CROISSANT DOUGH

Our croissant recipe has been ever evolving. It really only has six ingredients, but we have been tweaking those six ingredients for a good ten years now. Here is the current recipe, which is different to the last book, and I think better.

Generally we mix our dough in the afternoon, then hold the dough overnight in the cool room, giving it a better depth of flavour. Seventeen hours later we start to fold (or ‘laminate’) the butter through. There is also a slight difference in the final proving time, which tends to be a little longer than a dough that is not held overnight.

We use only the best Belgian butter we can import. I know local is almost always preferable, but we are yet to find a local butter that makes pastry taste this good — is it something about those Belgian cows or grass?

Another thing to note with pastry is that the flakiest pastry is not always superior. Some bakers use lard or pastry margarine, which has a lot more fat (or bigger fat crystals), which makes that pastry flakier; however, it always leaves a weird aftertaste in your mouth. Working with lard or pastry margarine is much easier as these types of fats will always be pliable, whether they are in the fridge or not. They will not ‘shatter’ while you are ‘laminating’ the pastry, nor will they merge between the layers like butter when baked. (‘Shattering’ is when the butter starts to come apart, and cracks throughout the dough.) At Bourke Street Bakery we would not touch margarine or lard if you paid us sacks of gold. Good things take time — and, simply put, butter is better.

All the dough ingredients, except the butter, are best refrigerated for 2 hours before mixing.

Makes about 2.25 kg (5 lb)

FERMENT

110 g (3¾ oz/ ¾ cup) strong flour, chilled

55 ml (1¾ fl oz) milk, chilled

5 g (¹/₈ oz) soft brown sugar, chilled

2 g (¹/₃ teaspoon) salt, chilled

5 g (¹/₈ oz) compressed fresh yeast, chilled

20 g (¾ oz) unsalted butter, softened

DOUGH

1.12 kg (2 lb 10 oz/7½ cups) strong flour, chilled

570 ml (20 fl oz) milk, chilled

70 g (2½ oz) soft brown sugar, chilled

22 g (¾ oz) salt, chilled

110 g (3¾ oz) Ferment (see opposite)

44 g (1⁵/₈ oz) compressed fresh yeast, chilled

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) unsalted butter, chilled

This dough recipe does make a few more croissant products than a home baker may need — but it is a little easier to fold a 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) block of butter through a dough of this size than a smaller amount. My personal view is that if you are going to the trouble of making croissant dough at home — which is no small feat! — you might as well do the amount that will get you the best result.

On the positive side, it does give you the opportunity to trial a half quantity of several of the goodies later in this chapter! You can always freeze these products unbaked, to bake at leisure later on.

To make the ferment, put all the ingredients in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and mix on low speed for 3 minutes, or until a smooth elastic dough forms.

If mixing by hand, put all the ingredients in a bowl and use one hand to squeeze everything together until the mix starts to resemble a crumbly dough. Turn out onto a clean bench and knead for 10 minutes, or until you have a smooth elastic dough that doesn’t break when stretched gently.

Form the dough into a ball and leave at room temperature for 2 hours. Cover with plastic wrap, then refrigerate overnight, or for up to 3 days before using.

Put all the dough ingredients, except the butter, with the ferment in the bowl of the mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed for about 3–4 minutes, then increase the speed to high and mix for another 2 minutes.

If mixing by hand, put all the dough ingredients, except the butter, with the ferment in a bowl and use one hand to squeeze everything together until the mix starts to resemble crumbly dough. Turn out onto a clean work surface and knead for 10–15 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball. Place in a plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.

The next step is to ‘laminate’, or fold, the butter into the dough. Remove the butter from the fridge 1 hour before using; it should be cold but malleable. Use a rolling pin to pound it lightly between two sheets of baking paper, to form a rough 20 cm (8 inch) square, about 7–8 mm (³/₈ inch) thick.

Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a rectangle measuring about 20 x 40 cm (8 x 16 inches). Place the butter in the centre and fold the dough over the butter, squeezing the edges together to completely enclose the butter.

Carefully roll the dough out into a rectangle measuring about 20 x 90 cm (8 x 35½ inches). Fold the rectangle from one long end by one-third, so the dough is now 20 x 60 cm (8 x 24 inches). Fold over the other long end, so the dough is now 20 x 30 cm (8 x 12 inches). These folds are similar to the folding of a letter to place in an envelope.

Put the dough back in the plastic bag, or cover well with plastic wrap, and leave to rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.

Repeat this folding and resting process twice more, each time rotating the dough 90 degrees, so that as you roll it out you are stretching it in the opposite direction to the previous fold.

Once the dough has been rolled and folded three times, and has had a final resting in the fridge for 20 minutes, it is ready to be rolled or pinned out and shaped.

NOTE

One variation in our croissants over the years has been in varying the folds. Above we have described a common folding technique called ‘three simple folds’. The other common fold is a ‘book turn’, in which, as the name suggests, the dough is folded into itself, then closed like a book.

The idea of doing these different folds is to create more layers, or fewer layers. The more folds you have, the more layers you have — but with more layers also comes less distinctive lamination, so you won’t see the layers as clearly.

Also note that all ‘laminated’ (or layered) doughs require strong flour. Having strong flour will mean the dough can stretch and not break under repeated rolling and folding. These doughs need to rely on a well-developed gluten structure, so that this structure can contain the expanding gases as the pastry bakes. In the oven, most of the butter will seep into the dough, leaving pockets of air behind; steam then expands the air pockets, making the layers of dough push apart from one another and rise — leaving a beautiful croissant in which the layers (‘lamination’) of pastry are clearly visible.

When laminating your dough, work quickly in a cool area, to avoid the butter melting out between the layers, and to keep the yeast as inactive as possible, so the dough doesn’t start proving before the laminating and shaping is finished. Handle the dough as little as possible, and always lightly, as the heat from your fingers will melt the butter.

Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator between folds, and after the final pinning. It is important firstly to firm the butter, but also to relax the gluten. If the gluten is not relaxed, rolling out the dough will become difficult as it will continually shrink, and achieving the desired length and thickness will be impossible.

Try doing just two simple folds and see the difference in lamination. In pastry it’s important to see why things happen, and the difference between the various options, whether it be in the finished taste, texture or look.