A gourmet and gluten-free king cake, with Frangipane

Using a food processor or by hand, mix the flour, 50 g of soft butter, salt and 130 ml of water until you form a homogeneous ball of dough. I used the Cook expert, one minute and a half in "Dough" mode. Place the ball in cling film, flatten slightly and leave to rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Take the dough out of the fridge, flour the dough and roll it out to form a cross. You can spread the dough on cling film or parchment paper. 

Place the 150 g of butter between 2 sheets of cling film and flatten it into a square of approximately 1.5 cm. Place the spread butter in the center of the cross and fold the 4 sides of the page towards the center to enclose the butter. Roll out the dough to form a long rectangle. Fold the dough 3 times, like a wallet. Turn the dough a quarter turn and start again. Put the dough in cling film and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. 

• In a saucepan, bring the milk to the boil with the split vanilla pod (or vanilla extract).
• In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture turns white.
• Add the cornstarch and mix well.
• Pour the hot milk in a drizzle over the mixture while whisking, then pour everything back into the saucepan.
• Thicken over low heat, stirring constantly, until you obtain a cream consistency.
• You can also make the pastry cream in the Expert Cook, with hot milk, in expert mode, 10 minutes, speed 7, 95 degrees.
• Let cool completely.

• In a bowl, mix the soft butter and sugar until creamy.
• Add the eggs one by one while mixing.
• Add the almond powder and bitter almond extract. Mix well to obtain a homogeneous cream.

Once cooled, mix the two creams and set aside.

Repeat step 3 twice and you will have 6 folds (this is the maximum). Don't forget to turn the dough a quarter turn between each fold and put it back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes between the fourth and fifth folds. The dough is ready to use. 

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Cut the puff pastry in half. Spread each piece on parchment paper, in a circle of 25 to 30 cm. Be careful not to spread it too thin as you risk breaking it. Place the first circle of dough in a tart pan, keeping the parchment paper underneath. Garnish with the frangipane cream, leaving a margin of 1.5 cm around the edges. Place the bean inside the cream. Cover with the second circle of dough, remove the parchment paper and seal the edges. Streak the dough with the tip of a knife to decorate and allow the dough to rise and brown with egg yolk mixed with a tablespoon of milk. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pancake is golden brown.