- Contrary to conventional belief, croissants need a strong dough to rise well and create layer in the end. Bread flour has more gluten, so the dough will be stronger. However, a stronger dough would be harder to roll out, but the finished product would have more volume and more distinct layers and honeycomb crumb structure. I tried all-purpose only, bread only and then par AP par bread flour. I’ll go with par bread par AP from now on, it yields an strong dough but easily rollable at the same time.
- It doesn’t mean that the more folds, the more layers, the flakier it will be. With too many folds, butter layers would be thinner and thinner, and it will be more likely for the butter to melt and leak. Even with perfect rolling, too may layers would mean smaller honeycomb “holes” in the crumb. Again the stronger the dough, the more distict layers in the end. I did only 3 folds.
- Use a “French” rolling pin if possible (French rolling pins have no handles and are the same width over the length of the pin they look like a large dowel length) or a very long traditionally shaped rolling pin. I used Turkish “oklava”, it is very thin and long, makes it easier to achieve thin and even dough.
- When rolling try to use as little as flour possible so that dough doesn’t get to tough. Rest the dough often. Rest when there’s any indication of butter getting too warm, or the dough getting too elastic. There’s no harm in resting too much. The key is to keep the butter between layers, try not to break the dough.
- Trim the edges to keep corns straight and clean. This is also to make sure butter layers reach everywhere. In another word, if there are edges where there’s no butter between two dough layers, trim it off. Keep in mind that, those butterless spot would be folded many times and affect the crumb greatly.
- To achieve an even shiny brown use a double egg wash- first after shaping the croissants and second just before you put them in oven. Try to cover all the dough without leaving any white space.
- Proof fully, for a long time. At the end you want shaped croissants to almost triple in size and feel light and spring when touched. If it doesn’t rise and feel light, the baked croissants will be heavy anf hard., rather than tender, light and puffy (don’t proof hotter than 80F, butter would melt and leak). I left them for about 3 hours.
- The original recipe says this amount can make 12 croissants. It makes tiny ones but I think croissants must be big fat fellas. Besides the smaller each croissants are, the thinner you have to roll the dough out, otherwise you won’t have enough layers. The thinner you have to roll the dough out, the more easily the butter would melt. For “standard” size croissants, the triangle need to be 4 to 5 inches at the bottom, 9 to 10 inches tall, 1/8 to 1/4 inches thick. (Are you still there?! bare with me :) ) For this recipe, I had 6 inches at the bottom, 8 inches tall, and I got 8 fat croissants.
Summary of preparation time: In total, 12 hours.
Making dough, 10 mins
First rise, 3 hours
Kneading and folding, 5 mins
Second rise, 1.5 hours (or overnight in the fridge)
Rolling in the butter (turns one), 15 mins
First rest, 2 hours
Turns two and three, 10 mins
Second rest, 2 hours (or overnight in the fridge)
Forming croissants, 30 mins
Final rise, 1-3 hour (or longer in the fridge)
Baking, 15 mins
Ingredients:
1/4 oz (7 gm) of fresh yeast, or 1 1/4 teaspoon (6 1/4 ml/4 gm) of dry-active yeast (about 1/2 sachet)
3 tablespoons (45 ml) warm water (less than 100°F/38°C)
1 teaspoon (5 ml/4 1/2 gm) sugar
1 3/4 cups (225 gm/ 1/2 lb) of flour (I used 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1 cup bread flour)
2 teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml/4 1/2 gm) salt
1/2 cup (120 ml/1/4 pint) milk
2 tablespoons (30 ml) tasteless oil (I used canola)
1/2 cup (120 ml/1 stick/115 gm/1/4 lb) chilled, unsalted butter
1 egg, for egg wash
Directions:
1. Mix the yeast, warm water, and first teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl. Leave aside for the yeast and sugar to dissolve and the yeast to foam up a little.
2. Heat the milk until tepid (either in the microwave or a saucepan), and dissolve in the salt and remaining sugar.
3. Place the flour in a large bowl.
4. Add the oil, yeast mixture, and milk mixture to the flour.
5. Mix all the ingredients together using the rubber spatula, just until all the flour is incorporated.
6. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and let it rest a minute while you wash out the bowl. The short rest allows flour to absorb liquid; dough will be quite soft and sticky.
7. Knead the dough eight to ten times only. The best way is as Julia Child does it in the video (see below). It essentially involves smacking the dough on the counter and removing it from the counter using the pastry scraper.
8. Leave the bowl at approximately 75°F/24°C for three hours, or until the dough has tripled in size.
9. After the dough has tripled in size, remove it gently from the bowl, pulling it away from the sides of the bowl with your fingertips.
10. Place the dough on a lightly floured board or countertop, and roll it into a rectangle about 6 by 15 inches.
11. Fold the dough rectangle in three, like a letter (fold the top third down, and then the bottom third up)
12. Place the dough letter back in the bowl, and the bowl back in the plastic bag.
13. Leave the dough to rise for another 1.5 hours, or until it has doubled in size. This second rise can be done overnight in the fridge.
