What did I do wrong? :(
So I tried Tartine crossiants today. Huh...sadness. They ended up in a lake of butter, and were more like a roll (bready) than a flaky crossiant.
Plus, they were HUGE! I tried to roll them out with all my might! But they were a beast to roll!
I didn't even put in the 1000g of BF it called for, I only put in 900g, and I still could barely mix it. I actually just got it mixed together and didn't touch it. I knew the folds would do the work for me later.
Do you see the lake of butter?! :( I tried txfarmer's crossaints last time, and had the same problem, but that was more my fault as I was pressed for time. Those came out BEAUTIFUL, but as soon as they were out of the oven they deflated and the inside was a soggy mess!! :(((
See the crumb...it's like bread! It has the crossaint flavor...but I must have messed up!
Of course failure is part of learning...but I sure hate to waste all the butter! :( Can you guys help me?
The thing I probably did wrong too (I didn't know what to do, he didn't really say in the directions, I figured, he figured, I'd know;)) was when I got them out of the frig it was a pretty hard block. I let it set on the counter wrapped up for maybe an hour. Still when I tired to roll it out...it was nearly impossible. I didn't want to rip the dough, so I would just roll, rest, and come back later. It probalby took...yikes, should I even say...a couple of hours? It was still pretty cold in my house though.
Anyways, I think I'm going to stick with txfarmer next time. I loved that dough and it was awesome to roll out and it was a true crossiant...if the middle wasn't a soggy mess! :(
Thanks guys for your help! :) Appreciate your input!
A common cause of butter leakage is underproofing. You have to proof them until they're really puffy and jiggly, and you can see the layers separating on the cut edges. . I would almost say that it's better to slightly overproof than to underproof (this is debatable of course).
What temperature did you bake at?
I baked at 425 for 10, and 375 for 15 per txfarmer.
It seemed like I let them proof forever?!! I mean two hours at least?! These ones actually didn't leak as much as my other ones did, do you really think they need to proof longer? Maybe I'll try that next time? But why did they come out like "bread" for? I don't understand why that happened?
I have proofed croissants for as long as 5 hours. Watch the dough and never the clock. Underproofing could also contribute to a denser breadlike texture, but alternative explanations are:
1. temperature was too cold, so the butter layer fractured instead of spreading into a thin sheet between layers
2. the type of butter used was too brittle. Did you use a European style butter (with higher fat content than American-style butters)?
Hum...yeah, makes sense. I thought maybe if I let them proof...too long, more butter would spill out? It was at least 2.5 hours, but i figured since it took me so long to roll them out, thay might have kinda counted? But, I hear what you're saying. Since they were so thick, they proably could have used more time I suppose?! No, I wish I had nicer butter, but I only used store butter.
Thanks for your help. I really do appreciate it. I hopefully want to try again soon! :)
Did you refrigerate the dough between each fold? Allowing at least a 30 min rest between each fold in the fridge will help maintain the right butter texture while the gluten relaxes, and it will also prevent too much rising while you're still in the middle of the folding process.
If your butter is "regular" butter, mixing in a couple tablespoons of flour could help you achieve the pliability of European-style butter. I'm not sure what the exact ratio is of flour to butter, but Ciril Hitz talks about it in his book Baking Artisan Bread. I think you could probably find the right page in the book preview on Amazon.com.
was my second attempt a croissants. The first turned out so well that I was eager to try again. The second batch, though, was really disappointing. They looked like nothing so much as a bunch of shrimp in a deep fryer. All of the butter leaked out and the doughy remnants fried in the butter. Argh!
So, you have my sympathy, Faith.
Paul
Hahaha!! That made me laugh!
Coming from a pro like you, that's encouraging to me!! ;)
Thanks Paul! :)
MMmmm, fried shrimp...that sounds good! ;)