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Kouign-amann | Traditional Sweet Pastry From Douarnenez, France | TasteAtlas
Kouign-amann | Traditional Sweet Pastry From Douarnenez, France | TasteAtlas
Kouign-amann | Traditional Sweet Pastry From Douarnenez, France | TasteAtlas
Kouign-amann | Traditional Sweet Pastry From Douarnenez, France | TasteAtlas
Kouign-amann | Traditional Sweet Pastry From Douarnenez, France | TasteAtlas

Kouign-amann

(Kouign amann, Butter cake)

Kouign-amann is a cake that originated in the 1800s in the French region of Bretagne. Its name is derived from the Breton words for cake (kouign) and butter (amann). The cake consists of layers of butter and sugar that are folded into a dough.


Bretons claim that the cake is "the fattiest pastry in the world", due to its flaky yellow dough that is mixed with large amounts of sugar and butter. Although there are many theories about the origin of the cake, the most popular one says that it was invented by accident, when a 19th-century baker from Douarnenez wanted to save a failed batch of dough, so he added butter and sugar to the mix, creating the delicacy that we know today.