Morning Treat or Indulging in Croissants
Le bonheur est dans la feuille et pas dans le pré !
Makes the day brighter, right away!
I Am No Longer Scared of Croissants
Whenever we travel to France, P.’s love for boulangeries grows bigger and bigger. I thought that the phenomenon would start to fade away with the years, but non, mais pas du tout ! (Not at all!) I can still remember the first time when he and I were wandering along the streets of Metz. He could not stop running to every single boulangerie window he saw, almost clapping in his hands, keen and impatient to try everything nos amis les boulangers were selling. To tell the truth, this behavior made me a little concerned and nerveuse at the time since, despite the fact that P. never seems to put weight on whatever he eats, at that point, I really thought that he was going to transform himself in a big fat croissant. Énorme ! Thank God that this never happened in spite of the daily pains aux raisins which he happily kept eating every morning during our stays. My mum, who is quite an observer — or is it that easy to spot his weakness? — , had very quickly noticed her gendre‘s (son-in-law) strong attraction to viennoiseries en tout genre and so, every morning, she would sneak out to walk to the village bakery in order to buy une schneck for Monsieur (’cause this is really what we call them in my Lorraine), so that he would wake up and walk to the kitchen table to find them for breakfast. What a treat that was!
Until recently, I had not tried my hand at making croissants. But I have eaten many croissants in my life. Good and not so good. Normal. I am not yet sure how and why this fell on me, but yesterday, I suddenly decided that I wanted to make Monsieur happy with some viennoiseries. Far from being perfect in shape — mind you, this was my first time and with every first time, the good news is that there is a lot of room for improvement — , the taste however was really worth the efforts put in it. Making croissants is not particularly difficult once you understand the steps, it just takes time!
The process involved into making croissant dough is very similar to the one followed for puff pastry. Alternating layers of dough give these delicate sweet treats their wonderful flaky texture. Une belle pâte feuilletée. To achieve this successful result, you only need to follow patterns and repeat them. Folding croissant dough is actually similar to what you do when closing a book; one, two, three times minimum in order to make it flaky. The recipe I used to make my croissants comes from Leslie Mackie’s lovely Macrina Bakery and Café Cookbook
A few Steps Involved
The layers in the dough
Working with the butter block
Making triangles and brushing with egg yolk
Before the croissants go in the oven, they proof at room temperature for 2 hours minimum
Oven temperature 380 F. Ready? It only takes 15 to 20 mns to cook them. Rising slowly but surely in the oven.
I did it!
Happy.
Then came the first bite.
Maybe this is what P. felt the first time when he saw a French boulangerie and had his first pain aux raisins. As my first croissant came out of the oven, I could see the imperfections here and there — I really need to know how to draw lines straight! — , what I would change next time and do differently — I was so impatient that I cut down on the last rising time, but know I should not have — , but then I had the first bite and for a second, I forgot it all. “Mmmmmmmm, alors là, pas mal !” (Yum, not bad at all!)
Playing boulangère d’un jour (Baker of one day), I loved trying my hand at these! Of course, they require time and attention, but if you have time, why not you!
Step one was making croissants, step two will be another delicious treat that I will present in a future post.
I need a cup of tea now….
Note: I am not sure whether next time I would add the vanilla extract which surprised me when I read about it, but it was good to follow the recipe ingredient list to see how it worked.
Recipe adapted from the Macrina Bakery and Café Cookbook
You need:
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 Tbsp dry yeast
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All-purpose flour
- 3 sticks unsalted butter (12 oz), chilled
Steps:
Day One
To Make the Pre-Dough
- Heat the milk in a pot until it is warm to the touch (be careful not to overheat it). Pour into a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top, then the sugar and vanilla. Mix and leave it to froth for about 5 mn.
- In a separate bowl, combine 3 cups of flour with the salt, and mix with a wooden spoon (I used my hands). Add the flour mixture to the milk gradually and mix until just combined. Cover the dough with a plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight (or for 8 hours). It should almost double in size while in the fridge.
Day Two
- Take the pre-dough out of the refrigerator.
To Make the Butter Block
- Cut the chilled butter into 12 equal pieces and mix it with 3 Tbsp of flour until the butter is completely smooth (use a stand mixer if you have one, with paddle attachment). Scoop the butter mixture onto a well-floured surface and shape it into a 6″square (about one inch thick). This becomes your butter block. Place it in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
To Make the Croissant Dough
- On a well-floured surface, pat the pre-dough into a square. Stretch each corner outwards about 4″ making an X shape. Place the butter block in the middle and fold the stretched corners of the dough over the butter block. Pinch the seams together to completely seal the butter inside the dough. Sprinkle the dough with some flour and roll the dough into a 12 x 20″ rectangle. If the butter shows in places, pinch the dough to reseal it.
