Skip to main content

Apricot Kouign Amann

Remember when I made briquettes for Jenn's birthday? Well, I redeemed myself and succeeded in making some dreamy, buttery, flaky morsels with my Kouign Amann v.2. The dough is fairly easy, so I've made several versions. Last week, while we were in the desert, the kids asked for pastries, so I made version with some apricot jam. Delicious!


Ingredients
  • 1 C water, room temperature
  • 1 T active dry yeast
  • 1 T organic granulated sugar
  • 2 3/4 C flour, divided
  • 1 t sea salt
  • 1 C cold salted butter + more for greasing the pan
  • 1 C organic granulated sugar, divided, plus extra for shaping the pastries
  • apricot jam for filling

Procedure
Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Let stand for 15 minutes for the yeast to bloom. Add 2 1/2 C of the flour, keeping 1/4 C for later, and the salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms.

Cover the mixing bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in size, approximately one hour. While the dough chills, pound 1/2 C butter between two pieces of parchment paper into a rectangle. Repeat so that you have two pieces of flattened butter. Place them in the fridge while the dough rises.

Sprinkle a piece of parchment paper with flour and place dough on top. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 12"x 20". Remove one chilled slab of butter from the fridge and lay it in the middle of the dough. Fold the corners of the dough in to form an envelope.

Using the rolling pin, roll it out to 12"20" again. Place the second slab of butter on the dough and fold the corners of the dough in, again. Roll it out one more time. This time, fold one third of the dough over the other third, like folding a letter. This creates very thin layers of butter and dough. 

Rotate the package of dough and butter so that the narrower, open end is facing you, like the pages of a book. Roll the dough out to a rectangle and fold the top third down and the bottom third up, again like a letter. Rotate the dough 90 degrees so that the open end is again facing you. Repeat. Roll the dough out to a rectangle and fold the top third down and the bottom third up. That's 2 turns.

Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes. Remove the dough from the fridge and transfer it to a well-floured parchment. With the open end facing you, roll the dough out to a rectangle, again. Fold the top third down and the bottom third up. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat. That's 4 turns.

Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes. Rub the insides of a muffin tins with butter. Set aside.

Remove the dough from the fridge and transfer it to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll the dough out to approximately 1/4" thick. Sprinkle 1 C of sugar and slice the dough into twelve squares.

Place a dollop of apricot jam in the center of each square. Pull the corners of each square toward the center. Transfer the dough to the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle the remaining sugar over the tops of the pastries. Cover the kouign amann loosely and let rise until slightly puffy, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.


Preheat the oven to 400°F about half-way through the rise. Place the kouign amann in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 350°F. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Pastries are finished when the tops are deep golden and the tips look as if they might be just starting to burn.

Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes in the baking dish but be sure remove them after that. If they cool completely in the baking dish, they will be impossible to remove. Gently wiggle them out of the tray, then transfer the kouign amann to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Best served the day they are baked...though I've never had any leftovers!

Comments

  1. These look great Camilla! I recently made these too, but without the jam. What a great idea! I was able to freeze them and eat one each day by defrosting and reheating =)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce