Croissants
by patisseriemakesperfect | posted in: Blog Update, Breakfast, Recipes, Viennoiserie | 41
Croissants are iconic, their shape, the flaky pastry and the distinctive
layers are what makes them delicious and unique. I’ve
made croissants quite a few times on the blog,
from wholegrain versions to cronuts, but I always keep coming back to
these traditional homemade flaky croissants. Something about the
buttery flavour combined with strawberry jam is for me, just perfect, I
don’t need all of the icings and fillings.
I did a bit of research before making these croissants and I read all of
the different recipes in my patisserie books, to see what the
similarities and differences were between them. I finally settled on
the Bouchon Bakery recipe because it was the only one that used a
poolish. A poolish or pre-ferment is a mix of flour, water and yeast that
you prepare the day before and then add to your dough. It’s thought
that the poolish helps to improve the taste of the dough and the
lifespan.
I have to say I really think the poolish improved the taste of these
croissants. I made the croissants in batches and I think they tasted
better the longer they had been in the freezer. So don’t feel you have
to make 16-18 croissants all at once, stagger the baking so that you
can have fresh croissants on more than one occasion.
To make these croissants I also had some assistance from some
great new Joseph Joseph baking tools, in particular the fin silicone
bowl scraper that has a base so you can stand it up when you’re not
using it.
They also have a baking utensil that can help with glazing your
finished pastries, it’s a great little refillable pastry brush that you put
your egg wash or milk into and then you can squeeze it out and use
the silicone pastry brush to apply just the right amount.
The other main difference with this croissant recipe is that you froze it
between turns for 20 minutes at a time, rather than chilling the dough
in the fridge for a couple of hours. I found the freezer method worked
really well for me and it produced a really great dough. There was lots
of lamination and the butter spread very evenly, the pastry was hard to
work, you needed very strong arms to roll out all of that frozen butter.
I also rolled these individual croissants out a lot longer than usual, so
that you get a tighter croissant with more rolls, this recipe asks you to
roll each individual triangle out to 30cm and it made the croissants
look much better.
Croissants
Bouchon Bakery
This is a recipe for delicious flaky buttery croissants from
Bouchon Bakery. These take a little time and patience, but
they're really worth it.
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
PREP TIME6hours hrs
COOK TIME30minutes mins
TOTAL TIME6hours hrs 30minutes mins
COURSEPastry
CUISINEFrench
SERVINGS16
INGREDIENTS
***Poolish***
100 g Strong White Bread Flour
Pinch of Instant Yeast
100 g Water room temperature
***Butter Block***
330 g Butter in one block
***Dough***
500 g Strong White Bread Flour
75 g Granulated Sugar
10 g Instant Yeast
200 g Water room temperature
100 g Unsalted Butter softened
15 g Salt
Egg
INSTRUCTIONS
1. To make the poolish combine the flour and yeast in a
medium bowl and mix with your fingers. Pour in the
water and mix until thoroughly combined. The mixture
should have the consistency of a thin pancake batter.
2. Cover the bowl loosely with cling film and let it sit at
room temperature for 12-15 hours. The mixture will be
bubbly and ready for use.
3. Make a butter block by combining the butter on a piece
of grease proof paper, then place another piece of paper
on top and hit the butter with a rolling pin to begin to
flatten it. Keep flattening the butter into a rectangle that
is 15cm x 20cm.
4. Wrap it tightly in the grease proof paper and refrigerate
it until you are ready to use it.
5. To make the croissant dough, mix the flour, sugar and
yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough
hook and give it a quick mix on the lowest setting to
distribute all of the ingredients evenly.
6. Pour about half the water around the edges of the bowl
of poolish to help release it, then add the contents of the
bowl along with the water (holding back 50g) to the
mixer.
7. Add the butter and mix on low speed for 2 minutes to
moisten the dry ingredients. Scrape down the sides and
bottom of the bowl to make sure all the flour has been
incorporated.
8. Sprinkle the salt over the top and mix on low speed for 2
minutes to dissolve the salt. If the mixture feels at all dry
add the reserved water in very small amounts as
needed. Continue to mix on low speed for 20 minutes.
