banner image

Croissant

Not just classic Croissant be pain au chocolate are also good with this dough.

Ingredients

1.5 tsp Dried yeast

1.5 tsp Sugar

1 mug of Tepid water

200ml Tepid milk

275g Butter (cold but not too hard)

12g Fine salt

50g Sugar

500g French type 55 flour

Egg wash (1 yolk mixed with 1tbsp milk)

Method

First make the yeast starter by dissolving 1.5 teaspoons of sugar in an inch or so of boiling water in a mug, two thirds fill the mug with cold water until it’s tepid and add the dried yeast and leave until it starts frothing.

Put the flour, salt, sugar into a mixing bowl and I usually stand the mug in the bowl too incase it overflows. Once the yeast is active add this and the tepid milk to the flour and mix. I do the whole process in the bowl, mixing and kneading for about ten minutes. Once the dough has come together wrap it in cling film and rest it in the fridge for one or two hours.

Lay a piece of cling film on to a work surface, place the butter on the cling film and fold the cling film over, then using a rolling pin make a rectangle of butter, approximately 5 mm thick and put to one side. Then unwrap the dough and roll out the dough so it will be large enough to fold over the butter. place the butter in the centre of the dough and fold in the edges so the butter is completely encased in dough.

The next stage is repeated three times

First turn – Lightly flouring the surface as necessary, roll the dough out to an 80cm x 30cm rectangle. Fold the rectangle into three. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

Second Turn – Give the chilled dough a quarter-turn, roll out to a rectangle, fold again, wrap and chill as above.

Third and final turn – Roll the dough out in the opposite direction from the previous turn to a rectangle and fold as before. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes (no more than 1 hour).

Shaping and Baking Croissants

You will need a triangular cardboard template, measuring 9cm across the base and 19cm high. Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dough (after its final turn) to a 65cm x 40 cm rectangle, 3mm thick. Lift it slightly off the work surface and flap to aerate it and prevent it from shrinking. Trim the four sides of the dough with a chef’s knife, then cut it in half lengthways to make two even sized bands. Using the template as a guide, cut the dough into triangles.

Lay a dough triangle on the work surface with the base towards you. Use the knife to make a 2cm deep incision in the middle of the base, pull the 2 points of the base slightly, then pull the point of the triangle.

Roll up the triangle starting from the base and continue until you reach the point.). Turn the points inwards to form a crescent. Repeat to make the other croissants as quickly as possible.

This makes 12 croissants, though I usually make six Pain au chocolate and six croissants with this batch of dough.

Once shaped leave to rise until double in size I often make these in the evening and leave them to rise over night and then bake them for breakfast. They can also be frozen. Preheat the oven to 220°C and then add the egg wash ( if you're freezing don’t egg wash and then freeze, egg wash just before cooking).