Homemade French Croissant
Welcome back my Franchizz! Who doesn't love a good fresh croissant? Flaky, buttery, light with a honeycomb made from heaven. Now it does take a while to make and maybe not the first thing you should try to make. However, home bakers could definitely try as many of my followers have made them successfully. On top of that, I am showing you the "no equipment" one, all you need really is a rolling pin. What I want you to splurge on; the ingredients. Ideally, a European flour with a nice gluten stengh would be ideal but not obligatory. BUT, the butter is a must, you NEED a European style butter, 84% fat minimum. If you can find a laminating butter, more pliable it will be so perfect. I can see you've already stopped reading and already gathering the ingredients..Well I don't blame you, let's get cooking, shall we?!Bon Appétit!If you enjoyed this recipe, please like, comment and share and I'll catch you on the flip side.
Equipment
- 1 Rolling pin
- 1 Cooking tray + Silpat
- 1 Scraper
Ingredients
DÉTREMPE (DOUGH)
- 135 gr Warm milk (not boiling, just warm to the touch)
- 6 gr Dry active yeast
- 250 gr Bread flour (or T45 from Bagatelle)
- 28 gr Sugar
- 5 gr Kosher salt
- 1 pc Egg yolk
- 30 gr Butter (regular)
BEURRAGE
- 145 gr High quality butter - 84% fat minimum
EGG WASH
- 1 pc Egg yolk
- 15 ml Milk
Instructions
DÉTREMPE (DOUGH)
- First, activate your yeast by whisking in active dry yeast into milk and sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes or until it starts to get foamy on the top.
- On top of your working bench, add bread flour and kosher salt. Using your bench scraper, mix until everything is incorporated and create a well.
- Add to the well, your bloomed yeast mixture, 1 egg yolk. Mix with your hand, adding a bit of flour from the inside well until it begins to form a dough.
- Add the butter (cut into pieces) to the dough then use your hands and lightly knead to have it fully come together.
- Now that the dough comes together, to give the dough a little strength; pick up the dough and slap it against the table and fold it over itself. Continue this process for another 2 minutes.
- When done, shape it into a ball and place it into a medium-sized bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
- Once rested, perform the first turn. Grab an edge of the dough, gently pull and stretch it, folding it over itself and gently patting it down with the palm of your hand.
- Repeat this process all the way around the perimeter of the dough, until you’ve stretched all the sides.
- Flip the dough over and place it seam side down, covering in plastic wrap and resting it in the fridge for 25 more minutes.
- After 25 minutes, repeat the process of “turning” for a total of two turns; being careful not to tear the dough when stretching it.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap one last time and let it rest in the fridge for 60 minutes.
- After 60 min, place the finished dough on a sheet of parchment paper.-Roll the dough into a 7-inch by 7-inch square using a ruler. .
- Once it is an oval shape, take your parchment paper and fold it so that the edges of the wax paper measure to be 7x7 inches.
- Flip the dough over and roll it into those edges, conforming to the shape of the parchment paper. Make sure your dough is evenly flat but do not press to hard either.
- Once shaped, place in the fridge overnight for 12 hours. This is the end of Day 1.
BEURRAGE
- Now we are on day 2, lay out your evenly sliced pieces of your high quality butter (I use St Brigid's) on parchment paper, until they’re roughly 5x5 inches. Leave about ½-inch of space around the edges for pounding later on
- Fold your parchment paper over the butter so that the edges of the wax paper measure to be 5x5 inches.
- Flip over so the seam side is done and using a rolling pin, pound out the butter so it spreads out to the edges evenly.
- Place in the fridge to chill for 15-25 minutes, or until it reaches 4-5 degree Celcius.
FEUILLETAGE (LAMINATION)
- Lightly flour a work surface and pull your dough out of the fridge. With your rolling pin, flatten out and elongate all of the edges of your dough.
- Place your butter in the center of your dough.
- Stretch each half over the butter, making sure they join, encasing it.
- Once it is totally encased and no butter is showing, pinch and close the edges shut.
- Flip over seam side down.-Lightly flour your rolling pin and the top of your dough.Using your rolling pin, press down multiple times along the entire length of the dough, helping encase the butter.Next, roll with an even pressure and form the dough into a long rectangle, roughly 18-inches in length.
- Once rolled, grab the bottom of your dough and fold it ¾ of the way up the rectangle.Take the top half and fold it the remaining ¼ of the way until both ends meet evenly.Lightly pat down so they stick. Brush any excess flour.Then fold the longer portion over the short portion, making an envelope shape.
- Using your rolling pin, lightly tap down so that all of the layers are stuck together. DO NOT PRESS.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for one hour.
- When rested, unwrap your dough and place it on a lightly floured work surface.
- Using your rolling pin, roll the dough in the same direction; shaping it into a wider rectangle. As done previously, give the dough a tap along the entire surface and roll it out with even pressure until it reaches about 18-inches in length.
- Grab the top portion of your dough and fold it ⅓ of the way down, then fold the bottom part so that it overlaps evenly on the other side.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1-12 hours as needed.
- For the final roll, roll your dough into a wider and thicker rectangle. (23 cm width and 5-6 mm thickness.)
- To shape the croissants, make marks along the bottom of the dough at 9 cm intervals. Repeat by following in between the two marks at the top as well.
- To cut the croissant, take a long sharp knife or a pasta cutter and make cuts using a ruler following along the points you made earlier. These cuts should make 6-7 croissant triangles and the bastard cuts on the outside.
- Take a triangle of dough and gently elongate it to make it about an inch longer. Next, roll the dough up very tightly, starting from the longer end up to the point of the triangle. You can slightly push the point down as you roll it over it. Push down slighly. (Make sure the pointy part is below the body of the croissant).
- Make sure to not squeeze the layers. Repeat this process with every croissant.
- Place croissants tail side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or Silpat.
- Cover with plastic wrap gently, not too tight, and let proof at ambiant temperature for 2/3 hours. They will double in size and will be jiggling.
BAKING
- Once proofed, grab the egg wash and start brushing each croissant making sure you only do it on top and it doesn't touch the laminated side.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes or until they’re golden brown and puffy.
- Let them cool down on a wire rack and enjoy.- Bon appétit 🙂
