Kougan Recipes

KOUIGN-AMANN FRENCH PASTRY RECIPE

Steps:

• Make the dough: In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the milk and yeast, and let sit until foamy, 8 to 10 minutes. With the motor running, add the sugar and salt, followed by the flour. Run the mixer until a dough comes together, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Transfer to a lightly floured bowl, and cover. Let sit in a warm place until it has doubled in size, 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the butter insert: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Sprinkle the sugar, flour and salt onto a clean work surface and toss the butter in it.
• Using a rolling pin, beat the butter until pliable, flipping as needed.
• Roll the butter into a 9-by-12-inch rectangle and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. Chill for 45 minutes.
• Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Roll into an 18-by-14-inch rectangle that's ¼ inch thick.
• Place the chilled butter insert on one half of the dough, then fold the dough over to enclose it, pressing the edges to seal.
• Assemble the pastries: Grease a muffin tin with butter and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar, then place the tin on a baking sheet.
• Working quickly, sprinkle a clean work surface with a heavy pinch of sugar.
• Place the dough on top and sprinkle with another heavy pinch of sugar.
• With one of the short ends of the dough facing you, fold the dough like a letter, bringing the bottom third of the dough up over the middle, then the top third of the dough on top of that. Roll the dough into a 12-by-16-inch rectangle, using sugar as you would typically use flour to prevent sticking. Repeat this process 3 more times for a total of 4 folds.
• After the dough is rolled out for a final time, cut the rectangle into twelve 4-inch squares. With each square, bring all the corners into the center and fit into one of the molds of the muffin tin. Repeat with the remaining squares of dough. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining sugar.
• Cover in plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until the dough has expanded to fill each mold, 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 F.
• Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Immediately remove each kouign-amann from the tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly, then serve.

KOUIGN-AMANN

Steps:

• Combine water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Let rest until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Add melted butter, 2 cups flour, and salt to the yeast mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon to form a very sticky dough. Dust your work surface with remaining 1/2 cup flour.
• Turn dough out onto the floured counter. Knead, folding in the excess flour as needed, until dough is soft, slightly sticky, and elastic. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Combine sugar and most of the sea salt together in a bowl. Mix, taste, and add more salt as needed.
• Butter a 12-cup muffin tin. Spoon some of the seasoned sugar into the cups and shake to coat. Turn tin over and return excess sugar to the bowl.
• Transfer dough onto a floured surface and press into a rough rectangle. Roll dough into a rectangle about 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick. Grate cold butter onto the dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Flatten butter using lightly floured hands. Fold rectangle widthwise into thirds. Press gently to square out the edges. Place dough onto a silicone-lined baking sheet. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Roll dough into a large rectangle again, pulling and stretching the corners as needed. Grate the second stick of butter over the surface. Pat down with floured fingers and fold into thirds. Roll back out into a rectangle and fold into thirds. Repeat rolling and folding one more time. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Sprinkle a generous amount of the seasoned sugar onto your work surface. Place dough onto the sugar and sprinkle more sugar on top. Roll into a large rectangle about 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick, turning and topping with sugar between rolls.
• Use a pizza cutter to trim away uneven edges. Cut dough into 12 even pieces. Sprinkle more sugar on top. Lightly pinch each pastry into a crown shape by bringing all four corners to the center; place into the muffin cups. Sprinkle more sugar on top. Let rest for 10 minutes.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and puffed, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer onto a cooling rack while still hot. Let cool for 15 minutes.

GRANDMA GELDNER'S APFEL KUCHEN (APPLE KUCHEN)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Mix 1 1/4 cup flour, baking powder, 2 tsp sugar, and salt and sift once.
• Cut 1/2 cup butter into dry mix with a pastry blender to pea size.
• In a small bowl, beat egg with 2 T milk and add to dry mix.
• Mix thoroughly and pat dough into a greased or oiled 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Pare and core apples.
• Cut into thin wedge slices and place on dough in rows until covered. We would cover the thin end of one apple with the thick end of the other.
• Dot apples with 2 T butter and mix 3/4 cup sugar, 1 1/2 Tbs flour and cinnamon together.
• Spread dry topping over dotted apples, and bake in oven for 30-45 minutes, until golden brown.

