Kir Breton is a classic aperitif (welcome drink) in Brittany, where Dominique Crenn grew up. This nonalcoholic version is sweet, nutty, and slightly bitter from the buckwheat-infused apple juice that replaces the traditional Breton hard cider. Jump to recipe.
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Who Is Dominique Crenn?
Dominique Crenn is one of the most celebrated chefs in the world, known for her three-Michelin-starred restaurant Atelier Crenn. In lieu of a menu, diners at San Francisco’s Atelier Crenn receive a poem, with each dish represented by a line of poetry.
Growing up in the Brittany region in northwest France, Chef Crenn spent many hours working in her grandmother’s potato fields, foraging for mushrooms with her father and her brother, and partaking in her family’s Sunday dinners. Her father’s best friend, a restaurant critic in Brittany, sometimes brought her along on his tasting trips, experiences that sparked her imagination and taught Chef Crenn to think of cooking as a form of storytelling. All of these memories, and the familial and communal love they evoked, would become touchstones in her cooking. They would also provide the foundation of Chef Crenn’s developing food philosophy: creating food that’s visually, texturally, and conceptually exciting with a deep, emotional center.
What Is a Kir Cocktail?
The classic French Kir cocktail combines crème de cassis with white wine, but variations abound—from Kir Royale, made with Champagne, to Kir Bianco, made with sweet vermouth.
Kir originated in Burgundy and was initially known as Blanc Cassis. The name Kir refers to priest Canon Félix Kir, who was the mayor of the Burgundian town of Dijon from 1945–1968 and purportedly added the crème de cassis. There are several unconfirmed theories as to why the drink was named after Kir, with most attributing Kir to the reinvention of the drink’s new form and subsequent popularity.
About Dominique Crenn’s Kir Breton
This recipe is Chef Dominique Crenn’s take on Kir Breton, which traditionally pairs hard apple cider from Chef Crenn’s home region of Brittany with the black currant flavor of crème de cassis. Her mother loved to greet visitors with a glass of the aperitif, and now at Atelier Crenn, every guest is welcomed with a modern adaptation of Kir Breton—one that’s edible rather than drinkable. Chef Crenn freezes the cider into spheres that she then encases in shells made from cocoa butter and white chocolate and tops with a crème de cassis reduction. In this recipe, Chef Crenn adapts Kir Breton yet again by creating a nonalcoholic (drinkable) version that incorporates buckwheat. She swaps the cider for fresh apple juice and uses black currant purée instead of crème de cassis liqueur. Fresh lemon juice balances the sweetness of the drink.
Dominique Crenn’s Kir Breton (Welcome Aperitif) Recipe
makes
prep time
15 mintotal time
1 hrcook time
45 minIngredients
Note: The total time does not include 2 days of inactive time.
- 1
Two days before you plan to serve the Kir Breton, preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 2
Spread the buckwheat groats evenly across a baking sheet, and toast them in the oven until they’re a deep brown, about 30 minutes.
- 3
After 30 minutes, remove the buckwheat groats from the oven, and let them cool for 10 minutes.
- 4
Once cooled, mix the groats in a large lidded container with the apple juice. Cover the container, place it in the refrigerator, and let the mixture steep for 2 days.
- 5
The day you plan to serve the Kir Breton, juice the lemon with a juicer.
- 6
In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, combine the lemon juice and the black currant purée.
- 7
Simmer the lemon–black currant mixture until the volume of the liquid has reduced by half, about 15 minutes.
- 8
Let the lemon–black currant mixture sit for 5 minutes, then ladle it through a cheesecloth-lined strainer into a large container.
- 9
Cover the container, and refrigerate the mixture until chilled, about 1 hour.
- 10
Meanwhile, remove the buckwheat–apple juice mixture from the fridge, and strain it through a cheesecloth-lined strainer into a container, reserving the apple juice.
- 11
To serve, spoon 2 tablespoons of the lemon–black currant mixture into each champagne flute. Top off each glass with the buckwheat apple juice. Serve cold.