Kouign-Amann

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rolling pin
• •Standard 12-cup muffin tin
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Bench scraper

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Stir together the flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Add the warm water and mix with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Turn it onto a clean surface and knead for five minutes until smooth and slightly tacky. This is a simple bread dough, nothing more. Do not overwork it. Shape into a ball, cover with a clean towel, and let rest at room temperature for one hour until doubled.

   The dough should feel alive and spring back when you poke it. If your kitchen is cold, find a warm spot near the stove or in an oven with just the light on.
2. 2

   Prepare the butter block

   While the dough rises, pound your cold butter between two sheets of parchment paper with a rolling pin until pliable but still cold. Shape it into a rough 5-inch square, about half an inch thick. The butter should bend without cracking and feel like firm clay. Return it to the refrigerator if it becomes soft and greasy.

   Good butter makes or breaks this pastry. Look for European-style butter with 82% butterfat or higher. The less water in your butter, the more shatter in your layers.
3. 3

   Encase the butter

   Punch down the risen dough and roll it on a lightly floured surface into a 10-inch square. Place the butter block in the center, rotated 45 degrees so it looks like a diamond. Fold the four corners of dough over the butter, pinching the seams to seal completely. You have made an envelope. The butter lives inside.

4. 4

   First fold with sugar

   Sprinkle your work surface with two tablespoons of sugar instead of flour. Roll the dough into a rectangle roughly 8 by 16 inches, working from the center outward, keeping the edges straight. Fold the dough in thirds like a business letter. Sprinkle another two tablespoons of sugar on your surface, turn the dough 90 degrees, and roll again. Fold in thirds once more. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for thirty minutes.

   The sugar will feel strange under your rolling pin at first. Trust the process. Each grain becomes a pocket of caramel waiting to happen.
5. 5

   Second fold with sugar

   Repeat the rolling and folding process: sugar on the surface, roll to 8 by 16 inches, fold in thirds, rotate, roll again, fold again. Use the remaining sugar, about four tablespoons. The dough will feel heavier now, studded with butter and sugar throughout. Wrap and chill for another thirty minutes. Two sets of folds gives you the right number of layers.

6. 6

   Shape the pastries

   Generously butter eight cups of a standard muffin tin. Roll the chilled dough into a 12-inch square about half an inch thick. Cut into eight equal pieces. Tuck the corners of each piece underneath to form rough rounds and nestle them into the prepared cups, seam side down. Let rise for thirty minutes at room temperature. They will puff slightly but not dramatically.

7. 7

   Bake until deeply caramelized

   Heat your oven to 400°F. Bake the pastries for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. They are ready when the tops are deep amber and the sugar has caramelized into a lacquered shell. The edges may look nearly burnt. This is correct. That bitter edge of dark caramel against sweet butter is the whole point.

   Do not pull them early. Undercooked kouign-amann tastes like sugary dough. Properly caramelized kouign-amann tastes like something worth crossing an ocean for.
8. 8

   Turn out immediately

   The moment the pan comes from the oven, flip the pastries onto a wire rack set over parchment paper. Work quickly. The caramel is molten and will cement them to the tin within minutes. If one sticks, reheat the pan for thirty seconds to loosen. Sprinkle with fleur de sel while the caramel is still glossy. Let cool for ten minutes before eating, if you can wait that long.

Chef Tips

• •Find the best butter you can. European-style with 82% butterfat or higher transforms this pastry. American supermarket butter contains more water and produces soggy layers instead of shatter.
• •Work in a cool kitchen. If your butter starts to feel greasy or the dough becomes sticky, refrigerate everything for fifteen minutes before continuing. Warm butter absorbs into the dough instead of creating distinct layers.
• •Do not fear the dark caramel. The slightly bitter edges against the sweet, buttery interior create the contrast that makes this pastry extraordinary. Golden is undercooked. Amber is correct.
• •Eat these the day you bake them. The caramel shell softens overnight. They are still good the next morning, but they are transcendent within the first hour.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made, laminated through both folds, and refrigerated overnight. Shape and bake the next morning.
• •Unbaked, shaped pastries can be frozen in the muffin tin, then transferred to a freezer bag for up to one month. Bake directly from frozen, adding five to eight minutes to the baking time.
• •Baked kouign-amann do not store well. The caramel shell absorbs moisture and loses its shatter within hours. Bake only what you will eat that day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 85g)