With the Olympics about to begin in Paris, if you can't be there in person, you might wish to indulge in a traditional French treat. Kouign Amann is a delicious pastry originally from Brittany. This recipe from Matthew Cotswold Flour combines the buttery taste of a typical croissant with the sweet flavour of a pastry. The melt-in-your-mouth confection is perfect for breakfast, but can be enjoyed throughout the day.
Place the flour, water, salt, yeast, and caster sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment and mix on a slow speed for 3 minutes until all the ingredients are incorporated.
Turn the speed up to a medium-high speed and mix again for a further 8 minutes, taking a break halfway through to add the tablespoon of butter.
Once the dough has been well developed, place in a bowl and cover. Leave in a warm place to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
During this time, take your block of butter out of its wrapper and place it between two sheets of baking paper. Use a rolling pin to bash the butter to flatten it, then roll it into a 15cm square before putting it back into the fridge to firm up again.
Once your dough is finished proving, tip it out onto a lightly floured surface and begin gently rolling it out to achieve a 45cm x 15cm rectangle.
Now that you have your rectangle in front of you, take your butter square and place it towards one end of the rectangle. This should cover two thirds of the dough, leaving one third free.
Fold the empty third down over the butter, then fold the bottom third up over that. This should encase the butter completely in the dough. Wrap and leave to chill for 20 minutes in the fridge.
After chilling, take the dough from the fridge and gently roll it out to make a rectangle of about the same size as you started with, before repeating the folding steps again.
Do this whole process one more time, but before you fold it up springle it with half of the demerara sugar, then once three sets of folds have been completed, take the dough from the fridge and roll into a large rectangle (about 45cm x 30cm). Sprinkle once more generously with more of the demerara sugar.
Cut the rectangle into squares using a sharp knife, and then fold each of the four corners of the square into the middle before pushing it into a greased muffin tin. The pastry should resemble a clover at this point.
Once each of the pastries is in, give them another sprinkle of sugar.
Leave lightly covered to prove for 20-30 minutes or until puffy, Preheat the oven to 210 degrees Celsius while you wait.
Gently brush each one with the milk, then do a final sprinkle of sugar for the best crunch.
Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until puffed up and golden brown on the top. Remove from the tin after 5 minutes and cool further on a wire rack – wait until cooled to room temperature before you enjoy.
Rebekah Evansjoined The Week as newsletter editor in 2023 and has written on subjects ranging from Ukraine and Afghanistan to fast fashion and "brotox". She started her career at Reach plc, where she cut her teeth on news, before pivoting into personal finance at the height of the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis. Social affairs is another of her passions, and she has interviewed people from across the world and from all walks of life. Rebekah completed an NCTJ with the Press Association and has written for publications including The Guardian, The Week magazine, the Press Association and local newspapers.
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