9. Run a bowl scraper around the sides and bottom of the
bowl to release the dough and turn out onto the work
surface. Stretch the left side of the dough outward and
fold it over the centre of the dough, then stretch and fold
the right side over to the opposite side, as if you were
folding a letter.
10. Repeat the process working from the bottom and then
the top. Turn the dough over, lift it with a bench scraper
and place the dough back in the mixing bowl. Cover with
cling film and leave to sit at room temperature for an
hour.
11. Prepare a baking tray with baking parchment, uncover
the dough and use a dough scraper to release the dough
and turn it out onto a floured surface. Gently but firmly
pat the dough into a rectangle approximately 25cm by
19cm, press any large gas bubbles out of the dough and
place the dough on the baking tray and put it in the
freezer for 20 minutes.
12. Lightly flour the work surface and a heavy rolling pin.
Turn the dough out onto the work surface and lightly
dust the top with flour. Roll the dough outward from the
centre, rotating it frequently and flipping and fluffing it
from time to time, adding just enough flour to the work
surface, dough and or pin to prevent it sticking until you
have a rectangle of dough that is around 1cm thick.
13. Lay the butter block across the centre of the dough,
stretch and fold over the two longer sides so they meet
in the centre and pinch them together to seal.
14. Using the rolling pin, press down firmly on the dough
across the seam from one side to the other to expand
the dough. Turn the dough so a short end faces you. Roll
to expand the length of the dough turning the dough
over and adding flour only as needed, until you have a
rectangle that is 50cm by 22cm and 1cm thick.
15. Fold the bottom third of the dough up as if you were
folding a letter. Fold the top third down to cover the
bottom third. Turn the block 90 degrees, so the dough
resembles a book with the opening on the right. This
completes the first turn, return the dough to the pan,
cover with clingfilm and freeze for 20 minutes until the
dough is stiffened but not hard.
16. For the second turn, lightly dust the work surface with
flour, place the dough on the surface with the opening
on the right. Work quickly with the dough so it doesn't
warm up, but be careful not to expose the butter.
17. Expand the dough by pressing firmly with the rolling pin,
working up the length of the dough. If it cracks, stop a
minute and let the dough warm a bit more at room
temperature. Roll out the dough as before to a rectangle
that is 50cm by 22cm and 1cm thick. Repeat the letter
fold as before and return the dough to the freezer for 20
minutes.
18. For the final turn repeat the same as the step above and
then place the dough back in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Cut the dough crosswise in half, making two rectangles.
Cover two baking trays with parchment paper.
19. Lightly flour the work surface. Remove one piece of
dough from the freezer and position it on the work
surface with the short end towards you; transfer the
second piece of dough (if using at this time) to the
fridge.
20. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 50cm x 20cm. Turn the
dough so that a long side is facing you and trim it to a
neat rectangle. Trim the remaining sides only as needed
for straight edges.
21. Cut the dough in half, so that you have two squares.
Then cut each square in half so that you end up with four
rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally so that you
end up with 8 right triangles.
22. Hold one triangle up by the base with one hand and,
using your fingertips, gently pull the dough until it is
stretched to about 30cm.
23. Put the dough on the work surface, with the base of the
triangle close to you. cut a snip in the middle of the base
about 1.5cm long, roll the dough up from the wide end
to the tip. Put on a prepared sheet with the tail tucked
under. Repeat with the remaining 7 triangles of dough,
spacing them evenly on the baking tray.
24. If baking all the croissants now, repeat these steps with
the remaining dough in the fridge until you have 16
croissants.
25. Brush the croissants with the egg wash, cover the pans
with plastic tubs or cardboard boxes and let prove for
about 2 hours.
26. Position the racks in the upper and lower two-thirds of
the oven. Preheat to 170C Fan/190C/350°F.
27. Brush the croissants again with egg wash. Bake for 35-
40 minutes, rotating the pans once halfway through
baking and separating the croissants if they are
touching, until the tops are a rich golden brown and no
portions, particularly between the layers, look under
cooked. Set the pans on a rack and cool completely.
The finished croissants were flaky on the outside and nice and fluffy in
the middle with lots of layers and pockets of air, they were the best
croissants I have made, you should definitely try this recipe.
