Hi everyone! Here’s a second recipe of King Cake, and it’s the first time for me to try and taste a chocolate King Cake. This one is made up of a cocoa puff pastry, filled with the blend of chocolate custard cream and hazelnut cream, called “frangipane”, and whole hazelnuts. I really love the taste of the cocoa in the dough, it changes from the classic one. It’s a very easy and fast recipe to make especially with the fast technique of the puff pastry. I also tried the rectangular shape, but you can make it round if you prefer.
For a 21x26cm King Cake or 1 of 26cm diameter:
Puff pastry:
- 250g of flour
- 200g of butter
- 145mL of water
- 40g of cocoa powder
- 5g of salt
Hazelnut and chocolate frangipane:
Custard cream:
- 125mL of semi-skimmed milk
- 20g of egg yolks (= 1)
- 5g of corn starch
- 5g of flour
- 50g of sugar
- 5g of butter
- 33g of dark chocolate
Hazelnut cream:
- 55g of butter
- 57g of eggs (= 1 large egg)
- 65g of sugar (any kind)
- 95g of grounded hazelnut
Filling:
- 50g of hazelnuts
Egg wash:
- 1 egg yolk
- 2g of full liquid cream
Syrup (optional) :
- 20mL of water
- 20g of honey (or sugar)
Let’s begin with the puff pastry:
1. Roughly mix the sifted flour with the very cold butter, cut into small pieces, the cocoa powder and the salt. You can use your hands or the flat beater of a stand mixer.
2. Add the very cold water and stir until everything is well-combined. Be careful not to over mix, there must still remain pieces of butter, it’s normal.
3. Put the dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll it out. The length should be approximately three times longer than the width.
4. Fold the top of the dough on the center, then the bottom on it. Before folding, remove the excess of flour. Don’t panic, look at the pictures ?
5. Turn the dough of quarter turn to the left or to the right. Once you’ve chosen the direction you must keep it for the next turns.
6. Repeat four more times the steps 3 to 5. In the end, you’ll have folded the dough 5 times. If you encounter difficulties while working the dough, you can place it a few minutes in the fridge or flour even more the surface.
This is how it looks like at the fifth round. 
7. When you’re done, refrigerate until needed (minimum 30min).
Now for the frangipane, we’ll begin with the custard cream:
1. In a saucepan, bring to simmering point the milk.
2. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar (or honey) until it slightly whitens.
3. Add the sifted flour and corn starch.
4. Once the milk has simmered, pour two third of it gradually on the egg mixture while whisking. Return the mixture into the saucepan and cook on low heat until it thickens and boils.
5. Remove from the heat and add the very cold butter and the chocolate.
6. Pour the cream into a pan and wrap it with cling film. The film must touch the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Set aside until it has cooled down.
Last preparation, the hazelnut cream:
1. Cream the softened butter with the sugar. You should take your butter out of the fridge minimum 1h30 before beginning to make this step easier. Add the grounded hazelnut.
2. Then, add the eggs at room temperature. Whisk until the mixture is smooth.
To finish the frangipane cream:
1. Stir the custard cream with a spatula for a few seconds.
2. Add the custard cream to the hazelnut cream and mix until everything is well combined. The two cream should be about the same temperature*. Don’t overmix.
*If you made the custard cream the same day as the hazelnut cream, you must wait until it has cooled down to incorporate it. However, if you made the custard cream the day before, you should take it out of the fridge minimum 2h before, so it is at room temperature.
It’s time to assemble the King Cake:
1. Divide your dough in half and roll out each half on a floured surface or on a floured parchment paper, until you can cut a rectangle of the good size. It must be pretty thin, about 2mm thickness. Don’t press the dough with the mold, cut it with a knife.
3. On one of the rectangles, spread the frangipane cream leaving a 2cm border. Then, add the hazelnuts. Don’t forget the bean!
4. Put water on the border and cover the cream with the other rectangle.
5. Score all over the Galette with the back of a knife to weld the two parts. You can watch this video to see the technique.*
*You can then return it if you prefer to have a flat surface
6. Wash the top with the egg/liquid cream mixture without touching the edges. Refrigerate 1h or freeze it 15-20min.
7. Wash a second time and then draw the pattern of your choice with the back of a knife. You mustn’t cut the dough, just apply a light pressure. I’ve first drawn horizontal lines, and then, between the lines, triangles pointing upwards and downwards. Pierce 5 holes in the Galette.
8. Cook it 40min in a 170°C preheated oven (fan-assisted) and then lower the temperature to 160°C and cook 5 more minutes. The King Cake should be nicely browned without any white spots.
For the syrup:
1. Bring to boil the water and honey.
2. Brush the top of the Galette right out of the oven.
Your delicious King Cake is ready! Enjoy!
Don’t forget to write an email to partage@justonemorecake.com to share your pictures of the recipe and your opinions! I will add them at the bottom of this article.
