The region i live in, Brittany, is famous for its very fatty and sugary deserts. Kouign-Amann is the very famous example of that. It is a dough pastry, traditionally made with bread dough and laminated. Originally from the town of Douarnenez, in Finistère, it is now eaten in a lot of parts of the country, with various recipes derived from the original.
My own take on the recipe originates from this version (in french). i modified some aspects of it, namely the way that the dough is laid down into the mold.
This post might be updated in the future with more photos, whenever i do this recipe again.
Kouign-Amann Recipe
Utensils & Appliances
- Kitchen Scale
- Measuring Cup
- Rolling Pin
- Mixing Bowl
- Kitchen knife
- Small bowl
- Baking mold
- Oven
Ingredients
- 300g wheat flour (250g + 50g for balancing the dough mix and powdering your working surface)
- 250g of salted butter (alternatively salt-free butter and add salt later)
- 250g of caster sugar
- 10g baker's yeast
- couple pinches of salt
Steps
- Take the butter out of the fridge and into the small bowl to let it soften
- In the measuring cup, measure about three soup spoons of lukewarm water
- Add 10g of baker's yeast in that measuring cup and mix gently
- In the mixing bowl, put 250g of flour
- Create a little hole in the center of the flour
- Add a pinch of salt in the flour, but not in the center hole (because you don't want salt to kill the yeast)
- Pour the yeast mix in the hole at the center of the mixing bowl
- Start mixing the dough, adding flour if it is too wet and water if the dough comes apart too much; never add too much at once however, as the dough will start coming together through being kneaded
- When the dough has coalesced enough to be taken out of the bowl, use some of the remaining flour to powder your counter and knead the dough until it is fairly elastic
- Put the dough in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrapping or a towel for 3 hours
- Take the dough out of the bowl onto a surface covered with some flour
- Using the rolling pin, flatten the dough into a rectangle shape until the dough is thin but not so much that it would split
- If your butter is not sufficiently melted to be poured and spread, microwave it repeatedly for 15 seconds until it is liquid enough
- Using a cooking brush, apply the butter on the dough; make sure to leave a 3cm margin near every edge
- If your butter is not salted, add two pinches of salt here
- Add a third of the sugar on top of the butter, leaving the same margin with the edges of the dough
- Fold the dough in thirds: take one third and fold it into the middle third, then take the last third and fold it on top of the other two
- Turn the dough around by 90°
- Using the rolling pin, flatten it into a rectangle again until you start risking to let butter and sugar break out
- Add the second third of sugar
- Fold the dough in thirds once more
- Turn the dough 90° and repeat the last few steps to flatten it, add the last of the sugar, and fold it again
- Flatten the dough one last time, this time making a rather thin rectangle
- Roll the dough along the short length
- Let it rest for 30 minutes
- Preheat the over for 210°C (thermostat 7)
- Using a kitchen knife, cut rolls of dough of the desired length and place them next to each other in a mold
- Bake the cake for at least 20 minutes, until it looks golden on top (you may have to go up to 30 minutes depending on your oven)
- Take the cake out of the oven and wait 15 minutes to serve it
