This chocolate hazelnut galette des rois is a spin on the classic almond galette des rois. Galette des rois, or “King Cake” is a classic French pastry that is served during Epiphany, or Twelfth Night. This cake is traditionally composed of layers of puff pastry filled with an almond frangipane. However, over the years the fillings have become more varied and creative. Around town, all my favorite French patisseries are offering some exciting versions of galettes des rois all through January, from chestnut to apple to pistachio.
It’s been a while since I made galette des rois, but I also decided to change it up from the almond frangipane filling. I was inspired by the chocolate hazelnut version in Claire Saffitz’s Dessert Person, which features a layer of chocolate hazelnut spread topped with a chocolate hazelnut frangipane. Sounds like an easy winner for dessert.
The time and effort of making puff pastry from scratch can often be a deterrent to making galette des rois completely from scratch; many recipes suggest using premade puff pastry, and this is a totally acceptable option if you’re short on time. However, I might suggest making blitz puff, which is basically a shortcut version of puff pastry, and which gives you very similar results in a fraction of the time, and always bakes up beautifully flaky and light. I can make a batch in the morning, let it chill and rest over lunch, and finish up dessert in the afternoon.
The frangipane filling is made from ground hazelnuts instead of ground almonds; combined with the chocolate, it creates a rich and decadent contrast to the buttery, flaky pastry. I prefer using a more semisweet chocolate to an extremely bittersweet chocolate, as I find too dark of a chocolate can give the frangipane a more dry mouthfeel. It’s served best warm, for maximum flakiness. Slathering on additional chocolate hazelnut spread on top is always a good idea as well; I used this brand which I like for its deep flavor and spreadability.
Enjoy this gorgeous dessert for Epiphany – and don’t forget to put the fève in the cake: whoever finds it is king (or queen) for the day!
Chocolate Hazelnut Galette des Rois
Ingredients
Blitz Puff Pastry
- 5 ounces all purpose flour
- 5 ounces unsalted butter very cold, cut into 1-in pieces
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 45 ml (45 g) water ice cold
Chocolate Hazelnut Frangipane
- 4 oz (113 g) hazelnuts toasted and skinned
- 4 oz (113 g) semisweet chocolate finely chopped
- 1/3 cup (66 g) sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp (85 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the blitz puff:
- Combine the flour and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix the ingredients together on low speed until the mixture is shaggy and resembles cornmeal, with visible pieces of butter still. Do not let the flour and butter turn into a solid ball of dough – if the components are completely mixed you will not have the layering of flour and fat needed to form the flaky layers.
- Add the salt to the mixture. Pour in the water and mix on low speed just until the dough starts to come together; again, don’t let the dough turn into one solid lump. There should still be little pieces of butter and the dough should be sticky.
- Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and form into a square. If the kitchen is warm and the dough is very soft and sticky, place it on a sheet pan and chill in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes until it firms up enough to work with.
- Using flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking, roll out the dough about ½ inch thick and in the shape of a rectangle. The dimensions are not important – a roughly rectangle shape is fine, but try to keep the edges straight and square with each other so when you fold the dough over the edges will line up evenly.
- To do a single turn on the dough, imagine the long side of the rectangle divided into thirds. Fold one end third over onto the middle third, then fold the other end third over on top, making a trifold. Make sure the edges are lined up as evenly as possible.
- Roll the trifold out again to about ½" thickness and in the shape of a rectangle, switching the directions of the long and short sides – in other words, the folded sides of the trifold should become the long side and the open sides should become the short side.
- Do another turn (trifold) with this rectangle.
- Repeat this process one more time so you have done a total of three turns. If at any point the dough starts becoming very soft or rubbery, let it rest in the refrigerator for a little bit before working on it some more.
- Roll the dough out into a rectangle. This time, do a double turn – imagine the long side of the rectangle divided into fourths. Fold both end fourths over onto the center fourths, then fold the two sides together again so all four layers are stacked on top of each other. Wrap the dough up completely in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
For the chocolate hazelnut frangipane:
- Combine hazelnuts, chopped chocolate, sugar, and salt in bowl of a food processor. Process until well combined and finely ground.
- Add butter and process until combined and mixture is smooth.
- Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and process until mixture is fully combined and smooth.
- You can store the frangipane in a covered container in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it, or use it right away.
To assemble the galette:
- Preheat oven to 400 degree F.
- Take out the blitz puff pastry from the refrigerator and cut into two pieces. Return one piece to the refrigerator.
- Roll out the remaining piece of puff pastry on a piece of parchment paper to a 11" diameter round. Transfer parchment to a baking sheet and place back in the refrigerator to chill while you remove the other half of puff pastry.
- Repeat the process of rolling the puff pastry out to a roughly 11" diameter round.
- Spread the chocolate hazelnut spread evenly across the puff pastry, leaving about an 1" border all around.
- Spoon frangipane into a pastry bag with a 3/4" round tip. Pipe frangipane in a spiral over the chocolate hazelnut spread, leaving about an 1" border as before.
- Place a feve or small bean or nut into the filling.
- Place the other piece of puff pastry over the top of the frangipane. Press down all around the edges to seal the two pieces of puff pastry together.
- Using a fork, press down lightly on the border all around to crimp it.
- Brush the top of the pastry lightly with egg wash. Using a sharp paring knife, gently score the top of the pastry in a sunburst or spiral pattern without cutting all the way through. Poke a few small holes in the top for steam to escape.
- Bake in oven for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for another 30 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.
- Remove and let cool on wire rack before cutting.
Anita Chu, also known as pastrygirl, is a baker, writer, and photographer with a passion for pastry. She trained at Tante Marie's Cooking School and is the author of Field Guide to Cookies, Field Guide to Candy, and Lollipop Love. Anita lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughter, and dog Max. 
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