Making pastries from French pastry is definitely not for the impatient. Despite the large number of kitchen appliances that can be of great help, this process is not fast. For the buns to be tender and tasty, you must follow a few mandatory rules.
What are french croissants?
Croissants are oily puff rolls of Austrian origin, so named for their sickle shape. These products are baked from puff yeast dough. The dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in a row, and then rolled into a sheet using a technique called lamination. The process leads to a layered and delicate texture that melts over the mouth.
Crescent-shaped bread has been prepared since the time of the Renaissance, and such cakes, possibly from antiquity. Croissants have long been one of the main products of bakeries and confectioneries in Austria and France. At the end of the 1970s, the production of factory, frozen, preformed, but not baked dough turned it into fast food that can be baked very quickly. Croissant was clearly the French response to American-style fast food, and today 30–40% of croissants sold in French bakeries and pastries are baked from frozen dough.
Varieties of Goodies
Raw croissant dough can also be wrapped around any praline, almond paste or chocolate before baking. In addition, any finely chopped sweet and savory fillings can be added to the products. Croissants can be stuffed with dried fruits such as dried apricots or raisins, or with fresh fruits such as apples. In France and Spain, these buns are usually sold without filling and eaten without adding oil, but sometimes sprinkled with almonds. Sweet fillings are sometimes used in the USA, and warm croissants can be filled with ham and cheese or feta cheese and spinach.
In Russia, products are sold in kind or filled with chocolate, cheese, almonds or butter cream. In Germany, croissants are sometimes filled with nutella or marzipan.
Cooking features
Perhaps the most important piece of advice anyone can try to make croissants from French puff pastry is not to rush into any aspect of the process. It can be stopped at one of the stages, and then continue, but at the same time, each step must be done correctly. The combination of some actions may seem complicated, but in the end you will get delicate and tasty pastries.
One of the main rules is that stuffiness, high temperatures and humidity will never allow you to cook French dough correctly. If you live in a hot place, it can be difficult. If you have air conditioning, you can do it at any time of the year.
What do you need?
According to the French test recipe, you will need the following:
- 250 grams of flour for baking;
- 1 liter including salt;
- 35 grams of sugar;
- 10 grams of fresh yeast (or 5 grams of dry instant);
- 115 grams of water;
- 25 grams of melted unsalted butter.
To create layers;
- 125 grams of unsalted butter;
- 1 whole egg.
For sugar syrup:
- 100 grams of water;
- 50 grams of sugar.
How to prepare for the process?
First we need to make a template to prepare the oil. The recipe for French puff pastry involves its use in the dough as a whole layer.
Fold a sheet of A4 paper in half (size C5). Put a large piece of baking paper in the center. Fold the baking paper toward the C5 paper in the center twice from left to right, then from right to left, then twice from top to bottom. Now it should wrap sheet C5. Wrap baking paper around the edges.
Expand the resulting structure and remove sheet C5, set the baking paper aside for later use.
How to prepare the butter?
According to a French yeast dough recipe, the oil should be oily. At least it should contain 82% of it. The firmer the pack of oil, the more fat in it. Use unsalted variety. If you have 250 grams of oil, cut it diagonally. You have to be precise, because you have to get two even pieces of 125 grams.
Then cut the resulting blocks lengthwise into equal layers. Put them together to make a flat rectangle. Unfold the baking paper that you set aside and put the oil in the middle with one layer. Fold the paper back into the format you made earlier, that is, around the C5 sheet. Flip so that the folded sides are at the back. Flatten the butter slightly with a rolling pin.
The next step is to gently push the oil into the four corners. Be very careful not to puncture the edges of the paper. Roll up and gently squeeze it to make a thin layer that is even in thickness. Once the oil block is ready, place it in the refrigerator.
How to start cooking?
The recipe for a French dough requires maximum concentration. Melt the butter, add it to a bowl of water and let it cool. Melted butter is a little easier to use if it hardens slightly, but measuring its amount is more convenient in liquid form. In the process of cooling, it rises to the surface of the water and slightly solidifies, making it easier to work.
In a separate container, mix the dry ingredients together. It is very important that the yeast does not touch the salt, so do not put them right away. Use the bottom of the bowl to make a well. Pour in the prepared liquid components - first a little and mix everything, then add the rest. Just add yeast now.
Gently mix all the ingredients with just the fingers of one hand. The mixture should include all wet ingredients and look like a thick pancake dough. When mixing the ingredients, gradually add a little flour to them. When the French dough has a thick consistency, quickly mix it with the remaining flour. Work quickly, but without over mixing to stop the spread of fluid. Cut it in several places with a knife, and then blind back into one ball.
How to knead it correctly?
