Kouign Amann at Vie de France

You cannot imagine my excitement when I went to Vie de France at South Coast Plaza to buy bread and some cinnamon rolls. I noticed a new pastry; her Majesty, the queen.....Kouign Amann (pronounced queen ahman). It looked like the real thing. The real thing is always compared to Pierre Herme's Kouign Amann in Paris, France.

The only one that has comes very close to that is the one they bake at Thomas Keller's Bouchon which they sell for $4.00 each but is quite large. Rockenwagner makes a much smaller version which you can get at Peet's Coffee for $2.95. It isn't bad but not great either.

Vie de France sells theirs at $2.99. At this price, it makes it the perfect substitute to Pierre Herme's kouign amann. When I first took it out of the bag, it had the "look of love". It glistened from the butter and sugar.  The consistency was perfect as I pulled it apart with my hands; just as you would a regular croissant.  I was pleasantly surprised on how delicious it was. It was crusty outside and sweet, buttery inside.

The good news is these kouign amann freezes beautifully. Since my oven is currently not working, I just microwaved it for 25 seconds, let it rest for 10 seconds and then inhaled it!