with a paper crown and becomes the king or queen of the party. Let me tell you it has caused so many fights between my brother and I.