Think back to grade school. Do you remember getting those fun little assignments with a list of… say, twelve instructions listed? The teacher has been hinting all week that you should ALWAYS read through the instructions first before beginning anything; now you are being tested. They were all the same; I vividly recall having this lesson multiple times… tell me I am not the only one. Items 1-11 would be telling you to write out or draw something, only to get to item 12 that told you to completely disregard all prior instructions. You should have read the instructions and then sat patiently with a blank sheet of paper. What child were you; the one sitting smugly with a blank sheet or the one scrubbing furiously at the paper with your big pink eraser?
Did you take this lesson learned into adulthood? If you didn’t it is high time you did. Why? Because you need to make Kouign Amann. No, really you do. I admit I was completely ignorant as to what the heck it was when I read about it on David Lebovitz’s blog Click Here a few months back, but after finding out that it was a caramelized, butter filled pastry I was a woman on a mission. The roll-in and folding is similar to making croissant dough with the addition of sugar in the Kouigan Amann. I cannot stress enough the importance of reading through the full recipe and instructions a few times before beginning. David’s pictures are great and the instructions are easy to follow. Just prepare yourself for the time that will be involved. (it’s worth it!)
This is my finished Kouigan Amann.
I made it in a silicone cake pan. I think this helped consideralbly with clean-up.
