Croissant is a French pastry. It is laminated with butter or margarine and are formed into the crescent shape. You can shape it however you like it best, but you cannot skip the butter.
Ingredients :
For dough :
Bread Flour / All Purpose Flour (Type 55 ) - 4 Cup
Water - 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp
Milk - 1/2 cup+ 1 tbsp
Granulated Sugar -1/4 cup
Soft Unsalted Butter - 1/8 Cup
Instant Yeast - 1 Tbspn + 1/2 tsp
Salt -3/4 Tbsp
Other Ingredients :
Cold Unsalted Butter - 250 gm
Milk -1/4 cup (For brushing)
Chocolat bar (or) Chooclate chunks - As per need
Method:
Day 1-Preparation :
*Kneading the dough Combine the dough ingredients and knead nicely for about 3 to 4 minutes until the dough comes together.Do not knead too much but once the dough comes together shape it like a disc (not like a ball)
*Cover the dough with cling film and leave it in the fridge overnight.
Day 2-Laminating the dough :
*Making the butter square Cut the cold butter into lengthwise slabs and arrange the pieces on a wax paper to form a square. Cover the butter with another layer of waxed paper and with a rolling pin pound butter.
*Make a square shaped butter layer and then wrap and refrigerate the butter slab until needed.
*Getting the dough laminated: Take the dough out of the fridge. Use very little flour for dusting and roll out the dough disc into a square.
*Make the the dough square as perfect as possible and with an even thickness. Now get the square slab of butter from the fridge.
*Place the butter slab in the middle of the flour square and fold the dough into four flaps from all four sides and press with your hand to seal the butter inside.
*Now the dough with the sealed in butter has to be rolled out. So with a rolling pin start rolling out, on a lightly flour dusted surface, the dough to a rectangle shape.
*Start rolling from the center of the dough towards the edges, and not from one side of the dough all the way to the other side. This technique helps you to keep the dough at an even thickness.
*Fold the dough like how you will fold a letter, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes (fold one third of the dough on top of itself and then fold the other side over it)
*Similar to the readymade puff pastry sheets that you buy in stores.
*Repeat the rolling and folding two more times After the second turn, again give it a 30 minute rest in the fridge.
*After the third turn you leave the dough in the fridge overnight until day 3, the actual croissant making day.
Day 3-Baking the croissants:
*Dividing the dough First take the dough from the fridge and lightly flour the work surface. Now very gently roll the dough into a long and narrow rectangle strip.
*If the dough refuses to get any longer, rest it in the fridge for 20 mins and then try again. Do not fight the dough.
*Now when you roll the dough and when it has reached its intended shape, carefully lift it a few centimeters to allow it to naturally shrink back from both sides. This way it will not shrink when you cut it.
*The strip should be a long enough to allow you to trim the ends to make them straight.
Shaping the croissants:
*Take the rectangular strip of dough and make diagonal cuts using a pizza wheel or a knife starting from the top corner cutting down to the first bottom mark. (Like triangles with equal shapes and sizes)
*Make diagonal cuts along the entire length of the dough. Then change the angle and make cuts from the other top corner to the bottom mark to create triangles.
*Again repeat this along the length of the dough. This way you will end up with 15 triangles and a few end pieces of dough.
*Now very gently elongate each triangle and this is often done by hand, very carefully, almost without putting pressure on the dough triangle.
Shaping the Pain au chocolat:
*Take the rectangular strip of dough,Place the chocolate bars/chunks and roll over it.
*Place the Croissants and Pain au Chocolat over a baking sheet lined over a baking tray with enough places in between them.
*Give the croissants and pain au chocolat their first milk brushing.Keep the baking tray in warm place for 2hrs.
Baking The Croissants /Pain au chocolat :
*Preheat the oven at 200 °C .Before baking Give the croissants/Pain au chocolat their 2 nd milk brushing.Bake them for 20 mins until the crust turns golden brown.
*Cool it completely and Serve with Butter / Jam.
MY NOTES
*The type of flour and butter you use can make a difference. Use a good flour which hits the balance between strength and flexibility. The same goes with butter, the butter needs to be pliable but not too soft.
*Try to make the croissants in a cool temperature. This way you will have more time for the whole process and less chance of your precious butter being absorbed by the dough.
*The most important key is to keep the butter solid between the layers of dough, this is what gives the croissant its flaky layers.
