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Galette des Rois

Rose-infused puff pastry with pistachio, rose petal and almond flour filling.

A few days before Christmas we got hit with a storm that stacked snow like bricks. Heavy, deep, thick, it was one of those dumps that shovels like wet sand. Down went the trees, out went the power; we’re still cleaning up as I write to a chainsaw soundtrack. Today is Twelfth Night.

As a kid, the post-holiday letdown was no joke. My birthday is December 24th and once Christmas is over, well, it’s 12 months before more presents. As trivial as that sounds, it was a low and I still feel a twinge of it. What to do in the purgatory of days between the end of a year and the beginning of the next? Look backwards? Look forwards? Look nowhere at all?

In my book I wrote about the transition, basically saying that January 1st is a ruse of a beginning. While it does mark a new tax year and fresh resolutions, perhaps nature has the right idea, waiting for March or later to send up flags of renewal and thaw. Is January 1st the beginning of anything? The trees in our yard have their own opinion.

Making a modest attempt at clean-up I stacked piles of what dropped during the storm: silver maple limbs, a crabapple trunk, yards worth of sugar maple branches. In each case, green wood – white, splintered, and pliable – held a rusty red cluster of growth at its tip. Tight, clenched like a fist; next year’s leaves, buds already set.

I’ll take this reminder. In the going, there is some coming. As with the cycle of wheat, Fall plantings throw a ball to Winter which is passed to Spring. Summer eventually runs with it and future fistfuls of Fall open. First fingers, then hands, eventually, leaves. But not yet. Not here. Not on January 1st.

Once I hit the straightaway of a season I’m usually ok. It’s these dang turns — the transitions — when I need the “oh shit” bars to hold on to. Maybe you do, too. And when I need help — when I’m flailing, low, stuck with stomach lurching — baking (and more broadly, making) can offer a handhold or a break.

Blitz puff Galette des Rois

This time of year I usually find a day or two to make galettes. Traditionally known as Galette des Rois, this French classic puff pastry galette, commonly filled with almond cream and decoratively scored before baking, can be found across France throughout much of December and well into January. Often sold with a paper crown and hidden “Fêve” trinket, it’s one of my favorites. Crisp, tender, and rich with a mildly boozy almond flour, egg, and sugar filling, it’s sweet but not sugary, particularly good with a cup of coffee.

While it’s most commonly made with classic lamination techniques (a butter block, laminated into a firm base dough, given a series of folds), blitz puff (AKA quick puff, or, “feuilletage a la minute”) can deliver some of what’s desirable in much less time. The truth here is that at home I only ever make blitz. It’s fast and easy. (Side note, I love the Roux brothers. Both have now passed but their rapport and skills can be experienced on YouTube. For a blitz demo, go to the 5:00 mark.) If you’re looking for a solid recipe for blitz, King Arthur has a couple options. Arlo and I made a video during lockdown of hand pies. I recommend it as a good source for learning the method.

While I like eating puff, I also enjoy the intricate scoring and visual aspects. A couple years ago I tried steeping blue pea flowers in the water required for hydrating the dough. It makes a beautiful blue dough.

Blue pea flower blitz puff

And, adding deactivated charcoal to flour then combining with a plain dough offers options for black and white marbling.

Deactivated charcoal puff laminated with plain puff

This year I had an idea to make a rose petal infused puff pastry. For the color, I hot-steeped rose petals, hibiscus flowers, and rose water then strained the mixture and chilled it. I hand-mixed the blitz, adding additional dried petals to make a flaky pastry with a whiff of rose and a pink hue.

Steeped rose and hibiscus puff

For the filling, I used equal parts egg, almond flour, and sugar and added additional roasted and crushed pistachios, rose water, vanilla, orange zest, rose petals, and whiskey. I cut rounds and filled with the almond and pistachio cream then chilled them, egg washed, scored, and baked. After many rounds of testing the rose and pistachio galette is almost there. But not quite. Like me, it may take time to unfurl into ‘23. Time will tell.

Peace, y’all.

Martin

Plain blitz puff

Scored rose puff, ready to bake