Croissants Recipe
Most of the people think that the croissant belongs to the French cuisine, but it is not. The first example of coissant is an Austrian pastry kipferl, and it has an interesting story. Rumor has it that the Ottomans besieged Vienna and were digging tunnels at night to enter the castle. One night something they didn't plan happened when they came under the castle. All the people of the castle were sleeping but one, the bakers were preparing the breads for the early morning. They heard the noises of Ottoman soldiers and informed the soldiers. For celebration, the bakers prepared a crescent shaped pastry which they were inspired from the crescents on the Ottoman flag. later the kipferl went to France with the Austrian Marie Antoinette and took the name croisssant.
There are some things to know in order to make a good croissant in home conditions. First, you need to know what a croissant is and how it should be. The croissant is a multi-layered pastry made with yeast dough and butter. Even though it resembles to puff pastry, it is different than it. While the puff pastry dough is rolled in the same direction in each folding and consists of flat layers, the croissant dough is rolled by changing direction in each folding and the inside of the dough has honeycomb shape.
It's crispy on the outside and soft inside. The layers of the dough that make these honeycomb shape must be as thin as possible.
Things to be careful about croissant dough are as follows:
You must use high protein flour. This allows the dough to be rolled without tearing and also helps to form the desired honeycomb shape with its strong gluten texture.
All the ingredients and the heat of the kitchen should be cold. If you do not have air conditioning in your kitchen, the summer months are not suitable for making croissants.
You should not be hurry and respect the waiting periods.
You should make enough proofing and you should make proofing in a moist environment.
When you take them out of oven the inside of them would be too soft, almost dough like. So, either wait for them to cool down or don't get disappointed with what you see when you cut them in half.
Enjoy the recipe...
Croissants Recipe with Video
Ingredients
- 3 cups high protein flour,
- 1/2 cup cold milk,
- 1/2 cup cold water,
- 1 tablespoon butter,
- 3 tbsps sugar,
- 9 g fresh yeast,
- 2 tsps salt,
- 170 g butter for folding,
- 1 egg for topping,
- 1 tablespoon.
Preparation
- Mix water, milk, sugar and yeast in a deep bowl, start to knead by gradually adding the flour,
- Add the salt after you have added half of the flour,
- Add the remaining flour and knead to a firm dough,
- Add the butter to the dough and knead on the counter for 3-4 mins. until a smooth consistency (add flour if necessary),
- Shape the dough into a small rectangular, wrap with a plastic warp and set aside in the fridge overnight,
- Cut the butter into 4 slices, put them side by side on a parchement paper and cover over,
- With a rolling pin make a 15*15 cm square, cover and set aside in the fridge overnight,
- The next day roll the dough into a 15*50 cm rectangular, place the butterin the middle and fold the long edges over, stick the edges together (lock the butter in the dough),
- Roll into a 20*40-45 cm rectangular, cut the uneven edges, fold three folds like a business letter,
- Cover with a plastic wrap and set aside in the fridge for 30 mins.,
- Remove from fridge turn 90 degrees and into a 20*40-45 cm rectangular, cut the uneven edges, fold three folds like a business letter,
- Cover with a plastic wrap and set aside in the fridge for 30 mins.,
- Remove from fridge turn 90 degrees and into a 20*40-45 cm rectangular, cut the uneven edges, fold three folds like a business letter,
- Cover with a plastic wrap and set aside in the fridge for 30 mins.,
- Remove from fridge turn 90 degrees and into a 20*45 cm rectangular, cut the uneven edges,
- Cut into 8 triangles,
- Take one, pulling with your hand stretch out its length,
- Starting from the large edge roll it and place into a baking tray covered with wax paper,
- Prepare the remaining in the same way,
- In a small dish beat the egg with 1 tbsp water,
- Brush the croissants with the mixture,
- Put the tray in the oven,
- Place a bowl of boiling water in the oven, close the oven and wait 2 hours for proofing,
- Take the tray off and brush the croissants with the egg mixture one more time,
- Heat the oven to 210 C degrees,
- Place the tray into the oven and decrease heat to 190 C degrees,
- Bake until golden brown.
Bon appetit...