Croissant

Ingredients

Detrempe

• 500 gT45 or T55 French flour
• 10 gfine salt
• 55 gcaster sugar
• 12 gfresh yeast
• 140 mlcold whole milk
• 140 mlcold water
• 50 gsoftened butter
• 10 gmalt powder or honey (optional)

Beurre de tourage

• 280 ghigh-fat dry butter, 82–84 percent fat, from Charentes or Normandy, cold

Egg wash

• 1whole egg plus 1 yolk, beaten with a pinch of salt

Directions

1. Mix all the detrempe ingredients on low speed for 4–6 minutes into a smooth dough finishing at about 24°C (75°F). Do not over-develop it; too strong a gluten fights the lamination and tears the butter layers.
2. Shape into a flat rectangle, wrap, rest 1 hour at room temperature, then chill 6–12 hours at 4°C (40°F). That long cold rest is where the flavour comes from.
3. Beat the cold butter between two sheets of paper into an even 18 by 18 cm square and chill it to 12–14°C (55–55°F). Butter and dough must have the same plasticity or the butter shatters into shards inside the dough.
4. Roll the dough to 18 by 36 cm, lay the butter square on one half, fold the other half over and seal the edges completely so no butter can escape.
5. Roll out to 20 by 60 cm and give one double book fold, then chill 1 hour. Roll again and give one single letter fold, then chill another hour. Three layers of butter become twenty-seven.
6. Roll the block out to 3.5 mm thick and about 40 cm wide, returning it to the fridge if it starts to fight back, then trim the edges square so the layers are open at the cut.
7. Cut triangles with a 10 cm base and a 25 cm height. Nick the centre of each base 1 cm deep, stretch the triangle gently, and roll from base to tip under light pressure, finishing with the tip tucked underneath.
8. Prove at 24–26°C (75–80°F) for 2–3 hours until visibly puffed, jiggling when the tray is shaken, and roughly doubled. Above 27°C (80°F) the butter melts out and the croissants fry in their own fat.
9. Egg-wash the tops carefully, keeping the wash off the cut layers at the sides, and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 8 minutes, then 180°C (350°F) for a further 8–10 minutes until deep amber and lacquered.
10. Cool on a rack at least 20 minutes. Pull one apart: it should show an open honeycomb crumb and a clear spiral, and shatter into flakes when bitten.

Technique

• Temperature is the entire craft. Dough and butter both want to be around 12–14°C (55–55°F) at every roll; too cold and the butter cracks, too warm and it merges into the dough and you have made brioche.
• The proof is the step home bakers rush. Under-proved croissants leak butter and bake dense; a properly proved one wobbles like jelly on the tray.
• Use high-fat, low-water dry butter. Ordinary butter carries more water, which flashes to steam too early and blows the layers apart.
• By convention in France a croissant au beurre is shaped straight, and the curved crescent shape is reserved for the margarine version.

Substitutions

• No T45: strong white bread flour cut with 20 percent plain flour works, though the dough is more elastic and needs longer rests between turns.

Variations

• Pain au chocolat, the same dough cut into rectangles around two batons of dark chocolate.
• Croissant aux amandes, day-old croissants soaked in syrup, filled with frangipane, topped with flaked almonds and baked again.

History

Descended from the Viennese kipferl, sold in Paris from 1839 at August Zang’s boulangerie viennoise; the puff-pastry version dates from the early 1900s.

Frequently asked questions

What is Croissant?

Croissant is a bread & pastry from France: flaky laminated butter pastry, the breakfast icon. Descended from the Viennese kipferl, sold in Paris from 1839 at August Zang’s boulangerie viennoise; the puff-pastry version dates from the early 1900s.

How long does Croissant take to make?

Croissant takes 1 hr spread over 2 days of preparation and 18 hr including chilling, 18 min baking of cooking. The recipe makes 12 croissants. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Croissant?

Yes, within limits. No T45: strong white bread flour cut with 20 percent plain flour works, though the dough is more elastic and needs longer rests between turns.

What is the most important thing to get right in Croissant?

Mix all the detrempe ingredients on low speed for 4–6 minutes into a smooth dough finishing at about 24°C (75°F). Do not over-develop it; too strong a gluten fights the lamination and tears the butter layers.