Daring Bakers - Croissants

It is Daring Bakers time....Hey I’m actually posting this on time for once.  I should write the wrong date every month.  I actually thought this was due on Sunday the 25Th.  Silly Rabbit!  I was so excited for this challenge.  Want to guess what it was?

Wait for it....

Croissants!  

Is there any other bread that is even more tempting than a buttery, flaky croissant?  I don’t think so.  I’m even drooling as I think about it.  Sara choose who doesn’t blog but enjoys baking choose the difficult process of croissant making.  This is not an easy feat in any case.  I have tried multiple times some even documented in this little blog.  Like my croissants as big as your head, the one step croissants and my tea party.  I took a different approach to this challenge.  Instead of using the directions provided, which are good, I took a class.  I had good experiences and bad with croissants and I knew that if I wanted to perfect the dish, I had to eventually take a class.  It was actually by accident that I had a class scheduled right before this challenge was due.  The class was at the Le Cordon Bleu for a series of shorts classes based on the show MasterChef.  I did learn that I kept on missing two important step, letting the dough relax a couple of times during the process and to roll the dough as thin as possible.  Here are some pictures of my adventures: (The first set is from my phone and it got a little dirty as I was taking pictures.)

   


Since this class was only a 3-4 hour class the dough was already made for us I promptly went home and made the dough myself.  Here the recipe the Chef gave us:
Croissant
(adapted from the Le Cordon Bleu)
12 oz of Cold Milk
0.165 oz of Instant Yeast
20 oz of Bread Flour
2 oz of Butter Soften lightly by the heat of your hand
1 oz of Sugar
0.4 oz of Salt
Beurrage
1 lb of Butter

Directions

1. First mix all of the ingredients except for the beurrage in a mixing bowl.  
2. Mix at a medium speed for a minute.
3. Remove from the bowl.  Bring the dough together and roll out the dough into the size of a ½ a sheet pan.
4. Let it rest and chill for 30 minutes.
5. When the dough is chilled remove from the refrigerator.  Prepare the beurrage.
6. Take the butter and smash and I mean smash it into a flat brick with the same width as the dough and and 1/3rd of the length.
7. Place the butter in the center of the dough than bring over the sides to reduce the length by a ⅓.
8. Roll out the dough with the steam until it is triple the size.  Fold the dough in thirds again.  
9. Let it chill again for 30 minutes
10. Remove from the fridge and than roll it until it is triple the size.
11. Repeat the step 8 one last time.
12. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 8-24 hours.  If you choose to freeze the dough at a later time, freeze it at this point.  
13. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out until it has a thickness of ¼ of an inch.  
14. Cut out long triangles and roll the dough until it is completely wrapped.
15. Let it proof from 30 minutes to an hour and a ½.  This depends on how warm the area is.  When it is soft to the touch it is ready to be in the oven.
16. Preheat the oven to 375F.
17. Egg wash the croissants than bake for 25-35 minutes or until it reachs a golden brown.

That is a lot of steps but it is totally worth it.

 

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The jam is from my friend Anna