Happy Bread Sunday everyone! This week is our 14th wedding anniversary and Mrs. Dog loves croissants. So, croissants are what we will be making this week. They are actually not as hard as you might think, the dough being basic puff pastry dough, though they do take a little more focus and attention than other breads in this series. Since Mrs. Dog like them plain or Almond or Chocolate (and the Dog made all three types) the hound is going to give you each of the variations.
Croissants take at least 10 hours to make and can be stretched out to 36 hours, so plan ahead if you want to serve them for a special occasion. They have a lot of butter in them so they freeze very well so you might think about making them the week before and then reheat them when you want to serve them. That way you will have time for the rest of your special meal.
Croissant Dough:
Ingredients:
Dough
1 ½ cups whole milk
4 teaspoons dry yeast (about 1 ½ packages, but be sure to measure)
3 ½ cups all purpose flour (use unbleached it really makes a difference)
4 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
Butter layer
3 tablespoons unbleached flour
¾ pound (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter
Method:
For the dough, heat the milk in a small sauce pan until it feels just warm (110 degrees). Remove from heat and pour into a small bowl. Whisk in the yeast and set aside.
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir in the milk mixture and beat, by hand, for about 15 seconds or until the dough has a smooth appearance. The dough will be soft and sticky. Scrape the sides of clean with a spatula wrap tightly with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for 4 to 12 hours.
After the dough has been refrigerated, for a few hours make the butter layer.
To make the butter layer, scatter 3 tablespoons of flour on your work surface. Unwrap the butter and roll the sticks in the flour to coat. Pound the butter with a rolling pin, gently at first, and keep turning to keep the butter coated in flour. The butter will become soft and malleable but will not melt (weird the Dog knows, but trust him this works) . Press the butter occasionally with your fingertips to check the consistency. It should feel cool and pliable. Dust your hands with some more flour and knead all the butter together into a single mass.
If it is warm day, put in the refrigerator until you are ready to work it into the dough.
Scrape the work surface clear of any butter or leftover flour. Re-dust the work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto the surface. Don’t let it fold over itself as it can become too elastic to roll correctly.
Lightly flour the top of the dough and using the palms of your hands press it out into a 6"X 12" rectangle, with the short side at the bottom facing you.
Divide the butter into 8 fairly even pieces and press each quickly between your hands to flatten. Distribute the flattened butter pieces in a 6"X9" rectangle over the bottom two thirds of the dough.
Fold the top third (the part without butter) over the middle third. Then fold the bottom third up to cover the top and middle thirds. You are folding the dough like a business letter.
Position the dough on the work surface so the fold is on your left. Lightly flour the work surface and the dough. Using a rolling to press rather than roll, flatten the dough to ½ thick by pressing a series of horizontal lines into the dough.
Now you will roll, but be careful not to squeeze the butter from between the layers. You do not want to roll over the edges of the dough (the butter will escape for sure and it will be a total mess!). Quickly roll over the center (staying away from the edges!) until the dough is in a 12"X 24" rectangle.
Fold the narrow edges of the dough to the center, leaving a ½ inch gap. Then fold the dough over the at the gap.
Position the dough on the work surface so the fold is on your left. Lightly flour the work surface and the dough. Using a rolling to press rather than roll, flatten the dough to ½ thick by pressing a series of horizontal lines into the dough.
Now you will roll, but be careful not to squeeze the butter from between the layers. You do not want to roll over the edges of the dough (the butter will escape for sure and it will be a total mess!). Quickly roll over the center (staying away from the edges!) until the dough is in a 12"X 24" rectangle.
All of this is giving you lots and lots of thin alternating layers of butter and dough. This is what will give your croissants that flaky crustiness that they are so famous for.
When you are done with the second round of folding, pressing and rolling, slip the dough into a large plastic bag (you can fold it gently to fit if you need to) with room for expansion and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.
Plain Croissants:
½ recipe of croissant dough
1 egg, well beaten with a pinch of salt.
