Kouign-amann is a Breton pastry built from bread dough, butter, and sugar — folded together in layers, baked until the sugar caramelizes into a lacquered crust on the bottom and the edges, and served in wedges like a cake. The name is Breton for “butter cake,” which is accurate but undersells it. It’s simultaneously flaky […]

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Babka is a tall, enriched dough loaf swirled with a generous ribbon of chocolate, cinnamon, or sometimes both — twisted before baking so every slice reveals a different pattern. It traces its roots to Jewish communities in Eastern Europe, where leftover challah dough was sweetened and spiraled with whatever filling was available. The syrup-drenched crust […]

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