Long Live the Kouign

Published on Friday, September 9, 2011, by John Birdsall / Edit Post

The hottest pastry in America is one you probably can’t taste—or pronounce. Kouign amann (koo-WEEN a-MON; the name means “butter cake” in Breton, the ancient Celtic language of Brittany) is the current darling of pastry chefs like Manresa’s Belinda Leong, who’s launching a wholesale patisserie where kouign will star.

Kouign might be the homeliest specimen of puff-pastry art in the whole French repertoire, and it is notoriously hard to make.

According to Brian Wood, co-owner of Starter Bakery—a wholesale company based in Oakland, California—it begins with a slightly stiffer version of croissant dough folded and refolded around layers of salted butter (traditional in sea-swept Brittany) and sugar, then baked in tins smeared with more salted butter and sugar that caramelizes in the oven. The result is crisp on the outside, chewy inside, and with a sweet-salt balance that the croissant can't even aspire to. (See Wood’s process, with the alternate spelling "kouing aman," at Tourrier.com.)

Outside the Bay Area, you can find kouign amann in Salt Lake City at Les Madeleines, at Seattle’s Honore Artisan Bakery, at Huckleberry in Santa Monica, and at the newly opened Beverly Hills Bouchon. Everywhere else? You can always order online from Williams-Sonoma.

Photograph of kouign amann from Starter Bakery by Chris Rochelle/CHOW.com

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  • You can also get them in Glendale, CA at Baked on on Oceanview and Honolulu. They are amazing!

  • Where is the recipe????

  • Just an FYI for anyone aspiring to bake their own -- I'm definitely not a novice baker, and I was defeated by attempts to make this happen. The amount of butter listed in various online recipes completely overwhelmed my residential oven and created a smoky, oily mess; I'm afraid that a large commercial oven with sufficient ventilation and consistent heat may be the biggest requirement for making...+READ

    Just an FYI for anyone aspiring to bake their own -- I'm definitely not a novice baker, and I was defeated by attempts to make this happen. The amount of butter listed in various online recipes completely overwhelmed my residential oven and created a smoky, oily mess; I'm afraid that a large commercial oven with sufficient ventilation and consistent heat may be the biggest requirement for making a successful batch of kouign amann.-COLLAPSE

  • Try C'est Délectable's kouign amanns (www.cestdelectable.com). Online ordering process is easy and pretty much seamless. And true Bretons attested to the authentic flavor and texture!

  • OctoberFeast bakery from Berkeley has them, but calls them Reaper Buns. I get them at the Sunday Downtown Sacramento farmers market. Delicious.

  • St. Honore Bakery in Portland, OR also makes their own kouign amann!

  • dnuohwohc, we have discussion boards on Chowhound.com. A good place to try posting your question would be to the General Topics board, http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/27.

    Deborah from CHOW

  • The blog, 'Joe Pastry' did a thorough series explaining the history and making of kouign amann a while back.

  • I need some help identifying a fruit which was purchased as a papaya but looks nothing like the picture I just pulled up. I am not familiar with papayas, guavas, or mangos for that matter. This fruit was large (about 10" in length) with a green outter skin and yellowish/orange sweet fruit. However, it did noy have the black seeds and instead had just one large pit. What did I eat??? SAS

  • Or you can try Patisserie Kouign-Amann in Montreal.