French · Brittany · dessert

Kouign-Amann

Kouign-Amann reads sweetness 7.6, richness 7.2 and salinity 3.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a French · Brittany dessert, about 4 hr 56 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 7.6 · Richness 7.2 · Salinity 3.6 · Funk & Ferment 3.0 · Umami 1.0 · Floral 0.7 · Nutty 0.6

What's in it (10)

Time & effort: about 4 hr 56 min (1 hr 11 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 395.7 kcal, 3.7 g protein, 22.5 g fat, 46.4 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (9 steps)

  1. The name is simply Breton for butter cake, and the proportions are the shock: for every two parts of bread dough there is roughly one of butter and one of sugar. It was invented in Douarnenez in the 1860s, reputedly by a baker short of flour and long on butter, and no lighter version is worth making.
  2. Mix the flour, yeast, salt, water and the 20 g of softened butter into a dough and knead 8 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover and rise 1 hour until well risen but not quite doubled.
  3. Beat the 250 g of laminating butter between two sheets of paper into a 15 cm square. It needs to be at about 15°C — cold but bending without cracking. Colder and it shatters into shards inside the dough; warmer and it merges into the dough instead of staying in sheets, and there will be no layers at all. This single judgement decides the whole pastry.
  4. Roll the dough into a 30 cm square, set the butter block in the middle at 45 degrees and fold the four corners over it like an envelope, sealing the seams.
  5. Roll it out to a rectangle about 20 by 50 cm and scatter a third of the laminating sugar over the surface. Fold in three like a letter, turn 90 degrees, and chill 30 minutes. Repeat twice more, sugaring each time, chilling 30 minutes between turns. If butter starts to show through, stop and chill immediately.
  6. Butter a 22 cm round tin heavily and dust it with the 30 g of sugar. Roll the dough to a 24 cm round, lay it in and press it to the edges. Score a shallow diamond lattice across the top with a sharp knife, cutting no more than 3 mm deep.
  7. Prove uncovered for 45 minutes at cool room temperature — it will puff slightly and no more. Brush with the tablespoon of water and dust with any remaining sugar.
  8. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 35 to 40 minutes. It will erupt butter and sugar into the tin and boil there; this is correct and it is where the caramel comes from. Bake until the top is deep amber and the caramel in the tin is dark and bubbling.
  9. Turn it out within 3 minutes of leaving the oven, no later. The caramel sets like glue as it cools and will weld the cake permanently into the tin. Cool it on a rack the right way up and eat it the day it is made, warm.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.