The Perfect Croissant
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The Perfect Croissant
Published by:
PastryFriends.com
Kronenburger Str. 28
50935 Cologne – Germany
Contact:
[email protected]
Website:
http://keikos-cake.com
http://PastryFriends.com
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You find the video of making the Croissant here:
http://keikos-cake.com/croissant
Note: You must be logged into your member account to view the video.
Ingredients for 8 croissants
Bread flour 250 g (8.8 oz.)
Water (warm) 50 g (1.8 oz.)
Yeast* (fresh) 14 g (0.5 oz.)
Sugar (one pinch)
Water (cold) 50 g (1.8 oz.)
Evaporated milk 35 g (1.2 oz.)
Sugar 30 g (1.1 oz.)
Salt 5g (0.18 oz.)
(that‘s slightly less than a tea spoon)
Butter 150 g (5.3 oz.)
Egg (for brushing)
*When using dry yeast instead of fresh yeast, use only 7 g (0.25 oz.)
Mix the salt, water, and evaporated milk in a
bowl and put it in the fridge for cooling.
Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Add a pinch
of sugar and set aside for few minutes.
Roll out the block of cold(!) butter in a plastic
bag.
You need a square of about 15x15 cm
(6x6 inches) size. Use a dough scraper to
correct the shape, if needed.
Put the butter (with the bag) in the fridge.
Mix all wet and dry ingredients in a large bowl
and work them into a dough.
When a ball forms, continue kneading the
dough on the table.
Fix the dough with one hand and apply
pressure to the dough with the other hand.
Roll out the dough to a ~20x20 cm (8x8 inches)
sheet.
Put the sheet into a large plastic bag and let
the dough rest it in the fridge for 90 minutes.
It‘s possible that the dough shrinks a little in
the fridge. If so, roll out the sheet to the
desired size of 20x20 cm (8x8 inches).
Wrap the dough around the butter as shown
in the pictures and close any remaining gaps.
Beat with the rolling pin to flatten the dough.
Roll the dough into a long rectangle and fold
in thirds.
Rotate the dough by 90° and roll out again to
a long rectangle.
Fold in thirds again. Wrap the dough in plastic
wrap and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Then put it in the fridge for 60 minutes.
TIP: The dough must be cold all the time. If the
butter melts, it‘s all over.
Therefore, if your dough warms quickly, put it in the
fridge for 20 minutes after the first folding. Then roll
out and fold again as described.
Roll out the cooled dough into a long
rectangle and fold in thirds.
Put in the freezer for 30 minutes. Then, put it
in the fridge for 60 minutes.
The dough is now ready to use.
Roll out to a 45x20 cm (18x8 inches) sheet. The
dough needs to rest (and cool) for a short
moment again. Fold it in thirds so that it fits
into the fridge.
Wrap in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge
for one hour.
10 cm
5 cm
10 cm
If the dough shrinked during cooling, roll out
again to the desired size of 45x20 cm
(18x8 inches).
Cut the rectangle into triangles as shown in
the pictures.
10 cm = 4 inches
5 cm = 2 inches
You can use the off-cuts to „fill“ the croissants.
You can freeze the croissants
(before fermentation) and
store them for weeks!
Stretch the back corners of the triangle outward
slightly. Then roll up the dough.
Place the croissants on the baking sheet. Cover with
a large plastic bag and let the dough proof in a warm
place until the croissants roughly doubled their size
(see image on next page). This is the final
fermentation process.
How long this takes depends on the temperature and
humidity. Here, it took three hours (temperature in
my kitchen: 20°C).
The temperature must be below 28°C (82°F).
Otherwise, the butter melts and the dough will not
rise nicely.
before after
Copyright © 2011 – keikos-cake.com – All Rights Reserved
Brush the dough with egg. Do not brush the
sides as this would prevent the dough from
rising nicely.
Bake for 10 minutes in your pre-heated oven
at 230°C (446°F). Then, lower the temperature
to 200°C (392°F) and bake for 5-8 more
minutes.
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