How A Bean Cake Can Make You King For A Day

Yesterday, many people across the world celebrated la Fête des Rois (this can be translated to "The King's Day").  Every year, on the 6th of January is l'Épiphanie (Epiphany), which commemorates the day when the three kings reached baby Jesus' crib about 2000 years ago.  The Romans were among the first to make a party out of this very peculiar day, though it's only just from the Middle Ages that the Fête des Rois as we know it today took shape.

As a kid, this celebration was always one of my favorites.  After the inevitable lows following New Years' festivities, having the unexpected Epiphany showing up on the calendar was awesome (well to my siblings and I, not so much my mom).  But most important of all, it meant that one of us would be crowned King (or Queen) for a day.  When I say us, I mean my sisters and I.  This was OUR celebration, we could not tolerate to have any adult rip this title from us.  My mom knew this too well since the first celebration "incident", so to avoid any unnecessary fights for dictatorship she would insert 3 beans in the cake she would bake for the occasion. In my home, there were always 1 King and 2 Queens.

Why beans you say?  Well la fève (the bean) is both a lucky charm and a symbol of fertility.  A bean would be inserted in a cake or pastry before it is baked, then the latter would be cut into as many servings as there are participants. The lucky one who finds the bean in his cake piece is then crowned King (or Queen) for the day and can also nominate someone to help rule their kingdom.  From there on you get to set the rules and your leading style all your own - anyone from Franco to Queen Latifah, all is permitted.

I tried finding a traditional cake recipe to present here, but really cake styles are all over the place.  Some prefer flat cakes, other fruit cakes, personally we used to have Betty Crocker's chocolate cake almost every year.  So, in no particular order, here are some tips and advice for a great Fête des Rois!

• Avoid making a cake that is too big for the number of your attendees - nothing would be worse than ending the Epiphany without a crowning.  I mean, bring a book...
• If you'll be celebrating with kids and want to avoid a putsch against the winning king, inserting your beans in the cake AFTER it has been cooked is a little cheat that works wonders.  Just make sure you have good amount of icing to hide your scandalous work.
• Always best to define the Monarch's powers BEFORE someone is crowned.  A constitutional monarchy is a little more fun for servants than a terror regime. I'm just saying.
• A fruit cake could falsely lead participants into believing they have found a bean when really all this commotion was for a very dried up piece of raisin.  The baker most likely will find these situations very funny.

Happy Fête des Rois!  Let us know how you would rule your kingdom if you were to be crowned.