Kouignettes seems to have taken over the cupcake craze in Paris recently. Shops all over the city are selling the mini versions of the traditional Breton butter cake Kouign Amman.
I’d heard about the buttery Kouign Amman pastry for years but never got around to trying one. I’d planned on having a tasting in Brittany earlier this year but when my trip fell through so did my chance at sampling the best Kouign Amman in the country. Finally last week I got lucky when I stumbled upon Maison Georges Larnicol which opened in Saint Michel just last month. They have a massive range of kouignettes from the traditional nature, chocolate and pistachio flavoured ones to the more adventurous coconut, salted butter caramel and orange Cointreau.
Surprisingly the kouignettes at Georges Larnicol are available in a self-service counter. I’ve never seen anything self-service in France before but it’s a great idea. You can pick out your preferred sticky sweets and they weigh them at the counter for you. I got a mix of flavours include raspberry, pineapple and apple which I took home to share.
I have to say they weren’t as delicious as I expected. They are very buttery, rich and quite heavy. I’m not sure if that’s how they’re supposed to be but personally I prefer my sweets to be a little lighter. I did some research afterwards and discovered they are better if you re-heat them prior to eating so the butter oozes out of them. I guess I’ll give that a try next time but I’m not convinced that’ll be enough to put them on my favourite dessert list.
Maison Georges Larnicol isn’t just about kouignettes. They also have a large chocolate selection, pretty pots of salted butter caramel and the ever popular macarons.
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