How to Make Kouign-Amann: The Perfect Pastry | Yewande Komolafe | NYT Cooking

Yewande Komolafe is here to show us how to make kouign-amann, a yeast-risen pastry with soft, laminated layers; deep, buttery flavor and a chewy, caramelized top. Rich and toasty, kouign-amann takes some time to make, but the result is more than worth it.
Get the recipe: nyti.ms/3WEh5zM
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All the food that’s fit to eat (yes, it’s an official New York Times production).

[@ThePapricat]

As someone who grew up in Bretagne it's a bit wild to see this very regional cake featured here! For those who are curious, kouign means cake and amann means butter in Breton, and yes, it is the most delicious thing in the world (it's the butter!) . It's best served warm with hard apple cider 😄 This version looks gorgeous and I'm very curious about the sesame oil!

[@nantuckette8027]

The hard cider sold me. I’m going to have to dedicate my weekend to trying this!

[@ThePapricat]

@@nantuckette8027 I'd recommend a cider on the drier side to balance the sweetness of the cake but I hope you will enjoy it!

[@audeodd84]

As a bretonne I am also very interested in this take with the spiced syrup and sesame oil - it sounds pretty good and haven’t seen anything like it here but it’s a great idea.

[@DizzyBusy]

You know, I was wondering about that name just last week. Why it's called kouign amann. I thought it had something to do with "amande/mandel/almond", except that almond is not traditionally part of the recipe. So thank you for clearing that up for me! "Kouign" seems like a cognate of "Kuchen" , and "amann" is maybe a cognate of "manteiga" or "manteca". It makes so much more sense now.

[@TheYazMan80]

@@DizzyBusy I don't think the cognate would be manteca. You might find a cognate in ointment (from unguen)--both seem to derive from a proto-indo-european word for fat/grease/butter

[@ericaarul1875]

Yewande has the most pleasant soothing voice and energy. I can’t get enough

[@masterimbecile]

That’s probably what her hubby thought too

[@marcamusprime9513]

She is for sure pleasant to watch

[@mosesjeromelazaro2841]

"...it falls into the sink like it did at home, I still ate it. it was delicious so..." selling point of this entire content. she was so sincere when she said it. it's that good

[@caesaraugustus1548]

I was on vacation in Montreal in late December and I had a planned visit to Patisserie Au Kouign Amann on Mont Royal Avenue. My expectations were very high from everything I had read about this cake. To my surprise the place was empty at 8:00 AM. I decided to buy a large whole cake and I was eating Kouign Amann for about four days in a row 🤣. For me it is the perfect combination between salty/buttery, sweet, soft and crunchy. One of the best things I've ever tasted👌👌👌

[@amygraves8102]

NYT take note. Yewande is wonderful. Her process and directions were very easy to follow. Explaining why she did what she was doing was great.

[@scobeymeister1]

I love the way Yewande approaches intimidating recipes, addressing all the common pain points that someone who's not as experienced with pastries might face. And it's nice to hear even a professional accidentally flips pastries into the sink sometimes, lol. Makes me feel like maybe I *can* handle this one :) Excellent video, thank you!

[@Jodabomb24]

I'm so happy to see someone really appreciating the original kouign amann :0 as a former Montreal resident and longtime patron of Nicolas's shop, I always thought that the big format was undoubtedly better than the little ones that got so popular a few years ago. In my mind, the kouign amann is all about the contrast between the soft buttery inside and the sweet caramelly outside. The little ones never had enough inside for me! What's also fun is that my dad had pretty much the same experience as Yewande did 15 or so years ago when we were in Montreal. He asked them if he could come early one morning to watch and learn. This was back when they didn't make them all day, so they would sometimes run out if you went in the afternoon.

[@yankldoodl8096]

About seven years ago, I lived about a block from the shop, in the first place I shared with my partner. It was by far the cheapest most delicious thing you could get as a student on a sunny -30 degree Montreal Saturday morning, and I have so many Crystal clear memories of eating breakfast from there. When I first saw this video, i ignored it because i have been so let down by the every Kouign Amann I have had since leaving Montreal, even when they've come from bakery's I love. just in passing, I saw a teaser for the video somewhere else, and when Yewande mentioned she learned directly from the source of all my Saturday morning memories, I nearly cried.

