Croissants

There is much said and discussed about this delicious pastry. Though they have an Austrian origin they became renowned in Paris. The name croissant (pronounced in various ways, but “kwason” being the most accepted) comes from the crescent shaped pastry Kipfel. You may think, but there are straight croissants. The straight croissants are generally all butter and the crescent shaped ones are made with part margarine.

The first time I made them was in 2013, having no clue how a croissant is supposed to taste. The result was a bread looking pastry. Years later when I had a real croissant I understood the difference and that lead to me reading about them. But the more I read, the more I was intimidated about them. The pastry is very technique driven. And the outcome depends a lot on the quality of ingredients. The butter is the main factor. The fat and water content will determine how malleable the butter will be and how easy it would be to laminate. The most preferred butter in making croissants is Montaigu-Professional. Since getting that is a distant dream, I made my croissants with President unsalted butter.

Though my croissant is nowhere near perfect or even average, the learning and experience was truly educative. Im listing a few points that I learnt with this round of croissant baking (yes I intend to try more!). Hope you find this recipe useful!

Croissant making tips

1) Since I live in the tropics I had to maintain a cold ambience for croissant making. So the airconditioner was on throughout the rolling and resting.

2) The ingredients were slightly lower than room temperature when I made the dough.

3) The dough shouldn’t be kneaded like other breads. You can gently knead it till it comes together.

4) We freeze the dough for 30 minutes before refrigerating to reduce the yeast activity.

5) Before rolling the dough take a packet of ice and keep on the work surface. This will prevent the dough from heating and thereby the butter leaking.

6) Be very careful while rolling the dough and the butter, if you put pressure the butter will break.

7) No matter how much you try, the butter will slightly shatter while rolling. It’s imminent. Only if you have a laminating machine will you get the butter as a sheet between the dough. So don’t fret if the butter shatters.

8) If the dough breaks and the butter leaks just gently place the dough as it is back in the fridge and continue rolling after 30 minutes.

9) Keep fluffing the dough between rolling so that it doesnt stick to the work surface.

10) Always remember to brush off excess flour while folding the dough.

Croissant

Lejna

Make these rich, buttery croissant from the comfort of your home. The aroma that engulfs your home while it bakes will transport you to France!

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Prep Time 13 hrs

Cook Time 28 mins

Proofing 2 hrs

Total Time 15 hrs 20 mins

Course Breads, Snack

Cuisine French

Servings 6 pieces

Ingredients

  

• 500 gms Flour
• 10 gms Yeast
• 150 gms Warm water
• 150 gms Warm milk
• 40 gms Butter melted
• 60 gms Sugar
• 10 gms Salt
• 260 gms Butter

Instructions

 

Making the Dough

• Sift flour into a mixing bowl. Add sugar, salt and butter to it. Mix well.
  
• Mix warm water and warm milk and yeast. You don't have to activate the yeast.
  
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
  
• Knead all the ingredients together into a soft pliable dough for 12 minutes. Do not knead with pressure.
  
• Shape the dough into a rough rectangle, cling wrap and freeze for 30 minutes and then refrigerate overnight.
  

Butter Block

• Take two parchment papers. Fold them into a 20cm x 40cm rectangle.
• Slice the butter up and place them on one of the baking paper, lay the second baking paper on top and fold the edges of the baking paper until it’s back to being 20cm x 40cm and use a rolling pin to roll out the butter. 
  
• Ensure that you make this butter slab thickness as even as possible. 
  
• Refrigerate the butter block in a baking tray overnight.

Folding the Dough

• The next morning take the dough out, dust the work surface and roll into a 40cm x 40 cm square. Place a parchment paper in the middle of the square and fold it into half, cling wrap it and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  
• During this time, remove the butter from the fridge to allow it to come back to being the malleable consistency. It shouldn't be oily but pliable.
• Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Dust the work surface well with flour. Roll the dough to reach exact 40cm x 40cm measurement.
• Peel of one side of the baking paper, and place the butter in the middle of the dough pressing it down into the dough lightly to let it stick to the dough and slowly peel off the second baking paper.
  
