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Orange blossom water, cardamom and pistachio kouign-amann

Crunchy and sweet caramelized sugar on the outside, soft, doughy and sweet, flaky layers of butter and sugar on the inside. Orange blossom water flavor, hints of cardamom in the background and crunchy, caramelized pistachios. Delicious and worth all the time spent.
Prep Time1 hr 30 mins
Cook Time35 mins
Resting time3 hrs
Total Time2 hrs 5 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Keyword: cardamom, kouign amann, orange blossom, pastry, pistachios
Servings: 12 pieces
Author: Dea Kepic

Ingredients

  • 315 g strong plain flour + extra for dusting
  • 5 g instant yeast
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 200 ml warm water
  • 25 g melted butter
  • 250 g cold butter in a block
  • 100 g caster sugar + extra I used 80 g
  • 4 tsp orange blossom water
  • 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
  • 15 g pistachios

Instructions

  • Put the flour into the bowl of a freestanding mixer fitted with a dough hook (I guess you could do it by hand but that’s a LOT of work). Add the yeast to one side of the bowl and salt to the other.
  • Add water, orange blossom water, and melted butter and mix on a slow speed for two minutes, then on medium speed for six minutes.
  • Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a ball. Put into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for an hour.
  • Just before your dough has risen sandwich the butter between two sheets of grease-proof paper (parchment paper) and bash with a rolling pin, then roll out to a 14 cm / 5½” square and set aside.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 20 cm / 8” square.
  • Place the butter in the center of the dough diagonally, so that each side of butter faces a corner of the dough.
  • Fold the corners of the dough over the butter to enclose like an envelope.
  • Roll the dough into a 45 x 15 cm / 18 x 6” rectangle.
  • Fold the bottom third of dough up over the middle, then fold the top third of the dough over.
  • You will now have a sandwich of three layers of butter and three layers of dough. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. This completes one turn.
  • Repeat this process twice more, so you have completed a total of three turns, chilling the dough for 30 minutes between turns.
  • Mix 180 g of sugar with cardamom powder.
  • Grease a 12-cup muffin tin well with oil or butter and then sprinkle some of your cardamom sugar in all of the muffin tins, distribute evenly.
  • Roll the dough into a rectangle as before.
  • Sprinkle the dough with 100 g of cardamom sugar and fold into thirds again. Working quickly, roll the dough into a large 40 x 30 cm / 16 x 12” rectangle.
  • Sprinkle the dough with additional cardamom sugar (leave a little for some final sprinkling) and cut the dough into 12 squares.
  • Gather the dough squares up by their four corners and place in the muffin tins, pulling the four corners towards the center of the muffin tin, so that it gathers up like a four-leaf clover. Roughly chop pistachios and place them on the top of each kouign-amann. Sprinkle with the rest of cardamom sugar and leave to rise, covered with a clean tea towel, for 30 minutes until slightly puffed up.
  • Preheat oven to 220C/200C(fan)/425F/Gas 7. Bake the pastries for 30-40 minutes, or until golden-brown.
  • Cover with foil halfway through if beginning to brown too much.
  • Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Be careful not to burn yourself on the caramelized sugar, but don’t leave them to cool for too long, or the caramelized sugar will harden and they will be stuck in the tin.
  • These are the best on the first day they are baked. Keep in an airtight container. I like to warm them up in the oven or microwave before eating.
  • Enjoy!
Tried this recipe?Mention @FreakyBlond or tag #prettysweetblog!