French baker cooks up a golden sales gimmick

A young NormanDY baker faces a goldrush when he opens his doors today after the New Year bank holiday.

Julien Vitrebert has let it be known that two tiny ingots of real gold – worth €400 (£386) each – will be hidden in two of the almond-paste tarts traditionally sold by French bakers in January.

The tarts, or galettes des rois, symbolise the feast of epiphany on 6 January, when the three wise men – or kings – visited Jesus in Bethlehem. Because the kings brought gifts, the galettes contain a hidden token or toy. Whoever finds it is the "king" of the feast of Epiphany and wears a paper crown.M. Vitrebert, 25, whose shop is at Frénouville, near Caen, has decided to place two "mini-ingots" in two galettes this January. One will be hidden in a tart in the first half of the month and the second after 15 January.

"I wanted to extend the treasure map theme we adopted to promote the shop this year," M. Vitrebert said. "€800 is a lot to recover in sales but we hope, over a month, we will at least make that in extra profits."

M. Vitrebert has had two tiny ingots of 18-carat gold engraved with the bakery's name. They weigh 3.63 grammes – enough, M. Vitrebert says, "to make a decent ring if melted down".

M. Vitrebert's galettes range from €9.20 to €17.60. "The ingots could be in a big tart or a small one. I will be the only person to know," he said. "I'm not even going to tell Gwendoline, my wife."