• Fold the left and right side of the dough to encase the butter and press it down gently with your rolling pin to seal it.
  

First Fold (Single Fold)

• After encasing the butter, slightly roll the dough to 60cm. The seam should still be facing up at you running down the middle of the dough.
• Press down on the dough with the rolling pin to help compress the layers.
• Keep fluffing the rolled dough so that it doesn't stick to the work surface. Tuck your hands under the dough and fluff it gently like you would fluff a piece of cloth. 
  
• Take the top part of the dough and fold it downwards by a slightly lesser than a third of the length.
  
• Then take the bottom of the dough and fold over that initial fold with the dough overlapping at the edge.
  
• Cling wrap the dough and freeze for 20 minutes.
  
• This was a single fold.
  

Second Fold (Double Fold)

• Take the dough out of the freezer. Now a little trick, slice the sides of the dough with a sharp knife. This is to increase the amount of layers the butter reaches. Dust the work surface, place the dough on the work surface. Ensure that the overlapping edge is on your right side of your body and that the overlap is on the top.
• Gently roll out the dough to a 60cm long rectangle.
• Now fold the upper end of the rolled dough a little. (As shown in the picture)
  
• Take the lower end and bring all the way up till the two seams meet. Slightly press and get the seams together.
  
• Now fold the entire thing by half.
  
• Cling wrap and freeze the dough for 20 minutes.
• This is a double fold.
  

Third Fold

• Repeat the Single Fold. Don't forget to slash the sides.

Shaping the Croissants

• Take your dough out of the freezer and roll it to be at least 60cm x 28cm.
  
• Rolling out the dough at this stage will be a task as the dough will be pretty stiff. Don't put too much pressure. Keep at it gently and you will be able to roll out the dough. Keep fluffing the dough so that it doesn't stick onto the work surface.
• Gently mark the base along the length of the dough at 10cm intervals until you reach 60cm. Mark the middle of each 10cm below so that you know where to cut.
• Using a ruler, place the ruler along the breath connecting the markings on the top to the bottom and slice it. You should get 11 beautiful triangles with 2 halves on each end.
  
• If you feel that the triangles are getting warm, place on a tray and wrap it in cling wrap and place it back into the freezer for 5-10mins until cool again.
  
• Using your thumb and index finger, gently stretch the dough along the middle to elongate it slightly and relax the dough. 
• Take one triangle, cut it slightly in the middle so that you get a longer croissant.
  
• Place it on the table and roll it from the base to the tip as evenly as possible keeping the roll tight.
• Ensure the tip of the croissant is tuck under the dough, they will ensure it doesn’t unroll when it bakes/proof.
• Transfer them to a tray with a good amount of space between them as when they bake they will increase in size by at least 3 times.

Proofing the Croissants

• Proof your dough in a warm area until it looks puffy and wobbles when you give your pan a shake. It should increase in size by around 70%. I kept it for 2 hours.
• Keep a big container on top of it so that it doesn't dry out.
  

Baking

• Mix 1 large egg, 20 gms of milk with a light pinch of salt until smooth. This is your egg wash.
• Brush a light coat of egg wash gently on the croissants. Ensure you don't knock the croissant down by applying pressure.
  
• Preheat the oven to 200°C for 30 minutes or until it comes up to temperature.
• Before placing the croissants in the oven, brush it with another layer of egg wash.
• Bake your croissants on the middle rack for 10 minutes at 200°C, reduce the heat to 180°C and bake for another 18 minutes.
• Remove from oven and immediately gently transfer the croissants to a wire rack. Let the croissants cool fully before slicing into it to maintain the layers .
• Enjoy your very own, home baked croissants!
  

Keyword Butter Croissants, Croissants, French Croissants