Sunday, January 30, 2011

Kouign Amann



The first, and only time, I've seen this French pastry was at the eGullet Heartland gathering in Kansas City.  I headed back to the table for seconds, only to find that there were none.  It's buttery, crispy, sugary, flaky, chewy and caramelized all at once.  I tried to make them once before, but they didn't come out at all.  This time, I did much better.  As soon as I find some time to make a rough puff pastry from scratch with really good butter, I'll be making more.  As a shortcut version goes, though, these were pretty darn good.  I used all butter puff pastry from Trader Joe's and lots of sugar in the folds and turns.  Then I cut them into squares, folded up the corners and placed them in individual parchment lined tart pans to contain the sugar and butter and help them hold their shape. 

More on kouign amann here, and here

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