The Real Kouign Aman Food

KOUIGN-AMANN

Steps:

• Combine water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Let rest until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Add melted butter, 2 cups flour, and salt to the yeast mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon to form a very sticky dough. Dust your work surface with remaining 1/2 cup flour.
• Turn dough out onto the floured counter. Knead, folding in the excess flour as needed, until dough is soft, slightly sticky, and elastic. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Combine sugar and most of the sea salt together in a bowl. Mix, taste, and add more salt as needed.
• Butter a 12-cup muffin tin. Spoon some of the seasoned sugar into the cups and shake to coat. Turn tin over and return excess sugar to the bowl.
• Transfer dough onto a floured surface and press into a rough rectangle. Roll dough into a rectangle about 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick. Grate cold butter onto the dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Flatten butter using lightly floured hands. Fold rectangle widthwise into thirds. Press gently to square out the edges. Place dough onto a silicone-lined baking sheet. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Roll dough into a large rectangle again, pulling and stretching the corners as needed. Grate the second stick of butter over the surface. Pat down with floured fingers and fold into thirds. Roll back out into a rectangle and fold into thirds. Repeat rolling and folding one more time. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Sprinkle a generous amount of the seasoned sugar onto your work surface. Place dough onto the sugar and sprinkle more sugar on top. Roll into a large rectangle about 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick, turning and topping with sugar between rolls.
• Use a pizza cutter to trim away uneven edges. Cut dough into 12 even pieces. Sprinkle more sugar on top. Lightly pinch each pastry into a crown shape by bringing all four corners to the center; place into the muffin cups. Sprinkle more sugar on top. Let rest for 10 minutes.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and puffed, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer onto a cooling rack while still hot. Let cool for 15 minutes.

KOUIGN AMANN (BRETON CARAMELIZED CAKE)

Steps:

• 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. Gradually stir 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.
• 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. Meanwhile, line a dinner plate with plastic wrap and set aside.
• 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.
• Distribute the 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. 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.).
• Once chilled, remove dough from refrigerator. Ease it away from the plastic onto the sugar-covered countertop. 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. Again, fold into thirds and let rest in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425° F (220° C) and brush a 9-inch (23cm) pie plate, preferably non-stick, with melted butter. 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.) 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.

KOUIGN-AMANN

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine mineral water and salt. Let stand until salt has dissolved. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine flour and the melted butter on low speed. Add water-and-salt mixture, and continue to mix until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add yeast, and mix for 1 minute more.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch the dough down, wrap in plastic, and place on a baking sheet. Chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
• Meanwhile, on a Silpat (a French nonstick baking mat) or parchment paper, roll the remaining 1 pound butter into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Wrap in parchment paper, and return to refrigerator until chilled, about 30 minutes. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to an 18-inch square. Center the chilled butter rectangle on the dough so that each side of the butter faces a corner of the dough. Fold the corners of the dough over the butter to enclose. Seal the edges by pinching them together. Roll the dough into a 24-by-8-inch rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds, aligning the edges carefully and brushing off any excess flour. (The object is to ensure that the butter is distributed evenly throughout so that the pastry will puff evenly when baked.) Wrap the dough in plastic, and chill for 20 minutes; this completes one turn.
• Repeat process once, then repeat process twice, dusting the work surface and the dough with sugar, and using 1 1/2 cups for each turn. You will now have completed four turns.
• Using a pastry brush, brush 15 ring molds (3 1/2 by 3/4 inches) with melted butter. Transfer to prepared baking sheets, and set aside. Remove dough from refrigerator. On a lightly sugared surface, roll the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Cut into 15 squares (4 1/4 inches). Fold up the corners of one square toward the center; repeat process. Lightly press to adhere. Turn square over, and gently coat with sugar. Invert, and place in a prepared ring mold. Repeat with remaining squares.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Let rise in a warm place until puffed, 30 to 40 minutes. Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Immediately remove ring molds, and place on a wire rack until completely cooled.