OBA Heartmade Goodies: Les Croissants

Le Croissant is a crescent shaped roll generally made with a leavened dough layered with some sort of fat.

There are two theories to where the croissant originated.

The first says that the croissants came from Budapest, Hungary in 1686. When the Turks were invading the city, they dug an underground passage to reach the center of the town. The Hungarian bakers, who were working at night heard the noise and gave the alarm.

People took action and the country was saved.

The bakers who saved the country were then granted the privilege of making a special pastry in form of a crescent in memory of the emblem on the Ottoman flag.

The second theory states that the Croissant was first seen in The Paris World Fair when brought by the Austrians in 1889. They were originally enriched yeast-raised breads shaped into a crescent.

Around the 1920, the French improved the dough adding the lamination technique, thus making a flaky, moist, rich and tender pastry.

Apart from the real invention, I do believe that the real Croissant has also created the real purpose for the use of butter.

Here goes a great Croissant Recipe

1/2 oz Dry Yeast
7 oz Water

3 oz Sugar
1/2 oz Salt
1 1/4 oz Dry Milk
3 oz Butter (chilled)
17 oz Water
1 lb 3 oz Bread Flour
1 lb 3 oz Ap Flour

Procedure

Making the Detrempe (The initial dought):

Heat a 425 F Oven

Proof 7 oz of warm water and the dry yeast.

Combine the dry milk and 17 oz of water.

Combine the flours, sugar, butter (3 oz) and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix briefly.

Pour in the proof yeast mixture and milk mixture and mix until the dough forms. If necessary, turn the dough out onto the work surface and knead briefly just to bring the ingredients together.

Put the dough it in a container, cover it with wrap and let it rise in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

Preparing the Layers:

Slice the chilled butter into thin (1/3 inch) malleable pieces. If it gets too soft put it back in the refrigerator.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature before rolling.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle three times longer that its width and about the same thickness as the butter pieces.

Cover the upper 2/3 of the dough with the sheets of butter. If they are not to pliable press them with your fingers when laying them on the dough.

Fold the top 1/3 up over the center 1/3 of the dough. Fold the upper 1/3 down over the middle 1/3 and to seal the packet. This way of forming is called an Envelope Fold although this does not count as your first envelope fold, you are just folding in the fat.

Now you will do Four more envelope folds.

Turn the packet 1/4 to the right so that the fold is on your left hand. All edges and corners should be kept as square as possible. To keep it square, square it constantly with your bench scraper while adding sprinkles of flour to the surface when the dough starts sticking.

Gently roll out the dough to a rectangle again that is 3 times longer than it is wide.

Now make your First Envelope Fold. Chill the dough if it starts getting too soft to work with.

Again, roll out the dough 3 times as long as wide, keeping your fold to your left side.
Repeat rolling and folding and make your Second Envelope Fold.

Wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate 45 minutes or until cold.

Again, roll out the dough 3 times as long as wide, keeping your fold to your left side. Repeat rolling and folding and make your Third Envelope Fold.

Wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate 45 minutes or until cold.

Finally, roll out the dough 3 times as long as wide, keeping your fold to your left side. Repeat rolling and folding and make your Fourth Envelope Fold.

Wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate 45 minutes or until cold.

If your feel you would still like to have more layers in your dough, you can repeat this process and make a fifth envelope fold. Just remember that it ideal for you to have from 850 to 1500 layers in your Croissant laminated dough.

Final roll, cut shape and proof.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it warm slightly ( 15 minutes) before rolling it into a rectangle of approximate 1/4 inch thick.

For Classical Half Moon Croissants
Cut the dough into 6 inch squares and then cut them into half diagonally. Roll each triangle to extend its short point and then roll the triangle up towards the point.
Bend the two ends to make a crescent shape and place them 2 inches apart on a parchment paper lined sheet pan with the end point underneath.

For Square Filled Croissants
Cut the dough into rectangles ad the filling in one corner and roll.

Glaze
Brush your croissants with egg wash (1 egg whipped with a bit of water)

Proof the Shaped Croissants
Add a small hotel pan or bowl with hot steaming water to the corner of your Sheet pan, cover it so that your croissants are in a warm steamed environment and let your croissant rise until it holds its indentation when it is pinched with your finger (about double in size).

Bake until dark golden brown.

Obs: If the butter rips through your dough while you are rolling and folding, just cover it with some flour and continue rolling and moving it off the surface. The dough naturally has so much butter that a bit more flour while rolling it won't hurt it.

Below is the initial rolling of the Detrempe.