GERMAN KUCHEN

Steps:

• 1. Dough- Scald milk and add butter, sugar, and salt. Dissolve yeast in warm water in seperate bowl and then add to milk mixture. Beat in eggs and then flour. Cover and let rise until doubled. About an hour. Punch down and divide into 5 pieces. Roll out into desired shape and let rise 30 minutes. Then choose your topping. I used a 9" round cake pan for mine.
• 2. Cinnamon Topping: Use a pastry blender to mix butter and brown sugar and flour. Add cinnamon and sprinkle over dough after it rises the second time. Dot with Butter if desired. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.
• 3. Cherry Topping: Heat can of dark cherry pie filling and spread on crust after it rises second time. Bake for 20 minutes at 375.
• 4. Cheese Topping; Mix cottage cheese, egg and sugar in blender intil creamy. Heat slowly until warm on stove. Pour on dough after rises second time. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.
• 5. Butter Topping: Beat together sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly beat in oil. Add oil too fast and it will curdle. Heat on top of stove until hot and pour on crust after second rising. Bake 25 minutes at 375.
• 6. Apple Topping: Peel and slice thinly 3 apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and nutmeg to taste. Roll this dough out in a rectangle. Fill the center with apples and dot with butter. Bake 20 minutes at 375.

KOUIGN-AMANN

Steps:

• Scale all the ingredients for the dough into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes. The dough should come together at this time. Increase mixing speed to medium, and mix for another 15-20 minutes, until the dough has strong gluten development. (You should feel resistance when you pull on it.)
• Remove dough from the bowl, and form into a flat, 8-inch x 8-inch square before wrapping in plastic wrap. Freeze for ~ 1 hour, until very cold, and slightly hardened. Flip the dough halfway through, so that it is evenly chilled.
• In the meantime, combine sugar and salt; mix well, and set aside. In a folded over piece of parchment, use a rolling pin to shape the butter into an 8-inch x 8-inch square. Use a dough scraper to straighten the sides, as necessary. Refrigerate ~ 20 minutes, until firm but still pliable.
• Once the dough and butter are both sufficiently chilled, roll out the dough as necessary to even out the thickness, and ensure that it has the same dimensions as the butter block. Then, place the butter inside the dough so that it forms a diamond within the square. Fold the edges of the dough into the middle, completely enclosing the butter. Pinch seams together.
• Roll this square packet until it is three times as long, keeping roughly the same width. You will end up with an 8.5-inch x 24-inch rectangle. Fold the rectangle into thirds. This is called "the first turn." Rotate 90 degrees, and repeat the process once more.
• After the second turn, wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and chill in the freezer for ~ 10 minutes. Once cold, remove from the freezer and do one last fold, incorporating the sugar this time. (See video for details.)
• Rotate 90 degrees, and roll out the dough into a rectangle, 10 inches wide x 16 inches. Cut dough into 2-inch strips, and roll each one up before placing in a greased muffin tin, or greased ring mold.
• Let rise for 45-60 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F. Bake for 45-60 minutes until golden brown. Check bottoms to make sure that dough is fully cooked; they should be golden brown as well. Remove from the oven, and use tongs to carefully remove the kouign-amanns from their muffin tin, or molds. This step should be done immediately, or else the sugar will harden into a caramel, making it impossible to extract the kouign-amanns later. Bon appetit!

KUGA -- GERMAN BREAKFAST BREAD

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in lukewarm water.
• In a separate bowl, combine milk with sugar, butter and salt; let cool to lukewarm and add 2 cups of flour to make a batter.
• Add yeast mixture and eggs; beat well.
• Add remaining flour or enough to make a soft dough.
• Knead well, cover and let rise till doubled in bulk, about 2 hours (depending upon the temperature in the kitchen).
• Punch down and let rise again until doubled in volume.
• This will make 3 portions for 9" x 12" pans or 6 portions for 9" round pans.
• Divide into desired portions, roll out evenly and spread into greased pans.
• Mix topping ingredients together and spread 1/3 on each cake; place fruit on top.
• Mix rivels ingredients together.
• Sprinkle 1/3 of the crumbs on each cake.
• Let it rise again in the pan.
• While rising, preheat oven to 375°F
• Bake until golden brown; serve either warm or cool.