[@KateOBrienCreative]

In Brittany (where I live) kouign amann come in all different sizes. It's very normal and just depends on whether you're buying it to share or in single serve.

[@colettewilliams1149]

Every Christmas I choose two cookie recipes from Yewande and bake for friends and family. I always get rave reviews but I feel like I can never take full credit because I have such respect for Yewande and her practice. I'm excited to try this and I'm patiently waiting for her cookbook.

[@robertamunroe]

I have been perfecting my home baking of Claire’s amazing croissants…and now I will embrace Yewande’s gorgeous self (inside & out!) as she’ll be my new teacher of yet another laminated dough paradise ❤😊

[@catew]

I love the way Yewande uses all her senses to help us share her understanding of making this cake - the strands of gluten, the yeasty smell, etc. It's so helpful and also very engaging!

[@katielady873]

She is a great teacher

[@angelastephens82]

I made this kouign today… tonight. Holy Cats! Delish! 🎉 I too had butter all over my kitchen while mid flip! ahahaha!! Everything about this is perfect. The spices were especially perfect. The one recommendation I will give, Put A PARCHMENT LINED BAKING SHEET UNDER YOUR PAN! I have a serious mess to clean up tomorrow. But it is well worth it! 😉

[@jeannemcculloch3886]

Where did you get the recipe?

[@martina5296]

She has such a good way of teaching without really teaching. She made it seems that anyone with patience can make it. So what if it falls in the sink, just make extra sure the sink is super clean and empty, it's still good. Just in case, maybe the kitchen floor should be super clean, too. Hey accidents happen and your efforts should still be enjoyed. Make sure the pets don't get to it before you! I'm definitely going to try making it, even without a standing mixer.

[@murrrriel]

I loved her article on her discovery of the Kouign-Amann, it was lovely. The pastry itself is so rich and sweet, but usually pretty bland. I love the idea of adding some aromatics to the sauce

[@camillelannevere9880]

Yes!!! This is the best French pastry. We're not fancy, we love sugar and butter.. Mainly butter. We're also fat ❤️

[@ManJamLyn27]

I love her energy and instruction in explaining this recipe! This makes me want to try lamination 😮

[@pinkpinsofpain]

What a lovely backstory to this recipe! Yewande is so elegant.

[@catherinemarcotte8783]

What a wonderful video. Love seeing Yewande make and teach beautiful things.

[@rachaelhoffman-dachelet2763]

I just used one of your recipes for dinner tonight, and the NYT recipe site showed me a bunch of your recipes, they all looked so great! Then this video popped up. Great work, clear and compelling. Really awesome, thank you.

[@annecassidy4448]

OMG!! Yewande, you are fabulous! Thank you for your calm manner of presenting this challenging pastry! You’re a fabulous teacher!

[@vadengoadl]

What a great presentation of the process! She is a jewel!!! I’m ready to make it! She made it look doable and worth the time and effort. Great job!!

[@normabishop2693]

Yewande made me happy watching this! I'm not sure I'll try baking one because my palate doesn't favor sweets, but it was delightfully sweet just to watch her do this.

[@nathalieandparis]

Honestly it’s the best! You can pronounce it ‘Kwin Ahman’ and yes in Brittany we use demi sel beurre 😋 it’s also perfect with a cup of black coffee.

[@chocolatesouljah]

Hello from California! My dough is rising now. I am looking forward to tasking,

[@sylw9289]

Beautiful browned Kouign-Amann creatively shaped with a delicious end result worth the try! Thank you Yewande Komolafe.

[@shawnhampton8503]

OMG. So amazing. She is just fantastic and so lovely. My favorite laminated pastry. Hands down.

[@GregCurtin45]

What a wonderful teacher. I love her detailed instructions and advice. Hope we see her share many more recipes.

[@pineapplesoda]

I'm just grateful to learn how to pronounce it. Thank you, Yewande!

[@The7Generations]

Yewande you are a joy to watch. More!!!

[@vygalnix7769]

I love it that you just asked about the process and they graced you with the process. It makes me want to do that. I want to learn from the masters themselves.

[@sanapadsense1999]

I’m French and Breton by my mother and I say that this cake seems really good 😍🥰 Thank you for taking the time to show us your recipe.

[@thomasgriffith7518]

I love her! She’s so relaxing to watch!

