PRALINE SCROLLS

This is one of our favourite croissant products! We love the soft, sticky dough and the sweet bitterness and crunch of the praline and caramel. Many a customer will use this as a dipper or stirrer for their morning coffee. It is a favourite with the bakers, too, but they love a part of the scroll the customers don’t get — the buttery caramel that oozes out during baking and forms a paper-thin crust on the baking paper.

Makes 30

½ quantity Croissant dough

½ quantity Crème pâtissière

1 quantity Egg wash

icing sugar mixture, for dusting

PRALINE

200 g (7 oz) caster (superfine) sugar

20 g (¾ oz) liquid glucose

200 g (7 oz) blanched almonds

Line a deep-sided baking tray with baking paper.

To make the praline, put the sugar and glucose in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 200 ml (7 fl oz) water and bring to the boil, stirring well to dissolve the sugar. As a rule, when mixing high ratios of sugar into water, stop stirring as soon as the water boils, to stop the sugar crystallising — so, instead of stirring, keep a pastry brush in a small bowl of water on the bench and brush down around the inside of the saucepan to stop any sugar crystals forming. Keep boiling the mixture until it is a deep caramel colour.

Remove from the heat. Carefully add the almonds, taking care not to splash yourself. Pour into the lined baking tray and set aside to cool.

Using a meat mallet or similar heavy object, break the nut caramel into 3 cm (1¼ inch) chunks. Place in a food processor and whiz until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Set aside until needed, in an airtight container in the pantry.

Take the rested croissant dough from the refrigerator and roll it out into a rectangle measuring about 35 x 50 cm (14 x 20 inches), and about 5 mm (¼ inch) thick. This may take quite a lot of energy, as the dough may keep springing back to its original size. If this happens, rest the dough in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, then resume rolling. This resting process may need to be done a number of times. If the dough is becoming too large to fit in the fridge, simply fold it over and place on a tray before chilling it.

Place the dough on baking sheets lined with baking paper and rest in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

Lay the sheet of dough on a lightly floured work surface, with the shorter edges running away from you. Working in from one of the shorter edges, evenly spread the crème pâtissière over two-thirds of the dough, spreading all the way to the top and bottom edges (see photos overleaf). Evenly sprinkle two-thirds of the praline over the crème pâtissière.

Fold the uncovered one-third portion of dough over the middle third of the dough and lightly press down. Now fold the other outer praline-covered third back over into the middle, to create a simple turn.

Wrap your folded-up parcel of dough in baking paper and rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes to firm up.

Remove the baking paper and place the dough on a clean work surface. Using a sharp knife, cut into slices about 1.5 cm (⁵/₈ inch) thick.

Press each slice into the remaining praline to coat evenly on both sides and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, at 5 cm (2 inch) intervals.

(At this point you could store some in the freezer for a few weeks. When you’re ready to use them, place them in the fridge overnight, then early next morning, simply prove and bake as directed below.)

Cover loosely with a damp tea towel or damp muslin (cheesecloth). Set aside in a warm room (about 26–28°C/ 79–82°F) for 2–3 hours, or until almost doubled in size. Spray the cloth with water occasionally if it becomes dry.

Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F).

Lightly brush the tops with egg wash and place in the oven. Immediately reduce the oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for 12 minutes, or until deeply golden.

Allow to cool slightly on the trays, before dusting with icing sugar.