“Let them eat cake”

Marie Antoinette, Queen to Louis XVI of France, got tagged with quoting this during one of France’s major famines.  The famine of course did not touch the King’s castle or the French upper-class, who were essentially oblivious to the suffering of the common people.  Cake, their equivalent of Wonderbread, was the staple food of the peasants so she couldn’t understand why they didn’t just go to their local bakery to buy bread.  Silly peasants! Unfortunately, there was no more flour to make bread either.  Let the French revolution begin.

So what does that have to do with my most recent experience in France?  Cake is the common thread.  I celebrated Epiphany with my wife and her friends; eating King’s Cake or Galette des Rois.  Epiphany is a Christian holiday that takes place on January 6^th celebrating the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus.  Much of Europe and Latin America celebrate the Epiphany.  In the U.S., it is primarily celebrated in the Southeast where Mardi Gras is celebrated. 

There are a number of different types of King’s Cake that you can find here in France.  The most common is frangipane, which has an almond based filling, but there are also fruit, cream, and chocolate filled versions as well.  My wife’s friend volunteered to host everyone and bake the cakes.  They all voted for a frangipane version, which is more traditional.  The cake looks more like a pie.  It is dense, sweet, and delicious!  It also has a little ceramic or plastic baby Jesus hidden in the cake.  Everyone wants to get the piece of cake with the ceramic Jesus in it.   

My wife explained that when they were little, one of the kids would have to hide under the table and call out names randomly to determine who got what piece of cake.  As my wife did not volunteer to get under the table, she covered her eyes and called out names for who was to get the next piece of cake.  Sophie found the ceramic Jesus in her cake so she got to wear her son’s aluminum foil crown in honor of her good luck.

Thanks for sharing your photos Anne-Valérie!