King's cake

Ever heard of the Galette des Rois? .... If you live in Mexico, of course you have !! Only you call it la Rosca de Reyes !

The Rosca de Reyes is a cake that is usually eaten on January the 6th which in Mexico is called el Dia de Reyes. On el Dia de Reyes school is off, kids get presents brought by "Los Reyes" (The Kings) and you eat Rosca de Reyes with hot chocolate.

The Rosca is a buttery cake with dried fruit topping and is called a Rosca because it is in the form of a ring....

France also has its King's cake only it is not exclusive to a particular day of the month (you can still buy Galettes des Rois well into the third week of January). The Galette is made of the same flaky pastry mix that croissants are made of but have an almonds paste filling.

Both are different in shape and taste but have several similarities in the traditions that surround them.

In Mexico, during the days leading up to Jan 6th, you will be able to buy Roscas at nearly every supermarket and panaderia in town and although the shape may vary a little, The Rosca usually looks something like this:



The Galette des Rois is a little less pretentious in its presentation. It is also found in all supermarkets and boulangeries. It looks like a simple flaky cake and is much smaller in size :


The tradition in Mexico is to invite all your friends and family to partir la Rosca (cut the Cake) at your home and usually a single rosca will do (you can buy them in small, medium and large sizes).... The Rosca is accompanied by hot chocolate and each person must cuts his/her own slice. They are entitled to cut the Rosca wherever they want even if this means the Rosca will be cut in several different parts:


Meanwhile, the Galette is usually accompanied by cider and is cut the same as a pie or a pizza (in 8 or 10 slices). The way the slices are distributed is a pretty funny tradition: the youngest person present must go under the table. Another person will choose a slice and the person under the table will call out a name. When you hear your name that means that slice is for you and thus you can not pick which piece you get.


The reason of this is because inside each Galette des Rois there is a fève. The fève is a little ceramic token that is inserted in the cake mix before it is cooked. The shape of the fève is almost never the same and part of the fun is guessing what the fève will be before it is "found" (another "fun" part is carefully chewing your slice of galette 'cuz that fève can seriously harm a tooth!)

Can you guess what the fève was in this case?

Answer: An egipcian pyramid!

The Rosca de Reyes also has a hidden treasure only it's not a surprise. Roscas come with little plastic Baby Jesus'es!!



While the Galette only has one fève per cake, the Rosca may contain several (depending on its size)





And why is it that no one wants to be stuck with either the fève or little Jesus ?

Well, in Mexico those who get a little Baby Jesus in their slices are supposed to get together and throw a big party and make tamales for the Candelaria Day on February 2nd!!


And in France ?

Uhm... the person who gets the fève has the inmmense honor of being proclaimed Rois (or in my case Reine) and must wear the totally glamorous cardboard crown that comes with the Galette :


So watch that slice and Happy Dia de Reyes (13 days late... but still...... ) !!!!


Fned (La Reine)