As you probably know, in the South of France, Epiphany is celebrated not with a "galette des rois" but with a crown or a "gâteau des rois", a beautiful orange blossom brioche decorated with delicious candied fruits.
As a local, Pierre Augé, the chef of the restaurant La Maison de Petit Pierre, and his pastry chef Geoffrey Djami, do not deviate from the tradition and deliver to you, in the approach of theEpiphany 2021, their recipe of crown of kings, to draw kings in family, at home.
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Recipe for the crown of kings by Pierre Augé
To prepare the day before
For a crown of kings of about 6 parts
Ingredients :
250g T45 flour
5g fine salt
50g white sugar
10g fresh yeast
112g of butter
2 eggs
12g of milk
18g orange blossom water
Zest of a lemon
1 egg
Candied fruits
1 bean
Preparation:
Place all ingredients except the butter in the bowl of a food processor. Knead until the dough is no longer sticky.
Work in the softened butter with a spatula until it is as soft as ointment. Once the dough is loose, add the softened butter and do the same thing: knead until the dough is no longer sticky. If you don't have a food processor, you can knead by hand but you have to knead for a long time because the dough is very sticky.
Let the dough rise for 1 hour and then remove the gas. Put the dough in a bowl and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator.
The next day, put the dough on the work surface and form a dough piece, i.e. a ball. Let it rest for about 10 minutes. Make a hole in the center of the ball to form a donut. Incorporate the bean into the crown and let rise at room temperature for about 45 minutes, depending on the temperature of the room (ideally between 25 and 30°C).
10 minutes before the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 175°C. Brush the dough with the egg yolk. Place in the oven and bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Decorate with candied fruits and sugar balls.
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