[@Ebdain787]

I’ve wanted to make this for a while. I recently made a galette de rois and it knocked me out…with deliciousness and textures. I can’t wait to make this. You made it look totally doable. 😊

[@kristinchong629]

Such joy. A lovely way to know that food making is much knowing steps and putting energy in.

[@ace625]

This looks fantastic and just about the right level of complexity for home cooks. Viennoiserie can get incredibly difficult but I think this large format seems a little simpler.

[@WorldofMichaelTrent]

First of all...Yewande Komolafe is an amazing teacher. I love to bake but I will never make this. But watching her and listening to her was mesmerizing. I can almost smell this kouign-amann.

[@Lampshadx]

Nicolas is the best. I LOVED that bakery when I lived in Montreal

[@smllpup]

Love the way you teach and explain!!

[@krschulman]

Yewande is a great teacher and I am definitely making this! Love this recipe and video!

[@johninitaly]

Can’t wait to try this! I loved how Yewande personalized and humanized it. Eg: it fell into the sink and I ate it anyway.

[@tommynickgaming3428]

Who else watches the NewYork Times cooking videos because they are relaxing? I don’t even watch them to make the recipes haha but I should because all of the food looks delicious!

[@greenfarmcat]

Watching this soothed me into my day! Thank you!

[@DougDurando]

This looks so unbelievably good

[@steph744]

I am from bretagne and it's so unexpected but great to see an american bake our cake.

[@dgb711]

Beautifully done. Thank you

[@grainofsalt2113]

I literally had never heard of kouign amann. fascinating video

[@patriciapetteruti7760]

Wow! Just fascinating to see the steps, and the nerves of steel it takes to do it all on camera.

[@samanthalomonaco6012]

This is my favourite dessert!! After we moved back to australia from Montreal I thought I would never taste it again. Thank you so much for this!! Life changing ❤❤❤

[@KateOBrienCreative]

There are plenty of bakeries in inner-city areas in Australia making kouign amann these days ;)

[@geraldwainer1767]

Wonderful teacher..

[@zaria5785]

I just noticed this pastry listed on a menu board at a local SF pastry shop and I had to look it up. Happily this video was recommended and I can’t wait to bake this. ❤

[@kaibo7797]

Which pastry shop? I would love to try this!

[@moo422]

We had the exact same experience outside KA in Montreal. The first bite was an absolutely mind-blowing experience -- like WHAT IS THIS MAGIC (it's butter. a lot of butter.)

[@mystosplosion]

When I saw this I immediately thought, That looks a lot like the amazing one I had in Montreal! And now I bet it is essentially that one! Our host greeted us with “The best (famous) Kouign Amann in Montreal.” It was truly the best I’ve had.

[@AnnabelleSooklal]

This lady could cook a boiled egg and make the process fascinating!

[@jsud5559]

Yewande, you are adorable❣️ This looks awesome!!

[@nemock]

This looks amazing. What a great discovery.

[@QIKWIA]

I've eaten a kouign Amann with an almond frangipane... sooooo good!!!

[@soldoutclothing]

Incredible, thank you!

[@susanfoster8637]

Fabulous video! Can’t wait to make it!

[@julianjohannessen5069]

Looks exeptional!🫶🏻

[@Olivia-pj9wy]

That looks so good!!!

[@caliinthevalley24681]

Oh man my ultimate favorite pastry.

[@deardaughter]

This was awesome and she’s so lovely! Thanks for doing the video.

[@deardaughter]

Just made it. It’s perfect.

[@ludovico6890]

I love kouign amann since I've discovered it in my first trip to Brittany in 2008. I think it's best appreciated after a long walk on a cold autumn or winter day. With lots of tea.

[@alcidesfy]

And no need for sugar in the tea !

[@victoria1936]

this was such a beautiful video ❤

[@michaeljaysonbanua4870]

Beautiful golden color. Wow

[@manarcabrera2528]

I’m going to make this. It looks so good.

[@inspiringreadings6321]

she was excellent! ty

[@wynnemanning8701]

I discovered this delicious pastry in Montreal too. The individual portions I've seen in bakeries in the states aren't even close! I'm going to have to try replicating it. Yum yum yum

[@woottdka5727]

I recently tried one at Dominique Ansel's bakery in SOHO, NYC, it was a joke compared to the Montreal one

[@RachelDavis705]

I want to try this, yum

[@graceandmarvellouswonders6249]

Thank you for going into the store✌🏾

[@frankieleftwich5310]

Looks fabulous, I'll be looking for the recipe.

