This is a call-out to all those in Cambodia with the gift of a sweet tooth, because we have a pastry (or is it a cake?) that is guaranteed to deliver you into a whole new realm of Heaven. The Kouign-Amann (pronounced kween ah-mahn) is not designed for daintiness, or dieting. With equal portions butter and sugar, it has a crispy, caramelised golden shell wrapped around a dense, meltingly soft interior and is designed purely for deliciousness.
Some think of it as a sophisticated muffin. We think it is much, much more than that.
Billed as “the fattiest pastry in all of Europe”, it is also one of the sweetest. But the butter is key, as the name will tell you. Kouign-Amann means “butter-cake” in Breton, the language of Brittany in the northwestern corner of France, and home of the country’s proudest butter-making traditions. Here they have perfected the art of salted butter, which helps to preserve it, but also brings out its luxurious flavours.
The recipe is rooted in the croissant, and Kouign-Amann shares some of the preparation techniques with its better-known cousin by layering salted butter into sheets of pastry dough, before repeatedly folding, turning and rolling the dough, and then adding layers of crystal sugar with each turn and roll. The process is time-consuming. But we’re pretty sure you’ll agree, it’s entirely worth it.
You’ll also find Kouign-Amann through Meal Temple for Khéma Pasteur and Khéma La Poste.
