September 12, 2015 - 5:31pm
Croissants and Pain Chocolat
Aloha Bakers, man is it hard to book fold laminated dough and butter in 100% humidity. I thought I would share a batch of croissants and chocolate bread I just made.
I got 63 pastries from a 5lb bag of Bobs Red Mill whole wheat Pastry Flour. The shaping was hard but i got better on the second batch. Its so hot and muggy right now on the island of Kauai that I have about 5 minutes from taking dough out of the fridge to buttery slabs of laminate all over the counter. While the shapes aren't great, it was really fun to do and they tasted pretty good. :) Looking forward to any tips and tricks if anyone has something in mind.
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Hi Natyam,
It is decidedly hot and humid here in So. Florida too although it seems a bit more hellish in Kauai right now. Besides, my A/C keeps the kitchen at a "balmy" 80dF. I recently saw a good tip for working the croissant dough that you might be able to apply. If you have a stone or metal surface worktop and sufficient room in your freezer. The baker had a thick metal pot - something like a Dutch Oven might be ideal, and kept it in the freezer. She took it out to "ice" down the countertop for a minute or two before starting to work the dough. Lather, rinse, repeat... This, at least, seems to give you a head start on the race to laminate before the butter starts to melt.
You might also try cooling your dough down in the freezer instead of the refrigerator. Just be mindful of the clock so that your dough doesn't freeze and become too hard to work.
alan
thanks for replying Alfanso, i briefly thought of icing the counter but thought ice packs would be messy. What tour saying sounds much cleaner and something Im going to try next time.
We do have a large walk-in fridge where monks have done some cake work inside before. Something about the icing had to be cold during work. Its set to 39F, i wonder if thats too cold for croissant dough work?