[@Leto_0]

Cold and dry tightens dough, warm and wet relaxes it

[@Max_-]

Awesome!!!

[@hollylisker5705]

I love her!!!!

[@elizabethanrose]

Truly remarkable! A darn lot of work. I'd make two and one for freezing. LOL.

[@lm-hf3gd]

Really enjoy your presentation and camera presence....

[@umsami]

OMG I remember when you used to be able to buy the frozen ones at Trader Joe's. They were heavenly.... no doubt, these are even better!

[@davepruitt]

I've been to the Kouign-Amann bakery in Montreal, and it is outstanding. All the "tiny" kouign-amann pastries you find elsewhere pale in comparison to the cake-style kouign-amann.

[@clare8871]

Love this creator! Please include links to follow the chefs on their socials too please!

[@eyebrid]

I haven't tasted it but it sounds like a gulab jamun flavored croissant, delectable!

[@juliannaromanyk7898]

I have to try this next time I’m in Montreal 🥰

[@lorrainepalmer2952]

Never heard of this...but looks like one to try....

[@renambot]

Nice to see that on the NYT and looking good, from a Breton exiled in USA. If you want the real thing, don’t add spices. It’s just dough, butter and sugar. Usually best from a boulangerie since it’s made like a bread dough by the bread maker. But every place has its own take on it, find one that you like. So rich ;-)

[@princesspaz4669]

Her vibes are immaculate

[@masakan_yuli]

Emmmm dessertnya enak banget.. Aku mau mencobanya..

[@callmemolls3646]

Props for getting all the butter out of the bowl in one big scoop 😮 (4:30)

[@keithberghoff4114]

That must smell amazing

[@alcidesfy]

Putt butter on a pan, let it brown. Imagine this with a bakery smell.

[@pakora1384]

I live next to Au Kouign-Amann in Montreal ! It's the best !

[@QIKWIA]

😯🤭😳☺️ OMG!!! A #1 of butter!!!!😋

[@camillaluckey4136]

Packing for Montreal and that bakery

[@Hollis_has_questions]

It’s gorgeous and it contains the perfect amount of butter for my taste. Unfortunately, I don’t like too much sugar, and this baby is wallowing in it. Yewande is a very good teacher, explaining and demonstrating each step in detail. So while I wouldn’t eat it (because too sweet), I very much enjoy watching her make it.

[@mt7427]

You are so pretty! I really enjoyed the video, I need to make this it sound so delicious. So how come everything starts out circular and then changes to rectangle?do you dock the dough all the way through the dough to the bottom? What brand of butter did you use, since I don’t have access to French butter?

[@Aaron-kq5kk]

2 Kouigns in this video. She is an amazing chef and teacher.

[@alcidesfy]

Kouign means cake. Kouign Amann : Cake-and-butter (Butter cake).

[@sevenoctobers7471]

ohmyyyygodddd 🤯😭 I gotta make this yo.

[@callioscope]

This is my favorite pastry-though I have never seen it in cake form. Baker/candy maker Jamie Curl has a recipe in her baking book for something that I think is a great mashup of a kouign amann and a cardamom roll. It has puff and stretch instead of flaky layers, but it has the caramelized sugar that takes the kouign amann over the top. The week after I made it, my husband was diagnosed gluten free. 😱 So sad, and while I have had some success baking GF, a lot ends up in the trash. Thank you anyway for a well-executed video. Miss Komolafe was so calm about the scary parts, which is why I ❤ watching skilled bakers on YT. Also, the general tips are so helpful. Would a GF KA be great? A girl can dream.

[@barbarabeck1174]

If you make a GF KA, let us know how it turns out!

[@mb6639]

I love her

[@telemak]

I had it in Montreal in the same place, it was unholy. Thanks for the recipe

[@DALIA_VLOG_KULINER]

Yummy

[@EnronnSierra]

Will go Montreal and buy a slice, planning a trip anyway. 😅

[@shantayfoster5566]

Yewande is so wonderful 🥰 Why did she proof the dough in a bag though?

[@ronromasanta2349]

I can't tell you how many sink meals and sink desserts I've had!!! No dishes to wash up after.

[@glutenfreespicedm8663]

I love this! I will definitely attempt a gluten free version of this 😅