Kouign amann

Our friend Megan returned from a Breton wedding recently eulogising not only about the wedding but also about some fabulous Breton patisserie. A particular favourite was kouign amann, which is Breton (Cournouille, actually) for gâteau beurré.

I have not tried this myself, but Simone Morand has a recipe in her Gastronomie bretonne d'hier et d'aujord'hui, (Flammarion, 1965):

450g flour
300g butter
300g sugar
pinch of salt
20g 'levure de boulanger' (fresh yeast is implied)
1 egg yolk to colour (optional)

Mix the flour salt and yeast. Add the sugar, then the butter. 

Give 4 turns as for puff pastry. Rest for 15mn. Brush with egg yolk.
Dust with icing sugar or mark with a fork (dusting with sugar is more usual).

Bake in a gentle oven.

This is an odd recipe unless the levure de boulanger (yeast) is wet enough to form a dough with the flours and sugar. There are other recipes on the web here and here. Overall, the basis is a fermented bread dough over which one spreads out butter and sugar, and folds and turns as for puff pastry.

Posted by Chris Bunch at August 4, 2003 09:15 PM