14. Cut the stick of butter in half lengthwise. Place the halves in plastic wrap about three inches apart. Use a rolling pin to tap the butter until it’s soft enough to roll, roll between the plastic wrap until it’s a 5×5 inch square. Put in fridge on a flat surface.
15. Place the double-risen dough onto a plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place the plate in the fridge for 20 minutes.
16. Remove the dough and butter sheet from the fridge and place the dough on a lightly floured board or counter. Let it rest for a minute or two to relax the gluten.
17. Using your fingers gently spread the dough into a rectangle about 6×15 inches.
18. Remove the butter sheet from the plastic wrap and place it on the top two-thirds of the dough, keeping it 1/2 inch away from all the edges. When the butter and the dough are the same consistency, fold the bottom third of the dough and then the top third of the dough. Turn the package 90-degrees, so that the top flap is to your right (like a book).
Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 6×15 rectangle. Again fold the bottom third and the top third up. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
19. Take out the dough, sprinkle lightly with flour, deflate lightly by taping several times with rolling pin. Wait for 8-10 minutes to relax the gluten. Being sure that the bottom and top of the dough is lightly floured; repeat the rolling and folding 2 more times, which gives 3 folds in total. Cover and put in the refrigerator for another 2 hours or overnight.
20. Lightly butter your baking sheet so that it is ready.
21. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it rest for ten minutes on the lightly floured board or counter.
22. Roll the dough out into a 16×8 inch rectangle.
23. Cut the dough into four rectangles (each 4×8 inches).
24. Place 3 of the rectangles in the fridge, to keep the butter cold.
25. Roll the rectangle out until it is 6X8 inches.
26. Cut the rectangle diagonally into two triangles.
27. Stretch the triangle out a little, so it is not a right-angle triangle, but more of an isosceles. Starting at the wide end, roll the triangle up towards the point, and curve into a crescent shape. (If you want a curved shape like mine, you will need to cut a slit in the base before rolling, and roll to the outside as you start from the base.)
28. Place the unbaked croissant on the baking sheet.
29. Repeat the process with the remaining squares of dough, creating 8 croissants in total.
30. Mix the egg with a teaspoon of water.
31. Spread the egg-wash across the tops of the croissants. (first egg-wash)
32. Leave the tray of croissants, covered lightly with plastic wrap, to rise for 3-3.5 hours; they need to triple in size.
33. Preheat the oven to 475°F.
34. Egg-wash again.
35. Bake at 475 for 12-15 minutes.
36. Take the croissants out of the oven, and place them on a rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
http://tartepink.com/?p=557
You can cut the kneading a bit short because the four roll-outs will work the dough quite a bit. I remember my mom getting on me about working too slow when rolling out and folding biscuit dough. It wasn't kneaded at all, but not rolling it out with speed and confidence built plenty of gluten strength, making the biscuits chewy and "tough".
In my case, and I really apply the pressure when rolling to work the dough as little as possible, the first two folds are pretty good about not rebounding. The third fold sometimes requires a little extra stretching. The final roll-out is not that bad as I can over-do a bit and let it rebound to where I want it.
If it begins to fight you before you've rolled it out enough, don't force it. Fold it up and put it back in the fridge to relax for half an hour or so. Then unfold it and continue rolling.
-
There are two kinds of resistance I encounter during lamination: 1) butter becomes too cold and hard during rolling and 2) dough becomes too rubbery that it snaps back during rolling.
I work with a low hydration dough using all-purpose flour. I mix the ingredients by hand. I don't knead the dough much. I knead just enough to form a smooth ball of dough. I let the dough rest in the fridge for 10 minutes and then proceed to laminate.
I use the freezer to quickly chill the dough. It takes about 15 minutes to 30 minutes (depending on my freezer setting). I check to see if the dough is firm. I press down on the dough with the rolling pin across the dough to flatten the dough for easier rolling and roll the dough to 1/8" thickness during the first turn. I do three bookfolds which is probably excessive, but I prefer thin flaky sheets. I find that rolling it thin on the first turn is easier because the dough is easy to work with and the butter is chilled. The second and third turns tend to be more difficult to roll thinner because of too chilled butter and/or rubbery gluten development. In case that you roll a bit thicker during the second or third turn, you won't have the problem of thick butter layers pooling during baking because you had already rolled it thin on the first turn.
Since you rolled it thin during the first turn, the butter won't be turn so hard after chilling, so it makes for easier rolling. In case if the butter did harden, just allow it to rest at room temperature until the butter is malleable for easier rolling. In case if the butter softens, return it in the fridge for 30 minutes or even more to firm up the butter.
If the dough is rubbery that it snaps back, then allow it to rest in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours, or even more, for the gluten to relax.
After I cut the triangles, I find it helps to put the triangles on trays and have them chill in the fridge or freezer, so it's easier to shape. When I elongate the triangles, I find that they should have a bit of resistance or gluten when I stretch them. The triangles should feel a bit rubbery because that amount of gluten will allow the dough to expand. Whenever the triangles are too relaxed, I don't get much expansion. For triangles that are too relaxed, I returned them in the freezer. But you don't want triangles to be too rubbery to the point that they will tear when you elongate them. Sometimes I end up with triangles being torn because they ended up too rubbery, and I didn't allow them to rest.
