Café Gramercy · Annette’s Recipe Box
Annette's Kouign-Amann
The sugar folded into the dough caramelizes as it bakes. You want a deep golden, crackling outside and a soft, buttery middle.
Ingredients: 250 g (2 cups) bread flour · 5 g (1 teaspoon) salt · 5 g (1½ teaspoons) instant yeast · 160 ml (⅔ cup) water · 150 g (⅔ cup) cold butter for the block · 150 g (¾ cup) sugar, plus more for the tins
Method
- Mix the flour, salt, yeast, and water to a soft dough. Knead briefly, then chill it, wrapped, overnight.
- Pound the cold butter into a small flat square. Encase it in the rolled dough as for croissants.
- Give the dough one letter fold, chill 30 minutes. On the second and third folds, scatter the sugar across the dough before folding, so it laces through the layers. Keep everything cool and it laminates beautifully.
- Roll it out, cut squares, and fold the corners to the center. Press each into a well-buttered, sugared muffin tin, and sugar the tops.
- Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 30 to 40 minutes, until deep amber and crisp. Watch the caramel toward the end and pull them when they are richly golden. Turn them out at once so they do not set in the tin.