A galette des rois is really just almond cream between two sheets of puff pastry, which is why the butter you build the cream from decides how it tastes. Maison Bordier makes theirs with Madagascar Vanilla Butter and hides a layer of caramelized pears in the middle. It serves six, bakes in 20 to 25 minutes, and rewards patience: the filling needs a half hour in the refrigerator before it goes anywhere near the oven.
At a glance
- Difficulty: Challenging
- Serves: 6
- Active time: About 45 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling the almond cream
- Cook: 20 to 25 minutes at 180°C (350°F), convection
- Key ingredient: 165 g Bordier Madagascar Vanilla Butter
Why this works
Bordier's Madagascar Vanilla Butter dates to 2010: unsalted butter worked with brown sugar and Madagascar Bourbon vanilla on the wooden malaxeur in Brittany. It is a dessert butter in the truest sense, already carrying the two things you would otherwise add to an almond cream. Using it here means the vanilla is distributed through the fat rather than stirred in at the end, which is why it reads as one flavor instead of two.
The pears matter for texture as much as taste. Almond cream on its own bakes dense, and a galette that is all frangipane gets heavy by the third slice. Cooking the pears until they are half firm and half melting, then draining off the juice, gives you soft pockets without releasing water into the pastry. That draining step is not optional. Wet fruit is the single most common reason a galette comes out with a soggy base.
Ingredients
Serves six. The Bordier Butter Liquid Caramel is Maison Bordier's own salted butter caramel; any good salted butter caramel sauce stands in.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Churned Madagascar Vanilla Butter by Bordier | 165 g | About 5.8 oz, so two 4.4 oz blocks |
| Puff pastry discs | 2 | 2 |
| Medium pears | 5 | 5 |
| Salted butter liquid caramel | 2 tablespoons | 2 tablespoons |
| Tonka bean (optional) | To grate | To grate |
| Almond powder (almond flour) | 250 g | About 2 1/2 cups |
| Sugar | 125 g | About 2/3 cup |
| Flour | 10 g | About 1 tablespoon |
| Medium eggs, plus 1 egg yolk | 2 + 1 yolk | 2 + 1 yolk |
| Fleur de sel | 2 pinches | 2 pinches |
| Rum | 1 teaspoon | 1 teaspoon |
| Cream | 1 teaspoon | 1 teaspoon |
Method
Step 1: Caramelize the pears
Peel, core and cube the pears. Heat 40 g (about 1.4 oz) of the Madagascar Vanilla Butter in a pan and cook the pears until they are somewhere between firm and melting. Lift them out with a slotted spoon so the excess juice stays behind. Fold in the 2 tablespoons of salted butter caramel and a generous grating of tonka bean. Mix and set aside.
Step 2: Make the almond cream
Melt the remaining 125 g (4.4 oz) of Madagascar Vanilla Butter in the microwave or over a bain-marie. Combine the sugar, almond powder, flour, fleur de sel and melted butter. Add the beaten eggs and stir them in with a spoon, not a whisk: you do not want air in this cream. Load the mixture into a piping bag and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes so it firms up and will not run in the oven.
Step 3: Assemble and bake
Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F) on convection. Unroll the first puff pastry disc, leaving it on its parchment. Pipe the almond cream in a spiral from the center outward, stopping 3 cm (about 1 1/4 inches) from the edge. Spoon the pears into the middle of the cream. Add the bean if you are using one. Lay the second disc on top and press gently with a fingertip around the filling so the two pastries seal. Brush the top with the egg yolk beaten with the cream. Scallop the edges and cut a small vent in the center. Bake 20 to 25 minutes on convection until deep golden. Cool briefly on a rack and serve warm.
Tips from our kitchen
- Do not whisk the almond cream. Air is the enemy. A whisked frangipane puffs in the oven, then deflates as it cools and drags the top pastry down with it. A spoon, worked slowly, keeps the cream dense.
- Chill the assembled galette too. Bordier calls for 30 minutes on the cream alone, but 20 minutes in the refrigerator after assembly firms the butter in the puff pastry and gives you sharper layers. The pastry rises higher from cold.
- Drain the pears properly. If juice pools in the bowl after ten minutes, drain again before assembling. Any liquid that goes in will steam under the lid and soften the base.
- About the rum. Maison Bordier lists 1 teaspoon of rum among the ingredients without saying where it goes. Stir it into the almond cream with the eggs, which is where it belongs in a classic frangipane.
- Seal with a fingertip, not a fork. Pressing the two discs together with your finger around the filling gives a clean bond. A fork crimp cuts through the pastry layers at the edge and stops them rising.
- Vent the center, or it splits. That small hole is what lets steam escape. Without it the galette bursts somewhere you did not choose, usually along a seam, and the filling leaks out.
- Tonka bean is optional but worth it. A few passes on a fine grater is enough. It is potent, and more than that turns the pears bitter.
How to serve it
Serve it warm, within an hour of baking, when the pastry still shatters. Nothing else is needed beyond good coffee, though a spoonful of creme fraiche on the side is traditional in some houses. Whoever finds the bean wears the crown. If you like the vanilla butter here, it does similar work in a rich dough: our Madagascar Vanilla Butter Brioche uses the same block to different ends.
Where to Buy Bordier Madagascar Vanilla Butter in the US
The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany.
- Churned Madagascar Vanilla Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): unsalted butter worked with brown sugar and Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, made for pastry.
For the rest of the range, browse the Maison Bordier collection.
Frequently asked questions
How much butter do I need to buy for this recipe?
The recipe uses 165 g in total, 40 g for the pears and 125 g for the almond cream. Bordier blocks are 125 g, or 4.4 oz, so buy two. That leaves you about 85 g for the next thing.
Can I substitute another butter?
Bordier Unsalted Butter plus the seeds of a vanilla pod is the closest honest substitute, though you lose the brown sugar note the vanilla butter carries. Do not use salted butter here: the recipe already has fleur de sel and a caramel, and it will tip.
What if I cannot find tonka bean?
Leave it out. Maison Bordier marks it optional. The pears and caramel carry the dish without it.
How should I store the butter?
Wrapped, in the refrigerator, used by the date on the pack. Butter picks up nearby odours, so keep it away from anything with a strong smell. To keep it longer, freeze the block whole and thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Does the butter need to be refrigerated?
Yes. Bordier butter is a fresh, hand-churned product and ships cold. Put it in the refrigerator as soon as it arrives.
Can I make the galette ahead?
Assemble it and keep it covered in the refrigerator for a few hours, then bake before serving. It is best the day it is baked. A baked galette reheats acceptably at 150°C (300°F) for ten minutes but never quite recovers its crispness.
Related reading
- Madagascar Vanilla Butter Brioche
- Bordier Butter: What It Is, Why Chefs Love It, and How to Use It
- How to Choose Your French Butter: A Buyer's Guide
Recipe and photograph adapted from Maison Bordier, with thanks. The French Pantry is an authorized US retailer of Bordier butter.