Baking pans – 2 baking sheets, covered with parchment paper.
Shaping:
Lightly flour the work surface and the dough. Using a rolling pin, press the dough into a 6" X 12" rectangle using the horizontal line method above. Keep a fine dusting of flour on the dough and the work surface to keep the dough from sticking.
Roll the dough gently across the dough until you have a 12" X 12" square. A couple of times as you roll, run your hands under the dough to allow it to spring back to a smaller size, if it wants to. This will prevent stretching and tearing of the dough as you work with it.
If the dough becomes really sticky and soft while you are working with it, pop it back in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm up.
Use a pastry wheel or pizza cutter to cut the dough in half, horizontally. Cut each strip into three 4" rectangle and then cut each of these into two triangles. When you are done it should look like this:
To form the croissants, gently stretch the base of each triangle until it is the same length as the other two sides. Fold about ½ inch of the bottom over and press with your fingers to seal. Using your left hand, grasp the point of the triangle and stretch it about three inches longer. While holding this stretched, roll the bottom of the triangle upward until you get to the point of the triangle. Place on parchment paper covered baking sheet with the point under the roll. Curve the ends in to make a crescent shape.
Repeat this step until all 12 of the croissants are done. They should be spaced with 2" on all sides. Cover with a clean tea towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise. This will take about 1 ½ hours. Do not bake under-risen croissants. They will be tough and chewy and generally disappointing. They will look puffy and not quite twice their original size when proofed.
About 20 minutes before the croissants are fully risen, set the racks in at the upper and lower thirds of the oven and pre-heat to 375 degrees.
Right before baking carefully brush the croissants with the egg wash, making sure that it does not puddle under the croissants. Back the croissants for about 23-25 minutes, until they are well risen, a deep golden brown color and feel light for their size when you lift them.
Immediately put them on a wire rack to cool.
Almond Croissants:
Ingredients:
½ croissant dough
¼ pound almond paste
1 egg white
¼ cup light corn syrup
Egg wash (1 egg well beaten with a pinch of salt)
1/8 cup sliced almonds
Beat the egg white with the almond paste until smooth. Set aside.
Roll and cut the croissants just like the plain ones, but when are ready to form them spread two teaspoons of the almond paste mixture along the bottom edge of the triangle. Fold over and form like the regular croissants.
When they are risen, brush them with the egg wash and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake the same as the plain croissants. When the croissants come out of the oven heat the corn syrup to a simmer and brush the croissants with it immediately after removing from the oven.
Chocolate Croissants:
These are formed a little differently. Trying to roll up the chocolate in the triangles is a giant pain, and frankly does not leave enough room for the amount of chocolate you would want anyway.
Ingredients:
½ recipe of croissant dough
8 ounces semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (do yourself a favor and use the Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate. You’ll thank the Dog for it).
Egg wash (1 egg, well beaten with a pinch of salt)
Lightly flour your work surface. As before work the dough with the pressing, then rolling technique. This time you are aiming for a 10" X 18" rectangle.
Use your pastry wheel or pizza cutter to cut the dough into two 5" X 18" strips. Cut each strip into six rectangles of 3" X 5" each.
Using half of the chopped chocolate, place some in the middle of each rectangle. Fold one of the 3 inch sides over the chocolate overlapping the edges slightly.
Place the pastry on the cooking sheet, seam side down, with 2" between the rolls on all sides. Cover with a clean tea towel or plastic wrap. Bake as the same as the other croissants.
Right before the pastries come out, melt the rest of the chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler (for the microwave, give it 30 seconds at a time, stirring between each time until the chocolate is fully melted and smooth.)
Immediately after removing the pastries from the oven and placing them on the wire rack, dip a spoon in the melted chocolate and drizzle over the croissants.
So there you go, now you can make the same love gift the Dog makes for his wife every year for your sweetie.
The flour is yours.