November 12, 2013 - 4:54pm
Hello from Singapore!
Greetings everyone from every part of the world!!
I am from singapore and i am very new to baking. Hopefully i will find tips and idea from here.. Been trying to do croissants but due to the weather here it is absolutely hard.. Any pointers and advices?? Really glad to hear from all of you! Cheerss!!
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Welcome, passionne!
Croissants in a tropical environment must be tough. I've heard of folks (some discussion here and here) using chilled slabs of marble to work on and then using the fridge to keep it all cool while rising.
Good luck!
yes it's really tough.. i tried doing the first time and during the first folding my butter just melt away.. i guess i really have to be fast and practise more! thanks for the link!
hi passionne,
I notice more and more bakers from Singapore popping up on the forum! yes, it's really difficult to make croissants in the tropical weather. I tried a few times too. The main problem is doing it fast and evenly enough (without a sheeter) before the butter starts melting. It's will even take more tries if you are new to bread baking as croissants require both carefully fermentation and laminating to work out well.
Txfarmer has a detailed series of blog post on croissants worth reading. Here's one of them dealing with the hot weather: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/23342/croissant-sourdough-starter-txfarmer-vs-tx-summer
All the best in your croissant experiments. Even if they do not turn out perfectly laminated, they still make a buttery brioche!
-Tim
yea It's really tough in a tropical country but i will continue trying.. hahaha. croissant is my favourite. really have to do alot of practising. i am just wondering when they say after your shaping you will still have to proof for the final time, and the best temperature is 22 - 24 degrees celcius. But in my country, the temperature can easily hit up to 30 plus degrees celcius.. i was wondering if i could do the final proof in the fridge..
Oh yes by the way i read alot of bakers here use Plugra butter .. but i can't seem to find this brand of butter.. is ELLE & VIRE butter good enough? or President?? Anchor? I'm using SCS butter.
Is there any way you could work in an air-conditioned room? Many Singaporeans have air-conditioning. If you have a marble slab or even just a slab or board (e.g. from IKEA) or silicon mat, you could move everything into an air-conditioned room to do the rolling and incorporating of butter. And/or I would FREEZE (yup, freeze, not refrigerate) the board/mat and rolling pin before use. I used to proof my dough (not croissant dough, which I've never tried to make) in an air-conditioned room, but even that was not as cool enough as the ideal temp. Plus there's always the humidity factor. You could try proofing or at least partial proofing in the fridge and see if it works.
Plugra, i believe, is a US butter. President and Elle & Vire are perfectly good French butters to work with. good luck!
yes.. i guess that is the only way to work out the dough.. maybe i will have to try many times to know.. thanks!