Kouign Amann

Before I say anything else, I have to tell you to muster up every last ounce of your willpower and let these cool to room temperature before eating them. It'll be hard, this I know. Actually, go ahead and eat one while it's still really warm—I want you to compare. You see, once they've come to room temperature, and you bite through the crisp outside and into the soft, flaky layers...the cooled butter and sugar will have formed these gooey little sugar pockets that explode onto your tongue. It's kind of magical.

Kouign Amann, pronounced "koo-WEEN a-MON" or "queen a-mahn", is this month's Bread Baking Babes pick as chosen by Lien (our BBBabes Kitchen of the Month). I'll go ahead and admit that when Lien told us what we'd be making this month, I had never heard of it. But after looking around a bit, I first discovered that the name translates to "butter cake" in Breton, which is the ancient Celtic language of Brittany, France. Well, that in itself is enough to get me excited.

Banketstaaf (Dutch Christmas Log)

You may or may not know that Almond Croissants are one of my absolute favorite things in the universe to eat.  I've mentioned.  You know, once or twice.  There's just something about that gooey, almond center encased in flaky pastry, covered in a smattering of thinly sliced almonds, and capped with a mad flurry of powdered sugar that drives me wild!

I feel almost the same way about Almond Coffeecake.  The long, rectangular variety that has that same irresistible line of almond paste down the center.  Not to mention the sliced almonds and powdered sugar.  The only difference is the moist, rich cake-ish casing.  It's dangerous for me to be alone with one.