Hi Everyone,  Thanks for stopping by !

You may be one of the lucky ones to have recently baked some of my fresh hand made croissants from Frozen.

I've created this blog as an extra resource for you to ensure that your croissants are the flakiest, tastiest & lightest croissants that you've ever had !

Let's get started shall we ?  :)

Step 1:  Remove your frozen croissants from the freezer bag and place on a baking sheet.  Chocolate ones should be placed seam side down.

 Step 2:  Let them raise overnight or for approx 9-10 hours.

For best results, they should be in a slightly warmer than room temp place (75F - 80F)

A trick to achieve this warm & humid atmosphere that will allow the yeast to really work is to add a tin pan at the bottom of your oven and pour some boiling water in it when you first start the rising process.  This added steam & heat will really assist in ensuring best results possible.

Here's an action shot.  Special Thanks to Katie for being a wonderful arm model.  Please Contact us for future bookings :)

 After 9-10 Hours the croissants should be fully proofed and be double to triple in size and slightly jiggly if you wiggle the pan. 

These ones actually proofed for 10 hours.  If yours don't look like this, you can try some things to set the mood for the yeast to really start working.

Tip 1:  Give them another steam bath & Let them sit for another hour

Tip 2:  Give them a little blast of heat.  Set your oven for only 200F and let it heat up for one minute (it won't actually get to 200F) for a quick shot of heat.  The point here is just to warm the surrounding air up a little bit and not make it too warm where the butter starts to melt out. 

After this heat blast - Sit back for a while and let the yeast do its thing ;)

Step 4:  Preheat your oven to 400F if using convection or 425F if not convection

Step 5:  Prior to baking brush with egg wash.  This will ensure a nice golden colour.

It really comes down to personal preference here.  If you have no eggs, milk or cream is fine.  No milk ?  Use water, or even nothing at all.

My personal favorite is to use just the egg yolk with a little bit of water.  This will make a nice dark & crispy coating - egg yolk is always the prettiest in my opinion.

 Tip:  At this point while your oven is heating, you can refridgerate the croissants.  What this does is set the butter even more.  This will ensure optimum flakiness ;~)

Step 6:  Bake for 20 minutes or until you have a deep golden brown.  Don't be afraid to go too dark here.. the darker the better and it sets them nicely. 

These ones baked the full 20 minutes.

Let Them rest on the pan for about 5 minutes.  The extra time lets the steam from the butter do its final setting.

Best served warm !

ENJOY !!!!

Cheers,

Moris.

Last night I took a loaf of my whole grain sourdough to a get-together.  There a friend told me that his mother still has a piece of his deceased grandmother's sourdough in the freezer, and can't bear to discard it.  He's possibly interested inreviving it.  He asked me for advice about how to do so.

It could have been in the freezer as long as a decade, though.  That's a long time.

If it's possible to revive a starter after this long a freezing, what would be the best method?

I presume it would be best to cut off a small piece (like 1 oz) and feed that.  

But would it be better to have a higher or lower hydration?  

Is it better to have white flour (with less other organisms) or rye flour (that seems better for sourdough)?  Or would it be better to use the same kind of flour that Grandma used?

Any advice from folks who have tried it before woudl be most appreciated.  Thanks!

Mason.

I just pulled my last brick of SAF-Instant out of the freezer, and of course I need it now. O: )  Can I use it extra cold for my WW sammie bread, or do you need to let it thaw to just cold?

TIA,

- Jennifer : )

I seem to go through spurts of feverish obsession with things. Knitting, sewing, bread baking. Actually it goes in cycles, because I always come back to those things, even if it has been so long that you'd assume I had lost interest. Of course, right now I'm all about the bread baking again (even though I always bake bread, the rustic type hasn't been in the forefront lately--till now). After hanging around these boards for a while, I decided I should really get my old frozen sourdough starter out and try baking with it again.