Kouign-Amann

Have you ever had one of those days where you just felt out of it ? When, despite the well-meant invitations of friends or family to get out and maybe catch up over tea and coffee, all you wanted to do was stay at home ? It was that sort of day for me yesterday.

My friend J had invited me to a little cafe along with another friend, L. I loved them both but it was just one of those days when I wanted to pull the blanket back over my head and stay in bed. I didn't, though. What I did do was tell myself I was being silly and proceeded to get my butt out of bed and go on my usual jog and cold shower before pulling on my favorite shirt and pants and driving myself off to meet them. I've had several of these kinds of days already, but whenever I do manage to make myself go out and meet up, I have never regretted a single minute. Even sitting there, not talking, is therapy in itself - I could feel the tension of the past week melting away. However, I'm not one to not talk so talk I did - and I went home during the evening with a bagful of pastries purchased from the cafe and a lighter, happier heart. Friends to that to you, I guess. And it wasn't till I actually saw them that I realized how much I had actually missed them.

Then I got home and switched on the television. Normally, the only shows I watch are on Food Network (I love Paula Deen and Alton Brown and don't even get me started on Iron Chef America) but my mom has gotten me hooked on Korean dramas and now, I can't stop watching them even if I threw the television out of the window. Especially the one that starts at 9pm - this one to be exact - has sunk its claws so deep into me that I can't eat/sleep/function normally without thinking about it. I'm not usually like this, I swear, but after watching six episodes in the last twenty hours, eight of which I spent sleeping, I found myself watching the latest episodes on my ipad when I was washing the leeks in the kitchen sink. It's that bad. Send help.

Fortunately, I baked some little pastries before I fell into this addiction (read: two days ago). Initially, I meant to make croissants at first, then I changed my mind and decided to make puff pastry instead. Then I couldn't decide what I actually wanted to make with the puff pastry so I made some kouign-amann in the end. According to the book I got the recipe from, kouign-amanns are 'cakes made with a buttery yeast dough.' I think they're a cross between croissants and puff pastry, in the sense that they're a little easier to shape and layer and more sugary because they have sugar worked into them as well as the usual butter. The book called for the use of cake flour instead of bread or all purpose flour though, and even though it puzzled me - yeasted recipes usually needed bread flour or at least all purpose flour - I went with it anyway. And let me tell you, don't. Please use all purpose flour (I've adjusted the recipe below) because the cake flour isn't strong enough to hold the dough together. I had issues with some butter squishing out when I was rolling and folding but otherwise, I managed to salvage the batch and churn out some pleasant looking/smelling/tasting kouign-amanns. And since it's as hot as the inside of my oven here these days, I had to work really quickly so I didn't melt the butter, which meant me forgetting to take some very important pictures of the rolling and folding process (this is me smacking my forehead in exasperation). 

Anyways, the process includes:

Wrapping the block of butter in the dough.

And rolling the dough out into a biiig rectangle.

 

Fold the left third of the rectangle over the middle third,

Then fold the right third over, like you would a letter.

Roll the dough out again and repeat.

When you roll it out a third time, sprinkle over some sugar.

Fold it in thirds again,

And roll it out and cut it into squares. Or in my case, elongated squares.

Press them into some muffin tins.

And fill th centrex with jam.

Bake until happily golden.

If you like croissants, do give these a try. They take some time but most of it is spent chilling the dough in the refrigerator, since the actual steps aren't that hard. And these are different from your usual kouign-amann because they have some sweet jam baked into the middle. You'll be rewarded when they bake up all buttery and golden, I promise. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go continue watching my drama.

Kouign-Amann

(Adapted from Pierre Herme's pastries)

5g instant yeast

140g lukewarm water

1/2 tbsp salt

10g butter, melted

225g all purpose flour

For the layers:

225g unsalted butter, cold

110g superfine granulated sugar

To assemble:

1/2 cup of thick jam of your choice, I used mixed berry

1. Put all the ingredients for the dough in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed to combine. Once the dough comes together, turn it out of the bowl and knead with your hands until smooth. Place in a lightly buttered bowl and cover, leave to rise for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place the butter between two sheets of parchment paper and used a rolling pin to pound it into a rough rectangle, around 7 by 6 inches. Chill until needed.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a large square and turn it so that one of the points of the square are facing you, like a diamond. Place the block of butter in the middle of the diamond with a flat edge facing you. Fold over the points of the dough to completely encase the butter and press the edges of the dough together to seal it. Wrap it up in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. 

4. On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a rectangle three times longer that it is wide. Fold the dough in thirds lengthwise, the left third over the middle and the right third over the left, like you would a letter. Roll it out into a rectangle again and repeat the folding one more time. Wrap the dough and chill for an hour.

5. Roll our the chilled dough into a rectangle. Sprinkle over three quarters of the sugar and lightly press to adhere. Fold the dough in thirds again, then wrap it up and chill for 30 minutes.

6. Roll the dough out into a square 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar and press to adhere. Slide the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet and chill it for 30 minutes. After that, cut the chilled dough into 12 squares and place each square in a muffin tin. Press the middle in so the squares for little cups and place a generous teaspoon of jam in the middle. Fold over the edges of the squares so they cover up the jam a little. Set them aside and leave to rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, preheat the over to 180C.

7. Bake the pastries for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and the jam is bubbly. Remove from the oven and cool in the tink for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. They're best eaten on the day they're made, but they'll keep for another day in an airtight container.