Folding the Dough
- Place the longer side of the rectangle in front of you and fold the left and right sides to the center so that they meet. Then, turn your dough at a 90 degree angle and fold the left side of the dough to the middle, then the right side over it, as if closing a book. Put the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 30 mns.
Take it out of the fridge and leave it at room temperature for 15 mns. Repeat the folding process two more times (roll into a rectangle, fold the two sides to the center, fold as if to close a book, chill). Once the 3 foldings are done, chill the dough one last time for 30 mns.
To Shape the Croissants
Note: this is not included in the original recipe, but my own addition
- Cut your dough in two halves and roll one half into a rectangle (place the other half back in the fridge in the meantime, for more croissants or another treat which I will present later on). Cut triangles in the rectangle and make a small slit at the base of the triangle. Roll starting from the base of the rectangle to the tip. Brush the croissants with one beaten egg yolk and let rest for 2 hours minimum in a warm room (70 F minimum).
- Preheat your oven at 380 F. Cook the croissants for about 20 mns, or until they have a nice golden color. Enjoy immediately!
recette adaptée du livre the Macrina Bakery and Café Cookbook
Ingrédients :
- 360 ml lait entier
- 1 1/2 càs de levure de boulanger sèche
- 3 càs de sucre de canne fin
- 2 càs d’extrait de vanille
- 1 1/2 càc de sel
- 375 g + 3 càs de farine multi usage
- 340 g de beurre non salé (12 oz), froid
Étapes :
Premier jour
Pour réaliser la détrempe
- Faites chauffer le lait dans une casserole jusqu’il soit chaud au toucher (ne le faites pas bouillir). Versez-le dans un grand bol et saupoudrez la levure dessus, puis ajoutez le sucre et la vanille. Mélangez et laissez de côté pendant 5 mns.
- Dans un autre bol, combinez les 375 g de farine avec le sel et mélangez avec une cuiller en bois (J’ai utilisé mes mains). Ajoutez petit à petit la préparation de farine au lait et mélangez, sans trop travailler la pâte. Couvrez la pâte avec du film étirable et mettez-la au frigo toute la nuit ( ou au minimum 8 heures). Elle doit presque doubler de taille au frigo.
Deuxième jour
- Sortez la détrempe du frigo.
Pour réaliser le bloc de beurre
- Coupez le beurre froid en 12 morceaux de taille égale et mélangez-le à 3 càs de farine (utilisez un robot si vous en avez un). Mettez le beurre sur une surface bien fariné et formez un carré de 15 cm (2,5 cm d’épaisseur environ). C’est votre bloc de beurre. Emballez-le dans du film étirable et mettez-le au frigo.
Pour réaliser la pâte à croissants
- Sur une surface bien farinée, travaillez la détrempe pour former un carré. Étirez-la et donnez-lui la forme d’un X en tirant sur chaque coin vers l’extérieur de 10 cm. Placez le bloc de beurre au milieu et recouvrez-le avec les coins de pâte étirés. Fermez les “coutures” pour couvrir tout le beurre. Saupoudrez de farine et étalez la pâte pour former un rectangle de 30 x 50 cm. Si le beurre est visible à certains endroits, recouvrez-le à nouveau.
Pour plier la pâte
- Placez la partie longue de votre rectangle face à vous et repliez les côtés gauche et droit pour qu’ils se rejoignent au milieu. Puis, tournez la pâte de 90 degrés (on appelle cela un tour) et pliez le côté gauche et le côté droit comme si vous fermiez un livre à chaque fois. Emballez-la dans du film étirable et mettez-la au frigo pendant 30 mns.
Sortez la pâte du frigo et laissez-la à température ambiante pendant 15 mns avant de recommencer la même opération, deux fois encore (étalez-la en forme de rectangle, pliez les deux côtés au centre, donnez un tour et pliez-la avant de la remettre au frigo). Une fois les 3 tours terminés, remettez la pâte au frigo pendant 30 mns.
Pour donner forme aux croissants
Remarque: cette partie n’est pas incluse dans la recette dont je me suis inspirée. Ce sont mes notes.
- Coupez la pâte en deux et étalez une moitié en forme de rectangle (remettez l’autre partie au frigo pour une autre fournée de croissants, ou un autre usage que je vous présenterai bientôt). Découpez des triangles réguliers dans le rectangle. Faitez une incision au milieu de la base de chaque triangle, et rouler votre pâte en commençant par la base en direction de la partie pointue. Badigeonnez chaque croissant d’un jaune d’oeuf battu et laissez-les lever pendant deux heures, minimum dans une pièce chaude (20 C minimum).
- Préchauffez votre four à 190 C. Cuisez les croissants pendant environ 20 mns, ou jusqu’à ce qu’ils aient une belle couleur dorée. Dégustez sans attendre!
