Quarantine baking: croissants
May. 18th, 2020 01:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nonelvisI have always wanted to make croissants, while also always being terrified of making laminated pastry. It looks so complicated! And like it's so much work! Probably not worth the effort!
But then I acquired a 25lb. bag of flour and some other baking supplies from a nearby pub that had switched to grocery sales while restaurants remain closed, and even though I gave half of it to my sister and a friend, that still left me with 12-ish pounds of flour to bake with.
CROISSANT TIME.
Several friends and I agreed to try this at the same time, which was great for moral support, especially after the brave one who went first reported excellent results from King Arthur Flour's baker's croissants recipe. So I read that and the associated blog post approximately 50 times until I felt like I understood what things would look and feel like at each step, sent the spouse out to buy fancy (well, semi-fancy) butter, and got to work on Saturday.
The first step was to make a yeasted sponge to be rolled into a 12" square, as well as an 8" square of whipped butter. I was smart enough to shape the butter on plastic wrap, but the dough was much floppier and harder to work with. It took two of us to wrestle the thing onto some plastic wrap and into the fridge to rest for half an hour. But once both squares were rested, I laid them out at 45° angles to each other, folded up the edges, and rolled like mad.
And you know something? That floppy, impossible dough was an absolute dream to work with once it had rested and chilled a tiny bit. I'd expected that I'd be rolling the dough out for 15-20 minutes; instead, I had it to the right dimensions for the first fold within five minutes, and had both of the first two "turns" done within ten. (A "turn" involves rolling the dough out to a long rectangle and folding it up into thirds. You then rotate it 90°, and repeat the rolling/folding process for the second turn.)
After it had rested, I repeated the process, let it rest again, then cut it in half. (That half is now in my freezer for future fine enjoyment.) Honestly, it looked like pizza dough here rather than something with clearly laminated layers, but I kept going.
I rolled out the dough into a long, thin rectangle; cut that into sixths; and cut each of the resulting rectangles into two triangles. These could then be rolled up from the short end to the point and curved to form a crescent shape. (The ones below included chocolate – I did another six plain ones – and there are also a couple cinnamon-sugar ones just rolled up from dough scraps.)
These then sat in the fridge for half an hour, followed by 90 minutes on my counter for a final rise. I held my breath and put them in the oven, and when they emerged ... well ...
... they were croissants. Perfect, flaky, buttery, gorgeous croissants.
Honestly, I still can't believe I did this, and moreover, that it was vastly easier than I expected. Literally the hardest part was patting that @!@#$!@#$ sponge into a 12" square and maneuvering it into the fridge without it losing too much of its shape. I mean, I don't see myself doing this often, not in the least because with only two of us in the house, the last thing we need is a dozen croissants on a regular basis, but still: croissant achievement unlocked, and well worth the effort.
But then I acquired a 25lb. bag of flour and some other baking supplies from a nearby pub that had switched to grocery sales while restaurants remain closed, and even though I gave half of it to my sister and a friend, that still left me with 12-ish pounds of flour to bake with.
CROISSANT TIME.
Several friends and I agreed to try this at the same time, which was great for moral support, especially after the brave one who went first reported excellent results from King Arthur Flour's baker's croissants recipe. So I read that and the associated blog post approximately 50 times until I felt like I understood what things would look and feel like at each step, sent the spouse out to buy fancy (well, semi-fancy) butter, and got to work on Saturday.
The first step was to make a yeasted sponge to be rolled into a 12" square, as well as an 8" square of whipped butter. I was smart enough to shape the butter on plastic wrap, but the dough was much floppier and harder to work with. It took two of us to wrestle the thing onto some plastic wrap and into the fridge to rest for half an hour. But once both squares were rested, I laid them out at 45° angles to each other, folded up the edges, and rolled like mad.
And you know something? That floppy, impossible dough was an absolute dream to work with once it had rested and chilled a tiny bit. I'd expected that I'd be rolling the dough out for 15-20 minutes; instead, I had it to the right dimensions for the first fold within five minutes, and had both of the first two "turns" done within ten. (A "turn" involves rolling the dough out to a long rectangle and folding it up into thirds. You then rotate it 90°, and repeat the rolling/folding process for the second turn.)
After it had rested, I repeated the process, let it rest again, then cut it in half. (That half is now in my freezer for future fine enjoyment.) Honestly, it looked like pizza dough here rather than something with clearly laminated layers, but I kept going.
I rolled out the dough into a long, thin rectangle; cut that into sixths; and cut each of the resulting rectangles into two triangles. These could then be rolled up from the short end to the point and curved to form a crescent shape. (The ones below included chocolate – I did another six plain ones – and there are also a couple cinnamon-sugar ones just rolled up from dough scraps.)
These then sat in the fridge for half an hour, followed by 90 minutes on my counter for a final rise. I held my breath and put them in the oven, and when they emerged ... well ...
... they were croissants. Perfect, flaky, buttery, gorgeous croissants.
Honestly, I still can't believe I did this, and moreover, that it was vastly easier than I expected. Literally the hardest part was patting that @!@#$!@#$ sponge into a 12" square and maneuvering it into the fridge without it losing too much of its shape. I mean, I don't see myself doing this often, not in the least because with only two of us in the house, the last thing we need is a dozen croissants on a regular basis, but still: croissant achievement unlocked, and well worth the effort.
no subject
on 2020-05-18 06:05 pm (UTC)My experiments with yeast rising so far this quarantine have not been as successful :(. But these don't look too hard ... maybe if I"m feeling adventurous I'll give them a try.
no subject
on 2020-05-18 06:35 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2020-05-18 08:16 pm (UTC)"Yeasted Sponge" is a great term, but I can't decide whether it should be a post-punk band name or a reference to a birth-control device that's been left in too long.
no subject
on 2020-05-18 09:27 pm (UTC)