Black Sesame Galette des Rois by Cédric Grolet

Respect for tradition is never questioned among the French. It is an idea that chef Pâtissier, Cédric Grolet, has made very clear throughout his short but intense career. A young professional who is living glory days with awards in his path, exalted with all kinds of international recognition and author of the ambitious books, Fruits and Opéra.

From the classic French galette des rois, you can play with variations as chromatic as the one presented a couple of years ago in our first collaboration with the chef. In the hands of Cédric Grolet, a typical Christmas specialty was dyed black in a monograph dedicated to sesame. A zenith photo is the best shot to show Grolet’s well executed finishes in detail, something very common in his work. In recent years, he has surprised the world with simple pastry with intense flavor but with great precision in decoration. His virtuosity and rustic style are already part of the international public domain.

Photographs: Damien Allard

Black Sesame Galette des Rois

Puff pastry

318 g water
30 g salt
7 g white vinegar
255 g softened butter
787 g semolina flour
843 g dried tourage butter
337 g semolina flour

Knead the whole. Place in bowl and reserve in cold. Place the dry tourage butter in the center. Make a puff pastry with six folds. Spread the dough to 2 (3/4 mm) in the laminator. Bake between two plates in a ventilated oven at 180ºC. Trim bottoms 26 cm in diameter and let stand one night in the fridge.

Sesame disks

300 g almond
100 g black sesame
30 g luster sugar
1 g fleur de sel
5 g starch

Toast the sesame. Process the sesame, the luster sugar, the fleur de sel, and the starch in Robot Coupe until obtaining a very smooth paste. Arrange 35 g of mixture in 11 cm diameter rings. Let stand in the freezer.

Sesame frangipane cream

300 g eggs
300 g butter
300 g brown sugar
300 g unroasted almond powder
125 g mascarpone
50 g cream powder
380 g UHT cream
40 g Philadelphia
200 g black sesame

Hot infuse the cream and sesame. Beat and let infuse at least 12 hours. Strain and mount.
Apart, beat almond powder, brown sugar and butter for at least 10 minutes. Add the cream, mascarpone and then the eggs and mount for two to three minutes. Pour the first infused cream over the almond cream. It is very important that the two parts are not too cold.

Sesame base for the interior

100 g roasted sesame powder
45 g sesame paste

Mix.

Assembly

Interior

Place a 14 cm hoop on a plate with a silicone mat. Have 40 g of sesame base and smooth with trowel. Add 80 g of sesame cream, lightly smooth and place the sesame disc. Close with 80 g of sesame cream, smooth and leave in the freezer.

Galette

On a plate, arrange the bottom of puff pastry and place the inside of sesame cream. Cover with another puff pastry. Ensure that there is no exposed edge. Put in the fridge for 1 hour, then press the edges well so that they are well sealed. Put in the freezer so that the cream is very hard. Cut to 18 cm in diameter. Pinch the edges with a knife to form small undulations. Let stand 3 hours in the fridge, brush with yolks. Return to the fridge. Extract the galette and brush a second layer of yolks. Spread a silicone mat with butter cream and sprinkle cassonade sugar. Place the galette. Bake on sole at 180 ° C for 15 minutes. Finish cooking on a rack in a ventilated oven at 170ºC for 30 minutes.