Let them eat cake

As the month of January comes to a close, so does this year's crowning of kings and queens across France. And no, if confused thoughts of guillotines come to mind, your memory hasn't failed you: France has long since disposed of its monarchy. I'm referring to an annual tradition involving a certain pastry that the French enjoy each January: the galette des rois. Every year to celebrate the epiphany (January 6), the French bring out their galette des rois and start breaking those new year's health resolutions from the get-go. The galette des rois can be translated as the king's cake, marking the arrival of the three magi (kings, as they were) at Jesus's stable. The cake is a buttery, flaky encrusted marzipan cake which hides within a small porcelain doll or fève. Whoever finds this fève will be the "winner," which can mean anything from being forced to don a crown to having to buy or handmake the next cake. After all, galette celebrations will continue on throughout the month of January. To ensure fair play, the youngest person in the room traditionally is hidden under a table while the cake is cut and then asked to blindly assign each piece to the lucky recipient. This year I was excited to discover a bakery that actually makes a variety of galettes as normally they come in one standard style (though across the country there are regional variants). Thanks to a forward-thinking bakery, I got to sample an apple-filled and a dark-chocolate-filled variant as well as several standard marzipan-filled galettes. Last weekend with friends, I even got the crown, and as it was the month's end my "winning" required no more than sporting the Burger King-style crown the local boulanger tossed in with the cake. At least these days when a crowned individual in France suggests eating cake, the reception is far less negative than back in the days of real royalty. Let them eat cake, indeed.