Puff My Pastry Anytime

I love getting new cookbooks, scurrying home from the store, fresh books in hand, cracking the spine for the very first time, and voraciously reading each recipe, the promise of trying a new dish that will perhaps become an old favorite. Sometimes though it can be a bit anti-climactic, the recipe just, ehh. But there are times when it can be revelatory, and I just had one of those times.

My purchase was rather simple, a copy of Camille le Foll's compendium entitled, Modern French Classics. But it wasn't until that evening, when I properly sat down with a cup of tea, and the book poised neatly on my lap, that my stomach began to rumble with anxious hunger. Each recipe looked better than the next, but the dessert section, with assortments of cakes, tartes, clafoutis, and delicate cookies, is what really had me.

For the inaugural recipe I decided on Kouign-Aman, a yeasted sweet bread, one half puff pastry, one half hearty bread. Kissed with sugar, and laden with butter, this homey dessert proved to be just the cake that calls to you in the early morning to be eaten with a smooth cup of cafe au lait.

The dough does contain yeast, giving the "cake" an airy consistency, but have no fear, this is not a delicate dough. It goes through several rises, but you musn't be hush-hushed around the house while the yeast does it's magic. This is a delightfully elastic dough, smooth, with bubbles of air throughout. Folding in the butter, and sprinkling the dough with a bit of sugar, then baking the handmade patty on a bit more sugar, which caramelizes during the baking process, the Kouign-Aman did not disappoint. If you would like the recipe for this not-to-sweet, morning-type cake, the recipe is on the Daily Specials page.