Kouign-amann

I’m in Montreal this weekend* and bought one of these tasty treats from a little shop of the same name near the Mount Royal station. And my belly is happy, if noticeably larger. It’s like someone tried to figure out how to maximize the butter to flour ratio. They were making more in the back and whatever size you buy, know that a disk of butter about that same size was used to make it.

*Not watching the F1 GP, but tagging along with people who are so I can eat Quebec into a famine (not sorry) while people are distracted by the race.

Apparently not the easiest pastry to make. Haven’t run across one yet in a local bakery and that video is definitely more work than I wanna do. But I do want to try one.

This is my absolute favorite pastry of all time, but just like with any French pastry it’s not always easy to find a GOOD one. Surprisingly Trader Joe’s had them in the freezer case for a while and they were totally passable. But the best one I ever had came from a bakery in Singapore… I went there pretty much every day for a week straight, it was so good

There’s a Scandinavian bakery near me that makes them both plain and with a rich, thick chocolate topping.

I burned out on them a few years ago and haven’t had one since, but that doesn’t make them any-the-less delicious.

A local soup and sandwich and bakery -Beyond Bread - sells them. They’re delicious.

I never heard of them before I had them in Korea just Before Pandemic. Awesome dessert!

I had some fresh ones last month. I love them. Also had some canelés, which I might love even more.

They are actually of Welsh origin, i think. I made them once but probably won’t again. It’s too much sugar for my taste. I’d rather have just a hunk of rough puff. If you’ve never had one it’s just like a palmiere, but less crunchy.

They’re from Brittany. And Breton is related to Welsh.

Though kouign is ultimately from Latin, via French, and the dessert is a comparatively recent invention with no parallel in Welsh cuisine that I’m aware of. (Amann, “butter,” is a nice Celtic word, though. The Welsh cognate is ymenyn, usually just menyn in speech).

Well shoot. I was sure Paul Hollywood said they were Welsh when TGBBO did them. But maybe i missed a sarcasm cue; i tend to be sarcastically challenged. :hugs: