Croissants

Peter decided recently to learn to make croissants.

This process is long, particularly if you follow the traditional French method.  In America most croissants are made by mechanically inserting air into the dough, however this is not easily done at home and does not have quite the same results.  Instead, Peter went with the complex three day process.

On the first day he made the dough.  This is made by combining 500 grams unbleached all purpose flour, 140 grams water, 140 grams whole milk, 55 grams sugar, 40 grams soft unsalted butter, 11 grams instant yeast and 12 grams salt.  We had never used unbleached flour before.  Unbleached flour is aged to "bleach" instead of bleaching with chemicals and is generally better for pastry but is less white than the other flours you may be used to.

After mixing the ingredients together kneed for 3 minutes.  This is a short process because you do not want to reach a high gluten development stage.  Too much gluten development and it will not roll as well.  Shape the dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a day.

On the second day you "laminate" the dough.  To do this take 280 grams of cold butter and cut it into slabs forming a 15 cm square.  Pound and roll the butter between two pieces of wax paper until it is a 19 cm square.

It is helpful to place frozen food on your counter before this process to make the counter cold enough that the butter will not melt too much.  Trim the butter and straighten the edges.  Put the trimmings back in the square and pound until you have a 17 cm square.  Wrap in the paper and put it back in the fridge.  Take out the dough and roll it into a 26 cm square with even thickness.  Place the butter on the dough s that the corners are dissecting the sides of the dough.

Fold the dough so that the edges slightly overlap and enclose the butter.  Press lightly to seal the seams.

Now it needs to be rolled out.  Try to do this with as little additional flour as possible.  Roll the dough into a 20 cm by 60 cm rectangle.  Roll out from the center so the dough will remain even.

Fold the dough together by thirds.  First the top third down, then the bottom up.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Repeat 3 times, turning the dough 90 degrees each time.  Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

On day 3 we were almost there!  Remember before taking out the dough to freeze the counter.  It also helps to freeze the rolling pin.  Roll the dough out to a 20 cm x 110 cm strip.

Lift each side to let it shrink a bit.  Mark the dough at 12.5 cm intervals along the side, and then halfway between each one on the other side.  Cut the dough into triangles using a pizza cutter.  cut notches into each triangle.

Roll each triangle and place on a baking sheet.  Leave lots of space, as they will grow a lot.

Proof in an oven at 77 degrees.

Brush the croissants with an egg wash (1 egg and 1 teaspoon of water).  Bake at 383 degrees in a convection oven for 6 minutes and then lower the temperature to 329 for 9 minutes.  We then had the best croissants I have had possibly ever, and certainly not since I was last in France!