This French bun recipe recipe seems complicated, but you only need patience. The process of kneading will follow, it will take about 10 minutes of constant activity. Here you have to seriously strain your muscles. Move the dough away from you and push it back. Rotate it with three fingers, holding the bottom, and move back and forth from you. When it becomes smooth and elastic, roll it into a ball using your palms. After that, squeeze the dough with your fingers and fold its edges to the middle. Repeat this action several times.
Wrap French dough in plastic wrap. Put it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
How to roll it?
Put some flour on a table or large board. Take the dough from the refrigerator and place it on the prepared surface. Draw a rectangle on the flour layer to visualize where the workpiece will be rolled.
Take the dough with a rolling pin and smooth the surface a little. Fold a sheet of A4 paper in half again. This is used to determine the length and width of the dough. The recipe for French croissants requires the following parameters.
The width of the rolled formation should be A4, plus the size of the thumbs on both sides. Length - A4 plus a little more than half the length of A4 paper. Roll it out using a rolling pin. To keep the dough as even as possible, keep your hands in the middle of the rolling pin, not at the ends.
Oil addition
Remove the oil from the refrigerator and unfold the top of the baking paper, leaving the oil still attached. Place it on the bottom of your dough. Expand the butter, turn over and remove the baking paper, leaving it on top.
Calculate about a quarter of the dough layer in length and wrap it up, grabbing oil. Then do the same on the other side. Then fold it in half, placing the oil-soaked halves on top of each other. Press lightly on the edges to seal the oil inside. Put some more flour on the table and place the dough on it.
Using a rolling pin, gently tap the entire dough. This helps distribute the oil in it. Roll the dough up and down the middle. Roll it from the middle up, and then also down.
Fold it finally so that it looks like a book. Wrap in plastic wrap.
Put in the refrigerator or freezer, depending on how fast you want to make it. You need to cool it for at least one hour.
What to do after cooling?
Press lightly on the edges of the dough sheet to seal them. Knock a rolling pin over its entire surface. Roll out again. Fold the top third from top to bottom and then the bottom from bottom to top. The edges should touch, but not overlap. Carefully roll out, wrap in plastic wrap again and leave for an hour in the refrigerator.
How to prepare it for the formation of products?
Roll it so that the length of the rolling pin is less than the width of the reservoir. Before proceeding, make sure that the dough does not stick to the bench. Add flour if necessary. Fold it like an envelope from all sides so that the edges are touching but not overlapping. Sprinkle with flour and roll again into a rectangular shape. If it turns out uneven, trim the edges with a rolling pin.
How to cut into croissants?
It is very important to cut products with a sharp knife to even the edges. Do not pull the knife through the dough. Starting on the right side of the test and working on the left, make marks on the upper long edge. According to the marks made, cut the dough to the lower right corner and cut the triangles.
When you have all the figures ready, take each individual piece and gently pull to make it a little longer. Then fold the two bottom corners slightly, as shown in the photo attached to the recipe. French dough should be flexible, so this process will not cause you any difficulties.
Gently roll the croissant. Try to squeeze the layers as best as possible. Make sure that the last end of the triangle is under the workpiece on the baking sheet, otherwise it will unfold during cooking.
Lubricate the product with an egg and leave it for 2-3 hours at a temperature not exceeding 25 degrees Celsius. It is very important that the egg layer is placed only on the surface of the croissants, and not on the edges. If it comes in contact with the edges, the dough will begin to unfold. This is one of the main requirements for a recipe for French puff pastry croissants.
How to bake?
Preheat the oven in advance to 200 degrees Celsius and bake the croissants for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. In this case, create steam in the oven by spraying water over its entire area or adding water to a hot pan at the bottom of the oven.
How to make sugar syrup?
Make sugar syrup by mixing 100 grams of boiling water and 50 grams of sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Using a small brush, glaze the croissants with the prepared syrup as soon as you remove them from the oven. Use it in small quantities so that the products do not become wet.
How to stretch the cooking for several days?
It cannot be denied that the recipe for French yeast dough buns is a lengthy process. To do your best you need time. Fortunately, there is a way by which you can take several steps every day, thereby saving your time. This is done like this:
- Day 1 - prepare the butter, wrap it in paper, put in the refrigerator.
- Day 2 - prepare the dough and put butter on it. Just roll it up and cool.
- Day 3 - roll out the layers several times, fold it in an envelope and place in the refrigerator.
- Day 4 - do the last mixing of the layers. Place to cool.
- Day 5 - form products.
- Day 6 - a break!
- Day 7 - check dough pieces, grease them with egg, bake and apply sugar syrup.
If you do everything correctly, the results will pleasantly surprise you. Take the time to fully follow all the above instructions and steps, and you will get a batch of amazing classic French croissants.