Kouign of Pastries... or My First Kouign Amman

A few months ago, Dad pinged me on Gchat and asked if I'd ever tried a "kouign amman." 

A what now?

"Kouign amman," he repeated, going on to describe it as the best pastry he'd ever had in his life. Worth every calorie and every penny of it's $4 price tag, he claimed. He then informed me that I had all summer to perfect it.

Gee, thanks, Pops!

Dad's request went unfulfilled for some time, until one day we happened to stop by Four Barrel Coffee, which gets a daily stash of kouign ammans from b. patisserie in San Francisco -- the same patisserie that inspired Dad's initial rave review. After one bite, I realized Dad wasn't joking. I really did need to perfect this one... Or at least try!

I've read that kouign amman is pronounced "queen ah-man," and that it's a Breton cake, originally from France. It's made from laminated pastry dough, similar to a croissant, but it has layers of sugar, in addition to the butter. It sort of reminds me of a cross between a croissant and a palmier.

Even though I love croissants and have always wanted to try making them, laminated pastry dough intimidates me a bit. When you bite into something that is crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and flaky throughout, you just know it didn't get that way by accident.

However, I was lucky enough to find this super easy-to-follow recipe on thekitchn.com, which includes step-by-step photos to help you along the way. It's the most helpful recipe breakdown I've ever seen, and the photos made the process seem so manageable that I was emboldened to try it myself.

Here's the result:

They aren't perfect, but they actually turned out much better than I had anticipated. They were moderately flakey and not too heavy, which were my main concerns, and they tasted like pretty delicious -- funny how butter and sugar together can do that.

So what's next? Now that I've tried them once, I feel pretty confident that I'll be able to tackle another recipe in my quest to bake a kouign amman fit for a queen!

Candied Cocktail Nuts

If I had to describe these candied nuts in one word, it would be: dangerous.

"How?! They're so small, and it's just a few little nuts," you think... Aye, but there's the rub. Indeed, they're so tasty, and it's so easy to just pop them in your mouth, that before you know it, the whole batch has disappeared and you begin to feed decidedly less trim in the belly.

The kicker, of course, is that they're insanely simple to make, which means even though you know you shouldn't, you'll find yourself making another batch tomorrow! Ah, well. Some indulgences are just worth it.

On to the recipe...

There isn't a whole lot of chemistry at work here, aside from the crystalizing sugar, so as far as baking projects go, these are uncommonly forgiving. I was lucky in this regard, since I didn't actually have as much sugar or cinnamon as the recipe called for. I ended up fudging things a bit, throwing in extras here and there, but I'm still pleased with the end result. I honestly think I may never use a recipe for this again, and each time I make it, I'll just see which way the winds blow. There are so few times in baking when that is possible, it's almost refreshing.

I will, however, record the recipe here... for posterity, of course.

Candied Cocktail Nuts

2 lbs mixed nuts (I used almonds, cashews, pecans and walnuts)

1/2 c. egg whites, room temperature

1 c. white sugar

1 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp. cayenne

1 pinch paprika

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (this was all I could find when I ran out of cinnamon)

Prepare two baking sheets with Silpats or other non-stick mat. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together both sugars, salt, and a spice mixture of your choosing. I have listed approximate measurements for what I used above, but I didn't measure most of the spices, so adjust as you see fit. For the record, if I did this again, I'd bump up the cayenne just a smidgen. Stir until evenly distributed.

In a large bowl, lightly beat the egg whites until they are foamy. Add the nuts and coat the nuts evenly with the egg whites.

Add the sugar and spice mixture, and stir until evenly distributed. Spread the nuts out on the two baking sheets in a single, even layer.

Bake for 30 minutes, but turn the nuts ever 10 minutes or so, and switch the baking sheets halfway through if you're only using one oven.

Remove baking sheets from the oven and let the nuts cool to room temperature. When the nuts have cooled, break up any large chunks, and store in an airtight container.