Let them eat cake: Epiphany ‘galette des rois’ served at Elysee Palace

French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte cut slices of a traditional Epiphany cake during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace. The “galette des rois” celebrates the arrival of the Three Wise Men in Bethlehem.

It is made of puff pastry, with a small charm – the fève – hidden inside, whose finder is “crowned”.

Every year, during the traditional reception at the palace in Paris, an enormous galette, measuring 1.2m across, for 150 people, is made for the President of the French Republic.

But the artisan baker and pastry chef responsible for making it is instructed not to put a fève in the cake because “it would not be appropriate to find a king in the presidential palace of the Republic”.