KOUIGN AMANN

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water with a pinch of sugar. Stir briefly, then let stand for 10 minutes until foamy.
• Gradually stir the flour and salt. The dough should be soft, but not too sticky. Lightly dust your countertop with flour and transfer the dough onto it.
• Knead the dough with your hands until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes. If the dough is very sticky, knead in just enough flour, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough doesn't stick to your hands.
• Brush a medium bowl with melted butter, put the dough ball into the bowl. Cover, and let rest in a warm place for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, line a dinner plate with plastic wrap and set aside.
• On a lightly floured countertop, roll the dough into a rectangle about 12″ x 18″ with the shorter sides to your left and right. The dough may be sticky and difficult to handle. Use a metal pastry scraper to coax the dough into shape, and a minimal sprinkling of flour, as necessary. (It will all be beautiful later, trust me.)
• Distribute the cubed butter in the center of the dough and sprinkle with ¼ cup (50 gr) of sugar. Grab the left side of the dough, lift and fold it over the center, than do the same with the right side (like a letter). You should have what resembles a 3-level pastry.
• Sprinkle the entire length of the dough with ¼ cup (50 gr) of sugar and (without rolling) fold again into thirds, as before.
• Place on the plastic wrap-covered dinner plate and chill for 1 hour. (At this point, wipe excess flour from the countertop and dust the countertop with a rather liberal handful of sugar for rolling out the pastry again.)
• Once chilled, remove dough from refrigerator. Ease it away from the plastic onto the sugar-covered countertop.(Use more sugar than shown. I was busy doing double-duty as the photographer and baker.)
• Top the dough with ¼ cup (50 gr) of sugar, press it in a bit with your hands, and roll into a rectangle for the last time. Now wasn't it easier this time?
• Again, fold into thirds and let rest in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425° F (220° C) and brush a 9-inch (23cm) pie plate, preferably non-stick, with melted butter.
• Remove dough from refrigerator. Roll dough into a circle about the size of the baking pan. It will be sticky; dusting the top with a sprinkle of sugar will help.
• Once rolled, lift the dough and coax it into the pan. (It will want to break. If so, fold it in half and quickly slide something flat under it, like the metal bench scrape AND a metal spatula and quickly slip it into the pan. If it does break, just piece it back together in the pan.)
• Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup (50 gr) of sugar and drizzle with 1 tablespoon melted butter.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is deeply caramelized. Let stand a few minutes, then run a spatula around the edges to release the Kouign Amann and slide the cake from the pan onto a cooling rack.

KOUGAN

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl thoroughly mix 2 cips flour, sugar, salt, undesolved yeast, and btter. Blend togeather in mixer, slowly add very hot tap water. Mix 2 miniutes on meduim scraping side of the bowl occasionaly. Add eggs and 1 cup of flour, beat in high 2 miniutes. Stir in enough flour to make a soft dough, turn onto floured board, keed till smooth and elastic about 8 to 10 miniutes. Place in buttered bowl, cover with waxed paper and a towl. Let rest in a warm place till dough doubles, about 20 miniuted. Combine brown sugar and nuts (cinnamon if desired). Punch down dough, divide in half, roll each half on a floured surface, into 16 x 8 rectangle. Bruck with metled butter, drizzle with honey, pread 1/2 sugar nut mix, roll up, plabe on greased baking sheet. Repeat with other half. Cover and allow to rise, Bake 375 oven for 20 to 25 minutes untill golden brown.

RIVEL KUCHEN

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water to which 1 teaspoon of sugar has been added.
• Scald 2 cups milk; add 1/2 cup sugar, shortening and salt. Cool to lukewarm. Beat in eggs. Add flour enough to make medium thick batter and beat well. Add beaten eggs and dissolved yeast, beat well. Stir in the remaining flour. When too thick to mix by spoon, pour onto floured board. Knead dough until smooth and elastic.
• Put dough into greased bowl, and let rise until double in size. Divide into 2 parts. Knead each down, and roll out to fit 13 X 9 inch pan.
• Put 1 1/2 cup sugar into heavy skillet and brown, stirring all the time. Add 3 cups water. Cook until sugar is dissolved. Sir together 3 tablespoons flour and 3/4 cup milk; add to the sugar water. Cook until mixture is thick like gravy. Cool. Add allspice. Spread on unbaked coffee cakes.
• Mix 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter or margarine, 1 tablespoon sugar, and cinnamon until crumbly. Sprinkle rivels mixture over coffee cake.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.