Saint Gilles bakery puts 18-carat gold pieces in galette des rois

A few lucky bakery patrons may become €500 richer after having purchased a galette des rois cake from a Saint-Gilles bakery.

Bakkerij De Weerdt hid a gold piece in four of its special cakes, RTL reports, and the first winners have already emerged.

Traditionally, cakes with a bean hidden in it are eaten on Epiphany (6 January), a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ.

But Bakkerij De Weerdt decided to up the ante with real gold pieces hidden in cakes that were only available on the day of Epiphany itself.

Advertising this in advance brought in a slew of business, with the bakery owner saying it had never sold so many cakes before – about 1,000.

Fabrizio was one of the customers to discover a small 18-carat gold coin in his cake, which he exchanged for €500, its market value.

“I was lucky enough to be the king, and an Italian one at that,” he told media. “In Italy we don't have this tradition, but I knew it here. So here I am – for one day I am a Belgian king.”

Fabrizio said he intends to use the money to treat his family to a meal at a nice restaurant.

Not every winner has been revealed. “There are only two who have come forward so far,” said baker Marie Cauchie.