Croissants

I’m not going to lie. The croissant-making ‘journey’ is laced with equal parts deep satisfaction and hair-tearing frustration. In short, if you choose to enter the croissant vortex, it’s a commitment/long-term project to get it right and, when you do, you can know at the end that you have become an excellent baker. One major thing to take note of is that the flour-and-water dough and the butter should be the same consistency. If the butter is harder than the dough, it will shatter into large clumps during the laminating process – that is layering butter into dough. As a result, the pastry will not be able to take hold of these uneven clumps, and you’ll find the layers not separating well, with a lot of the fat rendering out during baking. If you swap the issues, butter softer than the dough will wind up oozing all over the shop and too thin, so the layers don’t puff apart when baked. PS Love handles may be gained during the weeks leading up to harnessing this mad skill.

MAKES 11–13 CROISSANTS

YEAST DOUGH

500 g (1 lb 2 oz/3 ¹/₃ cups) strong white flour (no less than 18% protein/gluten is best) + extra, for dusting

3 teaspoons dried yeast

55 g (2 oz/¼ cup) caster (superfine) sugar

140 ml (4½ fl oz) milk

140 ml (4½ fl oz) water

25 g (1 oz) butter, melted

1½ teaspoons salt

250 g (9 oz) chilled unsalted butter

METHOD

To make the yeast dough, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, milk, water and melted butter in the bowl of an electric stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Hook on the lowest speed for 1 minute. Add the salt, and hook for another 2 minutes. The dough should be beautifully smooth and not be sticking to the side of the bowl, nor to your work surface when you give the dough a brief knead. Shape it into a disc, then pop it on a plate lined with baking paper. Cover in plastic wrap, and rest overnight in the refrigerator.

To laminate your dough, take the 250 g (9 oz) unsalted butter out of the refrigerator, and slice into nine even slices. Join them up on a piece of baking paper, so they form a square. Place another piece of baking paper on top and rest for 15 minutes, then beat lightly with a rolling pin to flatten the butter into a single 20 cm (8 inch) square.

Take the flour-and-water dough out of the refrigerator. Roll and pat into a 26 cm (10½ inch) square, then place the butter at the centre so that it sits like a diamond within the square. Pull the sides to the centre like an envelope, and roll into a rectangle three times as long as it is wide. Fold into thirds, turn 90 degrees clockwise and repeat the process. This is called a ‘turn’. Do one more turn (three turns in total), then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour, or overnight if you want.

To cut the croissants, remove plastic wrap and place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Roll out the dough into a 60–70 x 20 cm (24–27½ x 8 inch) rectangle about 5 mm (¼ inch) thick. Using a pressing down not dragging action, sparingly slice the uneven edges away, so you have a long rectangle with clean sides. With a clean ruler, mark out 10 cm (4 inch) intervals along the length of the dough. Using a large knife or pizza cutter, again using a pressing not dragging action, cut long triangles with the top point lining up with the centre (5 cm/2 inch mark) of each triangle base. Cut a vertical 2 cm (¾ inch) notch at the centre of each of the bases, then gently part these small corners and begin to roll each triangle forward, using the tip as a guide to keep the croissant shape symmetrical. Roll snugly but gently so you don’t ruin the lamination. Sit the croissants so their tips are tucked underneath, and space them about 5 cm (2 inches) apart on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

When the tray is filled, place another piece of baking paper on top, then loosely cover with plastic wrap. Rest, or ‘prove’, in a warm place for about 1 hour until the croissants have doubled in volume. They should wobble if you shake the tray, and feel very light and spongy, springing back easily when gently prodded. If it’s a cold day this can take several hours, so patience is key here. Don’t rush and bake them if they haven’t expanded properly, or you’ll get a tiny, heavy nugget of a croissant that’s not very nice to eat and, even sadder, you’ll be left feeling really discouraged. This is the part where I’ve gone wrong the most!

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) fan-forced. Remove the plastic wrap and baking paper from the top of the croissants and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) fan-forced, and bake for another 20 minutes until the croissants are a deep golden brown. Transfer the croissants to a wire rack and, when cooled completely, store in an airtight cake tin for up to a week. Reheat in a 160°C (315°F) fan-forced oven for 10–15 minutes when you want to refresh them. Good luck!