From the Brittany region of France comes what could just be the best pastry
you’ve never heard of: kouign aman, the love child of a buttery croissant and a
bready baguette. Quick and easy? Nope. A labor of love? Totally. Easter morning
deserves a glory like kouign aman, a sweet and bready Breton butter cake.
For Easter this year, I’m inviting the best pastry you’ve never heard of. Like
the love child of a croissant and a sticky bun, kouign aman (say queen ya-Mahn)
will upstage everything on the brunch menu and leave your guests fighting over
its buttery crumbs.
But this caramel-coated adventure started months ago with a 10-year-old boy
rumbling north on Interstate 5 in a camper van to the lilting voice of a radio
cooking show host. She gushed about the pleasures of an obscure French pastry,
which is light and airy, sweet and salty, and in the Celtic language spoken in
Brittany means simply “butter cake.”
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