-
Like some of the other comments, my take on this is that you are definitely doing everything right except the kneading. High snappy resistance is usually a result of over-kneading. No amount of resting gets you out of that problem.
As an alternative, how about kneading by hand? Just the once, to give yourself a feel for when the dough is ready. It starts sticky (very sticky), but, if you persevere, it comes together to form a beautiful silky ball. The windowpane test should reveal a beautiful gluten-rich membrane. Then, for your next batch, knead with your machine, stopping when you reach the dough consistency you got before.
It's almost impossible to over-knead by hand. And never forget the window-pane test. It's much more relevant than the rotation speed of stand mixers, water chemistry, and timings from a recipe book or blog post.
-
I'm worried that if you...
..under-knead, you'll end up with flat croissants. It is really important to get it to that smooth, silky stage. Because the dough is enriched you won't get a huge, untorn membrane like white bread dough, but if you get one that stretches out with a tear or two, you're probably okay.
Good luck. Croissants are very tricky until you get them right, then easy after that.
-
Yes I agree, I skipped the
Yes I agree, I skipped the fermenting step before and end up with flat bread like crumb croissants before. Getting that perfect development + fermentation combination right is so challenging especially with the ingredients I am using.
-
two other suggestions:
blend your bread flour with something softer
reduce/ the 2 hour fermentation, where gluten strength builds as it sits.
-
I tired AP flour before and the dough was still resisting and the croissants end up being flat so I continued using Itlaina imported bread flour (13% protein).
Regarding fermenting, that's what I did today. After kneading the dough by hand I checked the temperature and it was 26C, so I left the dough in the fridge to ferment. Correct me if I am wrong but the dough develops much slower at lower temperatures?
-
Yep, but 26C is good as well.
Lots of French bakers do a long cold overnight ferment. After all, the whole purpose of bulk fermenting is improve flavour (you've already got your gluten developed by kneading it). By chilling the dough, the yeast does not exhaust itself and the lactobacilli get to work improving flavour.
I honestly don't think it's your flour, water, or mixer rpms, just a matter of getting the kneading right. If you want to change something, then osmotolerant yeast gives you better results with sweet dough
-
True, most of the croissant recipes that do not use a preferment require overnight retarding to develop acidity and flavor. Since my recipe uses a poolish (30%) i bulk ferment it for 2 hours then lay out the dough on a sheet pan and freeze it for 30 minutes before enclosing the butter sheet and starting the lamination process.
Normally if the dough hits 26C after kneading I put it in the fridge right away to bulk ferment there. Otherwise if left in room temperature it can ferment too quickly.
-
Have you checked your dough's temperature after...
..it's time in the freezer? I was taught the optimal target is about 9C for both butter and dough. And it works (for me anyway). Any lower and the dough is too stiff plus the butter starts shattering because its not pliable enough. Might that be the problem?
-
It's normal for yeasted doughs to shrink back after rolling. It happens to me when I'm making pizza. I find that rolling tends to develop the gluten. Letting the dough relax and stretching the dough out seem to lessen the amount of the dough snapping back. I only do this during the shaping by letting the triangles relax and stretching them and then roll.
It's the proteins, glutenin and gliadin, in the flour plus the water that form gluten. I did a search about milk. Milk mixed with flour doesn't create much gluten as flour mixed with water. I also did a search on how fat affects gluten: http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/icooks/01-13-03.html Fat interferes with gluten development. I recall that in some recipes the dough contains a small amount butter. Butter is mixed with the flour first to coat the flour with butter and then the dough is formed.
As for a more open crumb at the center, I think the bottom edges of the triangles are trimmed off a tiny bit to get rid of the dough edge. The edges are doughy. When you cut off a small piece of the edge, you expose the butter layers. I believe during lamination, the top and bottom edges are trimmed off to expose the butter and not have excess dough entrapped in the lamination: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC66iLTXen8
I don't trim off the edges because I have no idea what to do with the edges. I guess one can make laminated pastry sticks.
-
Great news, I finally sorted out this problem, and the culprit turned out none of what we thought, its the lamination butter! Previously I was putting the dough between turns for 50 minutes in fridge and 10 minutes in the freezer sandwiched between cooling gel pads. This was over cooling the dough and causing the butter lamination to shatter. Once that happens the dough starts to resist like crazy. Now I just leave it in the fridge the entire 1 hour before starting the rolling process. Another thing I did was to reduce the total fluid content from 54% to 52% as that was the maximum fluid content I could use before the dough becomes too soft and lose consistency to the harder butter. Thanks to everyone for their help in trying to solve this hurdle. Now for the next challenge how to make the croissants crunchy.
-
If you use butter with higher butterfat, like 82% or higher, the higher butterfat makes it easier to roll since it doesn't harden in the fridge or freezer. I used Plugra, which is a European-style butter in the states, and I couldn't believe how easy it was to roll. The butter was like clay- so easy to roll.
For a crispier flaky texture, I use water instead of milk.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/42560/croissant-dough-resisting
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/27072/croissant-journey