Croissants

Aparently croissants were created in Vienna in celebration of the victory over the Turks hence the crescent shape. It's amazing what you can find out while channel hopping between cooking programs.
Most people wouldn't bother making croissants at home but it is surprisingly easy. Two important things to remember when making croissants are;
Timing and temperature...
Croissants are generally eaten at breakfast so the dough must be prepared the night before and then you have to get up early to take the croissant dough out of the frig to allow the croissant to come to room temperature and then prove. Proving is allowing the yeast to rise and develop in the dough.
The temperature of the kitchen is very important. I had to make this recipe twice because it was about 30°c in the kitchen the first time and the butter kept squishing out making it impossible to create the layers nessessary to make the croissants rise.The second time the result was much better. I turned on the air-conditioner to keep the kitchen cool. So if it's too hot in the kitchen don't make croissants.
The croissant dough is similar to brioche but with layers of butter . Croissants rise due to a combination of yeast and the buttery layers. While not exactly an Italian pastry these are made from an Italian recipe in which they differ from French croissant because they are breadier and less flakey.


There are 3 parts to this recipe, yeast preparation, the dough and the butter.

For the yeast preparation;
150g type 0 flour or any white flour with gluten content of about 13%..
25g fresh yeast or about 7g dried yeast
100 ml tepid water
Mix the yeast and the flour together then add the water. Knead well for about 3 minutes. This can be done by hand. Place the yeast ball in a bowl and fill the bowl with enough tepid water to cover the ball. The yeast will develop and when it's ready the ball will rise to the top of the water. It only takes a few minutes. In the meantime weigh up the ingredients for the dough and place them into the mixing bowl.

Dough
350g type 0 flour
110g sugar
50g butter cut in to small pieces
7g salt
90g egg (About 1 1/2 eggs weighed without the shells. If you have more than 90g use the rest as egg wash to brush the croissant before they go in to the oven)
70ml milk

Keeping the 50g of butter aside, place all of the ingredients for the dough and the yeast ball into the mixing bowl and mix with the dough hook for about 8 mins or until the dough becomes firm but elastic. Add the butter and mix until the butter has been well mixed into the dough. Place the dough in the frig and prepare the butter.

Butter.
200g butter
25g flour ( I used type 0 flour but normal plain flour is fine too)
Mix butter and flour together using a fork or spoon. Place on baking paper and form into a square about 1cm thick then place in frig for about 30mins to cool..

When the butter and the dough are cool roll the dough into a rectangle roughly twice the length of the butter. Place the butter on the rectangle and close the croissant dough over the butter and seal the sides so that when you start to roll out the dough the butter can't squish out.
Allow the croissant dough to rest again for about 30mins.

Roll out the dough in one direction only and roll it to about 3 times its initial length then fold the dough into 3 equal layers and allow to rest again in the frig for at least 30 mins.

The next layers should be rolled out lengthways but in the opposite direction to the first layers so that each time you roll out the dough you are creating even layers. Imagine that the dough is a book. Keep the binding of the book ( the closed part of the dough) on your left and roll lenghtways from top to bottom. When the dough is long enough, fold it into 3. The next time you roll out the dough keep the closed part of the dough on your left and roll it length ways again. Rest the dough at least 30 mins in frig after each layer.

At this point you can either keep the dough covered in the frig until early the next morning or you can form the croissants and have them ready to take out of the frig and prove in the morning. I think it's much easier if you have time to form the croissant in the evening and leave them in the frig until the morning, provided you have enough space in the frig.

Roll the dough lengthways and sideways to about 5mm thick. Cut the dough into two lenghtways. Each side can be cut into about 9 triangles using the palm of your hand as a rough guide of the width.
Start with the base of the triangle closest to you and stretch the point of the triangle to lengthen it. Using both hands roll both of the points of the base of the triangle towards the top point and stretch them out as you roll. This takes a bit of practice. You can either join to two points or leave them open.

Croissants can be filled with jam or pastry cream or chocolate before being rolled.
If filling with jam before rolling, add about 1tsp rice flour or cornflour to about 100 g of jam to stop it from exploding out of the croissants while cooking.
Leave the croissants in the frig until the next morning. They will rise over night but will still be firm.

The croissants will need to prove before going into the oven whether or not they were rolled the night before. Place the rolled croissants on two baking trays with baking paper, about 9 croissants per tray. Place a flat tray of boiling water on the bottom of the oven and put the two trays in the oven. The water provides the warmth and humidity necessary for proving yeast products. This takes about an hour but the water will need to be changed during that time. Be careful not to over prove the croissants or they will start to collapse.

When they are ready for baking take them out of the oven, set the oven to 200°c and brush them with a little eggwash ( egg mixed with a little water).
When the oven has reached 200°c place the croissants in the oven and turn the temperature down to 180°c and bake until golden brown.