Rachel’s Galette des Rois
For Pie Week, Rachel presented the Galette des Rois, a traditional French dessert of golden pastry, almond frangipane, and a hidden charm or fève to reveal the day’s king or queen.
Watch the new season of Foxtel Original series The Great Australian Bake Off Tuesdays 7:30pm on LifeStyle or on demand.
COOKING TIME: 2:15 hours
INGREDIENTS
Rough Puff Pastry:
250g plain flour
250g unsalted butter, cold and diced
½ tsp table salt
100ml cold water
Macadamia Nut Frangipane:
150g macadamia nuts
100g unsalted butter, diced at room temperature
75g caster sugar
1 large beaten egg
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
Salt flakes, to taste
Assembly:
Extra water (for brushing pastry seal)
1 egg yolk (for egg wash)
Dash of pouring cream (for egg wash)
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 170°C (fan-forced)
Prepare the Rough Puff Pastry (First Two Turns): In a large bowl, mix flour and salt. Add cold, diced butter and rub into the flour by hand until it resembles large pieces. Gradually add the cold water, rubbing until dough just comes together with visible flecks of butter.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter / book fold, brushing off excess flour. Turn 90 degrees and repeat the roll and fold process once more. Place the dough in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill.
Roast the Macadamia Nuts: Spread the macadamia nuts on a baking tray and roast at 170°C for 10 minutes, or until lightly golden. Transfer the nuts to a cool tray and allow them to cool for 5 minutes. Reset oven to 200°C
Continue the Rough Puff Pastry (Next Two Turns): Remove the chilled dough from the freezer. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle, fold the dough into thirds, like a letter/book fold, brushing off excess flour. Turn 90 degrees and repeat the roll and fold process once more. Wrap the dough and place it back in the freezer to chill for an additional 15 minutes.
Prepare the Macadamia Nut Frangipane: Transfer the cooled macadamias to a food processor and blitz until the texture resembles coarse breadcrumbs (not too fine).
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy (about 6 minutes), scraping the bowl as necessary. Add the egg and mix on medium speed until fully incorporated, add macadamia, flour, vanilla and salt, mixing on medium speed until combined. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a plain, wide round nozzle. Set aside at room temperature until ready to use.
Finish the Rough Puff Pastry: Remove the dough from the freezer and give it two final turns, rolling and folding as before. Once complete, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle 3mm thick and large enough to cut out two 25cm discs of pastry using a 25cm presentation ring.
Assemble the Galette: Place one pastry disc on a baking paper-lined tray. Pipe frangipane evenly over the base, starting from the centre in a spiral, leaving a 1cm border. Gently embed the crown trinket (feve) into frangipane towards the border (approx. 6 o’clock position). Lightly brush water around the border of the base pastry.
Roll out the second pastry disc slightly larger (about 26cm) carefully place over frangipane, ensuring there are no air pockets. Pressing down gently to seal. Use the 25cm presentation ring to trim excess pastry.
Use the tip of a small knife to make a small indent at the edge of the galette to mark where the trinket/feve is. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Score the Galette: Starting in the centre of the of the galette, score a straight line from top to bottom, being careful not to slice through the pastry. Repeatedly score parallel lines, 4cm apart, from top to bottom, on either side of the middle line, all the way to the edge where the border begins. Inbetween the centre two lines, score lines downward on the diagonal 0.5cm apart, from top of tart to the bottom. Repeat in adjacent column, scoring diagonal lines 0.5cm upward. Repeat for remaining sections, alternating direction of the diagonal, creating a chevron / zigzag pattern.
For the egg wash; Combine egg yolk and cream in a small bowl and brush over the surface of galette.
Bake the Galette: Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C. Bake the galette for 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry has puffed and is golden brown. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Transfer to presentation platter and adorn with golden crown.
