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Hello! How’s the first week of the year panning out?

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Mine? Well, it’s been pretty relaxing & I generally have more time for myself as I’m not back at Broadway yet (I’ll start on 29th)! So far I’ve been reading about Shaker interior (I borrowed this book from my neighbour). I love the book & I can’t get over my love for their black stove with thick piping going across the room. If I’m allowed to, I’d love to do that in our house!

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And then culinary-wise, I’ve been test-making a recipe for puff pastry! I won’t publish the recipe just yet because it needs some work on it still & it also needs a loooong write-up for all the tips & tricks – – for example; – – even down to a simple thing like how to hold your rolling pin = most people would probably hold at the edges, but actually you have to rest/ grip your hands at the same distance as the width of your pastry. This way you can apply the same pressure on both sides, resulting in same thickness throughout. – – Anyway, here’s some pictures of Galette des Rois that I made with my handmade puff pastry, in time to celebrate Epiphany!

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As you can see from the picture above, I’ve left it in the oven a tad too long! Lol, oh well, I still like it for it can look… ‘rustic’!? For the filling inside, I made two creams (crème d’amandes & crème pâtissière) & mixed it together to create crème frangipane, in to which I then mixed in a tiny amount of dark rum. The rum is gorgeous with its distinct sweetness & it’s a fabulous way to lessen the eggy taste/ aroma.

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For me, a strong tea with no milk or sugar goes really well, it cuts the buttery-ness & refreshes the palette.

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Meet Lyla & Roger, my favourite fève charms. I put both of them in the same galette, side by side, because I think that they are made for each other.

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(Leaf pattern!)

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This year for Epithany, I made Galette des Rois from scratch again. Puff pastry & all. This time, leaf pattern. I think it looks country-esque & more like a pie compared to the swirly patterns on Parisian ones but I was wary of scoring those swirls as it needs to be so precise.

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Anyway, I’m quite pleased with the result, the puff pastry didn’t pull in strange angles & the galette came out almost perfectly circle! Phew!

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The ultimate tip when working with puff is PATIENCE.

Firstly, I know it takes a looong time to make, but the waiting time in the fridge mustn’t be shortened by haste. And after you made it, it also needs a 12 hour rest in the fridge before using it/ rolling it out. It’s all about resting the gluten in the flour, otherwise the pastry will shrink upon baking.

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Then when rolling, if you think that the pastry is getting too soft, you have to put it back in the fridge to cool before approaching it again. – Never let that multitude layers of butter melt, because it’s the butter (actually, it’s the water content in the butter) who does the all-important puffing/ lifting, when it evaporates under the extreme oven heat. This ‘extreme oven heat’ is key too. It needs to be atleast 200 degrees centigrade. Anything less than that, the layers of flour will stick together because of poor evaporation & the whole thing won’t rise like the way you want it to.

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So yes, resting it in fridge & keeping it cool while working. And oh, when rolling out, roll to all directions from the middle outwards (never back & forth), & also turn it over & do a bit of rolling on that side too. Yes, phew!

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(Cooled down sugar syrup (water & sugar 5:5) brushed on surface of just-baked galette for the shiny look! )

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No picture of it cut in to a slice, I’m afraid! We’re gonna eat it later with everyone & try find my fève charms, Lyla & Roger, doing their once-a-year duty of hide & seek!

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