We were introduced to a new tradition that the French celebrate after Christmas called Galette des Rois which means the Kings cake. From what our friends shared and what I was able to find on wikipedia the cake is “to draw the kings” to the Epiphany. A figurine, “la fève”, which can represent anything from a car to a cartoon character, is hidden in the cake and the person who finds the trinket in their slice becomes king for the day and will have to offer the next cake.

So here is a cake that has been baked with a trinket in the cake. But they don’t just put trinkets in the cakes here, they bake porcelain pieces to a nativity scene in your cake. Then the youngest child hides under the table and calls out everyones name to see who gets the next piece of the cake until everyone has been served and the entire cake is gone. As everyone eats their cake the game is to be the one to find the porcelain piece which enables you to be the king for a day and add a piece your nativity.

I am happy to announce that I found the lamb! I didn’t get to wear the crown very long because Jonah wanted to be the king. Today we went and purchased another cake since we enjoyed the fun dessert, the cakes remain on sale most of January and seem to be on sale everywhere and I’m sure I can make this a language learning activity!