julia childs, from 'baking with julia'
1 ounce fresh yeast
3 1/2 cups flour, unbleached all purpose
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup milk (plus more)
4 1/2 sticks cold, unsalted butter (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
2 tablespoons flour
who starts the month, a new project, new blog with croissants? well, it seemed as good of time as any. i have been missing the swiss. or specifically their unbelievable pastries. it is tough to find a pain au chocolate in the midwest. one with the flaky. crisp. melt in your mouth layers. one with the perfect amount of quality chocolate. so I thought i'd make a few.
i used the recipe from my favorite baking book (baking with julia) and made a few changes. some intentional, some not.
first, I couldn't find fresh yeast. so I heated the milk (seemed like the right thing to do) and stirred in the sugar and then sprinkled on the yeast. then I let that sit until it was frothy.
then I pretty much followed her instructions. Until it came time to wait...
my first turn only rested a little over an hour in the fridge. the second for about 30 minutes in the freezer and third about the same.
i cut my dough into rectangles, stretched it a bit and rolled pieces of dark chocolate in. I will put two thinner bars (perhaps measuring 1/4x4 inches) next time, rolling one over and then adding a second. more chocolate please!
then for the final resting, rising...
i made it about two hours (into the suggested three to four hours) before I finally stuck the first tray in the oven.
they did a considerable amount of expanding in the oven. Such happy little puffs when they came out! And SO tasty!
a different flavor than I remember so perhaps I will try a different butter next time. (used Hope Butter this round because it really is amazing butter.)
but here's how julia would do it:
CROISSANTS
FOR THE DOUGH: Put the yeast, flour sugar, salt and 1 cup of milk into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. With the machine on its lowest speed, mix for 1 to 2 minutes, until a soft, moist dough forms on the hook. If the dough is to dry, add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time. In most cases if the dough does need more liquid, it won't need more than about 3 tablespoons, but check carefully as you want all the flour to be moistened. Stop the mixer and look into the bowl. If the hook has not picked up all the flour from the bottom of the bowl, add a few more drops of milk.
Set the mixer to its highest speed and work the dough until it is smooth and elastic, no longer sticky and close to the consistency of soft butter, about 4 minutes. To make certain that all the ingredients are perfectly blended you can remove the dough from the mixer after 3 minutes, and then with the mixer on high speed, return plum size pieces to the bowl. The pieces will remain separate for a short while, then come together, at which time the dough is ready.
Remove the dough from the mixer, wrap it in plastic and put it in a plastic bag, leaving a little room for expansion. Keep the dough at room temperature for 30 minutes to give the gluten time to relax; then refrigerate the dough for 8 hours or overnight.
FOR THE BUTTER: Attach the paddle to your mixer and beat the butter and flour on the highest speed until smooth and the same consistency as the croissant dough, about 2 minutes. Reach into the bowl and poke around in the butter to make sure that its evenly blended-if you find any lumps, just squeeze them between your fingers. Scrape the butter onto a large piece of plastic wrap and give it a few slaps to knock the air out of it. Mold it into an oval 5 to 6 inches long and 1 inch thick, Wrap it tightly and refrigerate until needed.
At this point the dough and the butter can be frozen; defrost overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding with the recipe.
INCORPORATING THE BUTTER: Place the croissant dough on a generously floured large work surface (marble is ideal (sure!!!)) and sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with flour. Using a long rolling pin, roll the dough into an oval approximately 10 inches wide and 17 inches long. Brush the excess flour from the dough. Center the oval of chilled butter across the oval of dough and fold the top and bottom of the dough over the butter to make a tidy package. Gently and evenly stretch the folded layers of dough out to the sides and press the edges down firmly with your fingertips to create a neatly sealed rectangle.
If you own a French rolling pin (one without handles)now's the time to use it. Hold one side of the dough steady with your hand and strike the other side gently but firmly with the rolling pin to distribute the butter evenly. As you hit the dough you will see the butter moving out into the crevices. Strike the other side of the dough the same way. After pounding you should have a 1 inch thick rectangle about about 14 inches long and 6 inches wide.
Keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured, roll out the dough. If this your first time working with croissant dough, you may want to roll out the dough just a little to distribute the butter, put it on a baking sheet lined with flour-dusted parchment paper, cover it with plastic and chill it for 1 to 2 hours first; this way you won't risk having the dough go soft or the butter seep out. (Each time you wrap the dough, make sure it's well covered-even a little air will cause the dough to form an unwanted skin.) If your experienced, feeling courageous or have dough that is still well chilled, go on to make your first turn.
ROLLING AND FOLDING: Roll the dough into a rectangle 24 to 26 inches long and about 14 inches wide, with the long side facing you. (You may feel as though your rolling the dough sideways-and you are.) Brush off the excess flour and, working from the left and right sides, fold the dough inward into thirds, as you would a brochure, so that you have a package that's about 8 inches wide by 14 inches long. Carefully transfer the dough to a parchment- lined baking sheet, mark the parchment “1 turn”so you'll know what you've done, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
You can freeze the dough after this or any other turn. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding.
FOR THE SECOND TURN: Place the dough so that the 14 inch side runs left to right. (The dough needs 2 more turns; you've given it one quarter-turn already.) Making sure the work surface is well floured at all times, roll the dough as you did before into a rectangle 24 to 26 inches long by about 14 inches wide . (When doing the second and third turns, you may find that the dough has cracked a little. That's natural; it's a result of the yeast. Don't worry, just flour the dough and work surface and keep going.) As you did before fold the dough in thirds. Place it on the parchment, mark the paper “2 turns”, cover and refrigerator at least 2 hours.
FOR THE THIRD TURN: Start again with a 14 inch side running from your left side ti your right. Roll the dough into a rectangle 24 to 26inches long by 14 inches wide. Fold the left and right sides of the dough into the center, leaving a little space in the center, and then fold one side over the other as though you were closing a book. This is the famous double turn, also known as “the wallet”. Chilling the dough: Brush off the flour, wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours. At this point the dough is ready to be rolled, cut and shaped into croissants.
Storing: The dough can be frozen for up to 1 month.
Thaw overnight, still wrapped, in the refrigerator.
ROLLING THE DOUGH: Generously flour a work surface. Position the dough so that it resembles a book, with the spine to your left and the opening to your right. For easy handling, cut the dough in half horizontally so that you have two pieces about 7 inches long and about 6 1/2 inches wide: wrap and chill one half while you work with the other half. Flour the dough and roll it into a rectangle that's 24 to 26 inches long and 15 to 18 inches wide. This takes a lot of rolling. Keep the work surface and the dough well floured and have patience. If necessary turn the dough so that the long side runs from left to right along the counter. Carefully fold the top half of the dough down to the bottom. The dough is now ready for cutting.
GLAZING AND RISING: Give the croissants a last gentle plumping, carefully turning the ends down and toward the center to produce the classic croissant shape. Brush the croissants with egg wash and allow them to rise, uncovered, at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours, until tripled in size and spongy. (Reserve egg wash, covered in the refrigerator.) The ideal place for rising is a turned off oven (one with a pilot light is fine) containing a pan of hot steamy water. To test that they are properly risen, wet your fingers and squeeze the end of a croissant: It should offer no resistance and feel almost hollow.
BAKING: Arrange the oven racks to divide the oven into thirds, and preheat the oven to 350 f. Brush the croissants once again with egg wash and bake for 12 minutes. Rotate front to back and bake another 4 to 6 minutes, until the croissants are deeply bronzed. Cool on racks. As tempting as they are croissants should not be eaten as soon as they come from the oven. The dough-and the layers within need time to set.
