The month of January ...the month of the galette and its famous porcelain bean!

Bernardaud Limoges porcelain bean

The 100% French debate 🇫🇷 between Team Chocolatine and Team Pain au Chocolat takes a breather this January and gives way to a new debate…

Team Frangipane or Team Brioche? 🧈

In Limousin we love both! But the competition is all about who’s going to win… the FÈVE! 🤔

No matter how old we are, we’d all like to be the king 🤴 or queen 👸 of the day, proudly wearing our crown on our head and putting that little porcelain object in view as a trophy! 🏆

Limoges is the capital of porcelain, so today we’re going to tell you about the traditional Bernardaud porcelain bean in a limited edition to be found in Limoges, Bordeaux, Paris and Deauville.

A little history ...

The Bernardaud Institute tells the story of the broad bean and its Egyptian and Greek origins.

In the Middle Ages, on Epiphany day, whoever was lucky enough to find the fava bean – then a vegetable – in his cake had to buy the whole table a round. Only the stingiest, or nowadays “cheapskates”, swallowed the precious legume so as not to fork out any money. This is how the porcelain bean came into being, so that the king would be afraid to swallow it!

The first porcelain beans arrived in Limoges around 1880. They were made of cookie or enamelled porcelain, in the form of dolls as a sign of fertility. Over the years, broad beans in the form of good-luck charms, animals or everyday objects made their appearance.

A limited edition porcelain bean...

Since 1998, Bernardaud has created a limited edition porcelain bean for Epiphany, stamped with the year on the back.

The decoration chosen is always linked to the year’s flagship model. This makes the bean a time marker, and has been for over twenty years! It’s a symbol of the timelessness of Bernardaud collections.

A toile de Jouy epiphany for Manufacture Bernardaud

The 2024 edition bean from Bernardaud features the Albertine design. Full of poetry, it echoes the trends of the toiles de Jouy. A romantic, bucolic decor, all in the shape of a plate for a lovely nod to a part of the Manufacture’s history. The bean is made of fine porcelain.

Where can you find the Bernardaud bean?

For gourmets and collectors alike, discover the various places where you can treat your taste buds and win a real collector’s item!

Paris

Galette Infiniment amande (inverted puff pastry, toasted almond cream, roasted almond slivers) and Galette Arya (inverted puff pastry, pistachio and orange blossom almond cream, crunchy pistachio praline) from Pierre Hermé.

Limoges

Puff pastry with frangipane, plain brioche crown, brioche crown with candied fruit at Pâtisserie La Forêt Noire 241, rue de Toulouse 87000 Limoges. Phone: 05 55 30 49 04

Deauville

Galette des rois with frangipane, Les pâtisseries du Bord de Mer de François Gayet. 75, rue du Général Leclerc 14800 Deauville. Phone: 02 31 81 05 00

Bordeaux

Galette frangipane chocolat at Pâtisserie la Cacaoterie de Miauly 149, rue Pasteur 33200 Bordeaux. Telephone: 05 57 22 12 76.

Find out more about Bernardaud

Visit the factory

Discover the history of the Bernardaud factory and the various designers who have worked with this famous manufacturer.

The Bernardaud Institute

Discover the different theoretical training courses offered by the Institut Bernardaud at the Manufacture or off-site.

Discover

Location

The Bernardaud factory is located in downtown Limoges: 27 avenue, Albert Thomas 87 000 Limoges

The little plus

One of Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dogs is on display at the Bernardaud factory, as is the more recent Diamond (Blue).