The Fresh Loaf

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My 2nd Try at Croissant

Mebake's picture
Mebake

My 2nd Try at Croissant

That is ,If My first attempt did yield anything close to a croissant. I Was inspired by Akiko's Post here about her great croissants adapted from Steve's Great website: Breadcetera, and i had to try my luck at croissants.

 This time, i have managed to retain the butter in the layers in the oven, and not ending up with a puddle of molten butter. The Dough lamination went on smoothly, But I had to let the dough chill in the freezer for 25 minutes per session instead of the fridge, due to my warm kitchen.

Chilling my dough in the freezer lead to a prolonged final proof (3 hours), which were not enough. I was too scared to allow the dough ferment in my warmer kitchen, as the butter may melt.

Finally, i actually had Croissants, with Butter in them, and a lovely flaky texture, though not as airy as Akiko Croissants, But Considerably light.

Comments

yy's picture
yy

those look delicious. What do you think was the difference this time that allowed the butter to stay in the dough instead of melting? 

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thanks, yy.. During Lamination (rolling), the Butter was not allowed to melt and find its way out of the dough, by chilling it. In my case Refrigerator temperature wasn't low enough to hardern the butter , so i had to chill it in Freezer instead. Another factor was the Final proofing, as it was done at room temperature not higher, or else the butter will melt before the dough rises..

MadAboutB8's picture
MadAboutB8

Great job, Khalid.

I also had the problem with melting butter during final proofing as well last time I made croissant.

The recipe I used said proof the croissant at warm and humid place, and I put bowl of hot water next to the croissant tray...and voila, minor disaster happened, melted butter!

Sue

http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

What's your favorite butter to use or available?  I was just reviewing yesterday, top favorite butters all over the world.

Sylvia

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Very nice lamination's and perfect expansion. I'll bet they are/were delicious.

Eric

oceanicthai's picture
oceanicthai

yummy...would be so perfect right now

Syd's picture
Syd

You're braver than I Khalid.  Croissants are one of those things I have been promising myself I am going to do for years.  It has always looked like an awful lot of trouble but it certainly looks worth it.

Syd

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thank you, sue.. watching lots of youtube vids and reading TFL memebers blogs helped alot..

thanks sylvia. i use a regular butter 80% fat, nothing fancy.

Nice croissants, kayel!

Thanks eric,

Thanks, oceanicthai

Crissants are very easy to make... you have to make allowance for fina proofing though, 2-3 hours at least

lazybaker's picture
lazybaker

For airier croissants, the ideal room temperature for proofing them is at 75 F  or 23.9 C or less. Any hotter, the butter melts and the dough gets weak and tend to collapse when baked. 

Also, preheating the oven to 475 F or 246 C and bake for 5 minutes help the croissants to really puff and expand. After the 5 minutes lower the temperature 204 C and then to 191 C. And bake until the insides are baked thoroughly. If the insides don't get thoroughly baked, it causes the croissants to collapse. 

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thanks for the advice, lazybaker..! I admire your post on croissants... i learned much fom them.. thank you again..!

teketeke's picture
teketeke

Great looking croissants, Khalid!

I missed your great post for a couple days... They look yummy, Khalid!!!  I couldn't do a good job at all at my first try. The second try was not so good, either. Then, I learned that I keep the dough and the butter at the same temperature to laminate smoothly.  What degree is your kitchen?  I let my crossaints dough in the laundry room where is humid and little warm ( I checked the temperature that I supposed that is the same. it was 26℃ around) 

Your shaping is much better than mine, Khalid! 

Akiko

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thanks, akiko! I understand, you should be traumatized by now as you watch the disturbing news from Japan. I Pray for all Japanese who suffer now... may God bestow his Mercy on them.

teketeke's picture
teketeke

Thank you for your thoughtful words, Khalid.  Yes, Floyd's support deffinetely helps my people. Thank you so much for your word, Khalid.

Akiko