Sunday, March 30, 2008
Food, Recipes

Butter me up

Make Kouing-Aman

CREDIT:Photos/The Reynolds Group
As the pastry chef for Concentrics Restaurants ONE. midtown kitchen, TWO urban licks, TROIS, TAP, Lobby, Room and STATS, I have the great opportunity and privilege to share my love for pastries, cakes and desserts with diners in Atlanta. I always like to try new recipes and make special twists on classic ones, but sometimes I find that certain recipes are tried and true favorites. Kouing-aman, a rich yeast pastry originally from Brittany, France, definitely falls in the latter category. 

While I do use a variety of gourmet ingredients in my desserts, breads and pastries, one of my favorite ingredients is one of the most simple—butter, and I use more than a pound of butter in my recipe for kouing-aman,.

I first fell in love with kouing-aman when I was in school at the French Culinary Institute. The unique name, literally meaning “bread” and “butter,” hails from the ancient Celtic history in the French province. We learned about it early in our classes because it’s a classic French pastry that does not require many ingredients, the process isn’t too involved, and the end product is simply delicious. I find the touch of vanilla paste and cinnamon really adds a smooth, delicate flavor that when combined with the flaky texture and caramelized sugar creates a wonderful sensation of cake, custard and candy combined in your mouth.

The main thing I love about this dish is its wonderful layering of butter, dough and sugar. It is one of the most amazing pastries I have ever had, especially when it is still hot and fresh out of the oven. In fact, in bistros and bakeries across Brittany, people ask what time the dessert will be eaten to make sure guests can enjoy the freshest, warmest and most flavorful treat.

I like to use 83 percent butterfat butter because the flavoring is very nice, rich and smooth. It’s rather easy to work with when chilled, yet it’s not too soft. The main reason I like to use mineral water instead of tap water (besides trying to save our depleting resource!) is because it does not contain chlorine, so the kouing-aman has a very fresh, clean taste. Another good tip to keep in mind when making the dough is to work fairly quickly and use a light touch. This way you won’t activate the flour’s gluten too much, which will give the dough too much elasticity. You also need to make sure the dough is very cold so you can easily roll it out to create the desired form.

Although many people are not keen on using so much butter in their recipes, this is one dish that it is truly worthy of it. Every time I prepare and serve kouing-aman, every person who tries it falls in love and asks for more. Even when they ask for the recipe and see how much butter is in it, they crave this decadent dessert so much that they don’t mind! SP
Jonathan St. Hilaire is the executive pastry chef for Concentrics Restaurants. www.concentrics.com.

Kouing-Aman

• 1 ¾ cups mineral water, at room temperature
• 1 ½ teaspoons fleur de sel
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (83 percent butterfat), melted
• 1 tablespoon fresh yeast, firmly packed
• 1 pound unsalted butter (83 percent butterfat), chilled
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups granulated sugar, plus more for rolling out dough

Mix mineral water and fleur de sel in a bowl; let stand until salt has dissolved.
Place flour and melted butter in the bowl of electric mixer fitted with dough hook; mix at low speed; add water/salt mixture, vanilla paste and cinnamon; mix at low speed until well combined (about 2 minutes); add yeast; mix 1 minute.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap; let dough rise in warm place until doubled in size (about 1 hour); punch down dough; envelop in plastic wrap; place on baking sheet; refrigerate 2 hours.

Roll out chilled butter on parchment paper; refrigerate until chilled (about 30 minutes). Roll out chilled dough on lightly floured surface to from an 18” circle; center chilled butter rectangle on the dough; fold the dough over the butter to enclose; seal the edges by pinching them together.

Roll the dough into a 24” by 8” rectangle, distributing the butter evenly throughout; fold the dough into thirds, aligning the edges carefully and brushing off any excess flour (this completes 1 turn); repeat process, to complete 2 turns; envelop the dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate 30 minutes. Remove the dough from the refrigerator; repeat rolling process 2 more times, dusting the work surface and the dough liberally with sugar on top of the dough (this completes 4 turns); refrigerate 30 minutes.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator; roll out on lightly sugared surface into a ½” thick rectangle; cut into 15 4 ¼” squares. Working with one square at a time, fold up opposite corners toward the center; repeat with other two corners; lightly press to adhere; turn square over; lightly coat with sugar; shape into circle; invert; place inside lightly buttered 3 ½” by ¾” ring mold set on sheet pan covered with parchment paper; repeat with remaining squares. Heat over to 425 degrees F.

Let kouing-aman rise in warm place until puffed (30 to 40 minutes); bake until golden brown (35 to 40 minutes); remove from oven; immediately remove ring molds; place kouing-aman on wire rack until completely cooled.