After two months of baking, Rose’s Alpha Bakers are having a catch-up week. I have multiple makeups to blog about, but I’ve said since day one, my first effort at catching up would be the cover recipe, the kick-off recipe for the Alpha Bakers, Kouign Amann. We were in the process of cleaning our apartment in Poznan, moving to a hotel and hosting a do zobaczenia (see you later) party for our friends in Poznan, so this caramelized croissant-like pastry just had to wait.
Google Kouign Amann, and you’ll find that it’s a French pastry from Brittany. All of the big names in the blogosphere have a Kouign Amann post, David Lebovitz, Martha Stewart, Huffington Post, but the search yields less than two pages. This isn’t a recipe that everyone is doing. The laminated dough seems to put off the faint of heart.
The yeast dough is one that comes together easily, but that’s where the simple ends. The square of dough is topped with a square of butter, and careful folding, rolling, and chilling is repeated for hours. The name literally means cake butter.
Finally, it’s time to fold squares of laminated dough into little crowns, baking them with the hope that some of the butter stays in the dough. All of this takes about six hours, so while you won’t have your hands in the dough all of that time, you’ll want to give yourself plenty of time.
I noticed that many of the recipes online call for salted butter, which Rose’s recipe does not. If I do these again, I might give the salted butter a try, or at least toss in a pinch of our sel from Brittany. It was so nice to be driving through France last summer. We brought home so many goodies, Something that just insn’t possible when you ‘ve arrived via Wizz Air.
My Kouign Amann might have benefited from a few more minutes in the oven, even though I baked it longer than the recipe suggested. As for taste, I wanted a little more caramelized sugar or maybe a melted Hershey’s kiss in the center, or maybe a little salt was all that was missing. While they’re very pretty, I don’t know that the amount of work was justified by my final product.
I’ve started a new Pinterest board on which I hope to capture all of the Alpha Baker efforts. I’m working on this project with some very talented bakers. Check it out! Â Unlike my other posts, I don’t publish the recipes from The Baking Bible, but you can get a copy from Amazon, just like I did.
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Michele
Lois–So glad you baked them!! I love these pastries and have made them twice. I was amazed at how simple they are, once I got past the intimidation factor. Yours look delicious! I am catching up on the Black and Blueberry Pie this week. Don’t have my post up yet but will do so shortly. Have a great week! –Michele
polishhousewife
Thanks, Michele! I loved the berry pie filling. I hope you do to!
Lori
Have you watched the British Baking program on PBS? This is exactly the recipe the bakers had to make without any prior knowledge of what thing they had to bake. This appeared to be new to all of them.
polishhousewife
I used to watch The Great British Bake-off when we were in Poland. I loved that show! I can’t remember if it was on BBC or Polish TLC.
Patricia @ ButterYum
This was my favorite recipe from the book so far. I have to agree with you though – the recipe could use a touch more salt. One version I found has salt mixed in with the sugar that is sprinkled on the dough so I think that’s the one I’ll try next. Anyway, your pastries turned out beautifully. Great job!
polishhousewife
Thanks, Patricia. That might be all it needs!
inthekitchen
Your KA look delicious! I’m having such fun reading all of the past recipes folks have made…but they are all making me want to re-bake everything! I loved making these sweet caramelized pastries…must bake them again soon!
polishhousewife
Thanks! It is fun to look back. Happy baking!
orin
Great idea putting some chocolate in the middle i will have to try it, look great !!
polishhousewife
Thanks, Orin. I’m a sucker for a chocolate croissant; that’s my inspiration!
faithy
I also glad you made them! How have you been adjusting back home? Your pastries looked perfect!
polishhousewife
Thanks, Faithy! I have a new job that I love, but it seems like all I do is work and sleep, but that’s life in the USA!
Catherine
I certainly felt faint of heart just before starting these. But it was great when they turned out well. They are my favourite so far. I found them pretty rich. I think chocolate in the middle would have made me pass out!
polishhousewife
LOL!