How to make the perfect Kouign Amann

Have you ever taste this Breton specialty? Try this recipe to know how to make the perfect Kouign Amann and feels as if you were in Brittany.

What is a Kouign Amman?

If you’ve already traveled in Brittany, you will have heard about this unique traditional cake, made essentially with flour, butter and sugar. Maybe you tasted it! I I did a couple of times during my holidays in Brittany on summer 2020…and though it looks very simple to cook-having very few ingredients-, there’s really a big difference between a good kouign amman(pronounced Queen-Aman!) and a bad one. Both will leave your fingers greasy once you’ve finished, but the difference is in the taste and the impression left in your mouth and your stomach. A “bad one” will be rapidly sickening because it’s only a high-fat gateau, but a “good one” will treat your taste buds like no other, thanks to the perfect balance between the ingredients and the everlasting crunchy miracle of caramelization.

The origins of the Kouign Amman

Kouign-amann is a cake that originated in the 1800s in the French region of Bretagne (Brittany). Its name is derived from the Breton words for cake (kouign) and butter (amann). The cake consists of layers of butter and sugar that are folded into a dough.

Bretons claim that the cake is “the fattiest pastry in the world”, due to its flaky yellow dough that is mixed with large amounts of sugar and butter. Although there are many theories about the origin of the cake, the most popular one says that it was invented by accident, when a 19th-century baker from Douarnenez wanted to save a failed batch of dough, so he added butter and sugar to the mix, creating the delicacy that we know today.

an old picture of women cooking kouign amann

So, I’m happy to share with you the recipe of David Lebovitz, who is both a famous American chef and a writer as well. David has written many books upon French desserts and pastries. He was named one of the Top Five pastry chefs in the Bay area by the San Francisco Chronicle and has been featured in many American and international magazines. This recipe was first published on his website in 2005, when few American travelers had heard of this pastry. But he reworked it substantially to make individual pastries and the new recipe is now in his book L’Appart. In this book, the author continues to mine the rich subject of his evolving expat life in Paris, using his perplexing experiences in apartment renovation as a launching point for stories about French culture, food, and what it means to revamp one’s life.

So follow his advice, his recipe…and “bon appetit”!

Use the best salted butter you can find. I use Breton salted butter, which is easy to find in France. But use whichever good salted butter you can find and flick a few grains of coarse rock salt before folding the dough in layers and across the top before baking. It’s a pretty good approximation of the real thing.(There is actually only one stick of butter in the recipe, 1 tablespoon per serving, so the resulting cake seems more buttery than it actually is.)
This is a very sticky dough. You should have a metal bench or pastry scraper or a metal spatula handy to help with turning, as well as to keep the dough from sticking to the countertop.
Work fast. Letting the dough sit on the counter and warm up is not a good idea. Roll quickly.
Although I recommend waiting about 1 hour between rolling out the pastry layers, you can wait several hours (or overnight) for example, if you have a bit of extra time.
Most important: it is strictly forbidden to think about diets while you’re making a Kouign Amann!

Ingredients (for about 8 to 10 servings):

1 tablespoon (12g) active dry yeast, not instant; 3/4 cup (175ml) tepid water; 2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon sea salt; 1 cup (200g) sugar, which will be divided later + additional sugar for rolling out the pastry; 1 stick of salted butter (110g), cut into ½-inch (2 cm) cubes and chilled; 2-3 tablespoons additional salted butter, melted

The steps and keys to the success:

1. In a medium bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water with a pinch of sugar. Stir briefly, then let stand for 10 minutes until foamy.

2. Gradually stir in the flour and salt. The dough should be soft, but not too sticky. Lightly dust your countertop with flour and transfer the dough onto it. Knead the dough with your hands until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes. If the dough is very sticky, knead in just enough flour, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough doesn’t stick to your hands.

3. Brush a medium bowl with melted butter, put the dough ball into the bowl. Cover, and let rest in a warm place for 1 hour.

4. Meanwhile, line a dinner plate with plastic wrap and set aside.

5. On a lightly floured countertop, roll the dough into a rectangle about 12″ x 18″ with the shorter sides to your left and right.

The dough may be sticky and difficult to handle. Use a metal pastry scraper to coax the dough into shape, and a minimal sprinkling of flour, as necessary. (It will all be beautiful later, trust me.)

Distribute the cubed butter in the center of the dough and sprinkle with ¼ cup (50 gr) of sugar. Grab the left side of the dough, lift and fold it over the center, than do the same with the right side (like a letter). You should have what resembles a 3-level pastry.

6. Sprinkle the entire length of the dough with ¼ cup (50 gr) of sugar and (without rolling) fold again into thirds, as before.

Place on the plastic wrap-covered dinner plate and chill for 1 hour.

(At this point, wipe excess flour from the countertop and dust the countertop with a rather liberal handful of sugar for rolling out the pastry again.)

7. Once chilled, remove dough from refrigerator.

Ease it away from the plastic onto the sugar-covered countertop. (Use more sugar than shown. I was busy doing double-duty as the photographer and baker.)

Top the dough with ¼ cup (50 gr) of sugar, press it in a bit with your hands, and roll into a rectangle for the last time.

Now wasn’t it easier this time?

Again, fold into thirds and let rest in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.

8. Preheat oven to 425° F (220° C) and brush a 9-inch (23cm) pie plate, preferably non-stick, with melted butter.

9. Remove dough from refrigerator. Roll dough into a circle about the size of the baking pan. It will be sticky; dusting the top with a sprinkle of sugar will help.

Once rolled, lift the dough and coax it into the pan. (It will want to break. If so, fold it in half and quickly slide something flat under it, like the metal bench scrape AND a metal spatula and quickly slip it into the pan. If it does break, just piece it back together in the pan.)

10. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup (50 gr) of sugar and drizzle with 1 tablespoon melted butter.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is deeply caramelized. Let stand a few minutes, then run a spatula around the edges to release the Kouign Amann and slide the cake from the pan onto a cooling rack.

Now you can start to cook and make your own kouign amman, though you may not intend to visit Brittany. But the best experience would be to explore this fascinating region and taste not only this famous typical cake, but also the other numerous local specialties, from pastries to oysters, cider and, of course, the famous “crepes”. Here are some suggestions of the best places and bakeries where you can find Kouign Amman and other pastries : Maison Riguidel, Quiberon, La Maison du Kouign Amman, Roscoff, Boulangerie des Plomarc’h If you travel with us, you will find some other addresses in the roadbook we’ll provide you with before your departure. Do not hesitate to visit our website and see our suggestions of itineraries in Brittany.

If you enjoyed this article feel free to read Isabelle’s article on seven forgotten yet delicious French aperitifs. We have more upcoming article on food and beverages!