Have you ever tasted real French croissants ? Do you want to know how to make the most famous French viennoiseries in the world ? In this article, you will find all the steps to make crispy homemade croissants like a professional baker.
Do you know there are no less than 30 steps to make a croissant ?
Making croissants is all about repetition, precision and regularity. Each step requires technique and concentration, that’s why making a very good croissant is technical. In general, a good croissant is characterized by: a well honeycombed crumb, a crisp and coloured turning, a rounded shape, and a buttered taste. The key to a good croissant is time.
Prepare all the ingredients before starting the recipe. This is a long process (2 days), so make sure you’re not in a hurry.
And don't miss the disclaimer at the end of this recipe !
INGREDIENTS
POOLISH:
100 g flour (T45)
20 g baker’s yeast
50 g water
50 g low fat milk
DOUGH:
250 g flour (T55)
250 g flour (T45)
60 g sugar
125 g water
12 gr baker’s yeast
10 g flaky salt
125 g low fat milk
50 g soft butter
100 g poolish or leaven
275 g butter (French butter from Normandy if you have)
1 egg
DIRECTIONS
POOLISH OR LEAVEN :
- Prepare in a bowl all the ingredients : mix the crumbled baker’s yeast, add the milk and water until the yeast is completely diluted, then add the flour.
- Whisk vigorously to obtain a smooth and homogeneous paste and to stimulate gluten molecules.
- Leave to rise for 30 minutes in a warm place. Cover it with the flour previously weighted for the principal dough and a cling film.
THE DOUGH :
- There is two options :
If you have a baking mixer (for exemple a KitchenAid) : pour the poolish/leaven into the bowl, then cover it with the flour, salt, sugar and the butter. Melt the butter before incorporating it. Mix using the hook during 2 min, then immediately pour in the yeast previously diluted with water and milk. Continue kneading on medium speed; for 8 min until the dough is well homogeneous.
If you don’t have a baking mixer : put the flour on the work surface, place the poolish/leaven and cover it with flour. Add the salt and the sugar. Dilute the yeast with water and milk. Create a volcano on the middle of the flour and pour the previous mix (yeast, water & milk). This mix must not be in contact with the salt and the sugar. Start to mix all the ingredients slowly to homogenize the dough. When all the ingredients are well incorporated, start hitting the dough against the work surface during 8 minutes. This is the process to give the dough fullness and body.
- Roll out the dough and cover the dough with a cling film (with contact) so that it’s no longer comes into contact with the ambient air. This will prevent it from crushing.
- Then place it in the refrigerator overnight.
LAMINATING :
- Take out the butter 30 minutes before pounding it. Spread it with a rolling pin, giving it the shape of a rectangle . Length doesn’t matter, what matter is to have the same width as our dough (20 cm)
- Roll out the dough in length. The dough should cover both sides of butter. Place this butter rectangle in the middle of the dough rectangle, then make the first turn by folding, edge to edge, each end of the dough towards the centre of the butter, without overlapping them.
- Spread it all out with a rolling pin to obtain a strip whose width should be one third of the length. Fold the whole thing over again, superposing the dough in thirds, like a wallet.
- During this process, the dough and the butter should be cold enough to see layers. Butter shouldn’t run through the dough. When you think the dough isn’t cold enough, stop everything and place it to the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Turn the dough a quarter turn (90 degrees), then roll it out until you get a new similar strip. Be careful, remember how did you turn the dough ( to the left or to the right) because now, you will turn it always the same way to keep the turning structured.
- Then proceed to a second turn identical to the first and then to a third. Give the dough a 2 hours rest in the refrigerator between each turn. It will allow the croissant to have well marked layers.
- After the last turn, wrap the dough with cling film and leave it to rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
CUTTING
- Roll out the dough, from left to right, into a long strip of 5 mm thick. Cut triangles with a large knife : 8cm by 35cm.
- Then gently stretch the dough from the base to the tip, in order to obtain a longer length and have more body.
- Using your thumb and forefinger, roll the whole from the base to the top. Your gesture must be delicate.
- The tip of the top, thus rolled, must be positioned at the inner limit of the croissant, but especially not placed entirely below the croissant, otherwise the latter could not swell during cooking.
BAKING
- Let them grow at room temperature for 2h by covering them with a sheet of parchment paper to prevent them from crushing and placing a cup of warm water next to them. If you can, put them in your oven (turned off).
- Give the croissants a thin coating of egg. Be precise, do not cover layers
- Bake at 175°C/ 342°F for 15 to 20 min depending on your oven .
Final tips : with this recipe you can make a lot of viennoiseries like the pain au chocolat, the pain au raisin, or create your own viennoiseries. Hope you will have fun !
Disclaimer : This is a simple and concise recipe from my personal course. I wanted to give the clearest information as possible. If you want to make sure you succeed croissants , you can order my course on Udemy. You will find the complete and detailed recipe in videos. I give you all my personal advices that nobody (even professional) tells on Youtube or on baking forums to master this viennoiserie.
Click here : https://bit.ly/2spFbq4
See you soon for more articles
Lea from The Paris-Best
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