The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Croissant

pul's picture
pul

Croissant

In almost two years I tried to make croissants four times. I always thought they were too difficult to get right. The previous trials were not good, but this time I got something much better. Locking the butter in has been my greatest challenge, and the lack of patience to let the dough cool down is not minor either. I used a three-day old poolish to make the dough which gave a great flavor to the croissants. I am also satisfied with the honeycomb crumb structure. In spite of forgetting to add salt, the overall result and flavor are quite good.

 

TheBakerGuy's picture
TheBakerGuy

They look so good I'm now hungry for one! Croissant is something I'd like to build up my skill a bit more before trying. Your outer sheen looks delectable. Any tricks?

pul's picture
pul

Winter is the best season to practice croissants since the temperatures are lower and the butter is not going to melt so quickly.

For the dough I have used a straight simple dough: 250 g bread flour, 20 g sugar, 5 g salt (which I forgot to add, but no problem in my opinion), 3.5 g instant yeast, and 125 g water. The amount of butter for the lamination was about 100 g. I have applied two layers of egg wash prior to baking. Regular beaten egg with 1 tablespoon water and a little sea salt. The method is from the book "How to Make Bread Step-by-Step..." by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou. I have also watched several Youtube videos which helped on the lamination quite a lot.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

These are one if the thinks a great baker has to master - at least once and now you have.

Well done and Happy baking Pul

pul's picture
pul

Once in a while it makes sense agree. Happy Holidays and Baking