From the Land of Butter Kouign Amann

Kouign-amann is a delicacy from Bretagne (Brittany), the north-western region of France. Kouign means cake and Amman means butter in the traditional Breton language. As the name “butter cake” suggests, kouign-amann  is probably the heaviest dessert you will ever eat. It is made solely of butter, sugar and dough, and the ratio of these three key ingredients falls around 30%, 30%, and 40%, respectively. Supposedly created in the 19th century in a city called Douarnenez, the kouign-amann was originally made with bread dough and layers of butter and sugar. Its creation is often described as a happy accident: at a time when there was a flour shortage, a boulanger had prepared his dough with the wrong amount of ingredients. Instead of trashing his attempt, he cooked it in the oven. It is notoriously difficult to make a kouign-amann just right; there is a saying about the cake: “Le fait qui veut, le réussit qui peut” (which roughly translates to: “Anyone can try, few succeed”.)