Second solely to my cat Arthur and my intensive photographic catalogue of him sleeping, this croissant recipe is my pleasure and pleasure. It took me practically 100 makes an attempt (severely) to nail down not solely the recipe, however extra importantly the approach.
Croissants are fussy creatures. Proofing them is considerably of an artwork and requires quite a lot of instinct, as it’s depending on so many components distinctive to the place you’re baking.
They have to be scorching sufficient that the yeast turns into lively and provides the croissants carry, however cool sufficient that the skinny sheets of butter don’t soften. The method is infinitely simpler in winter when you possibly can higher management the temperature. I don’t advocate making croissants in summer season until you have got a cool kitchen, a willingness to fail and the endurance of a saint.
Whereas they’re definitely a labour of affection and the approach takes some studying, you’ll get to eat croissants on the finish. Is there something extra motivating than that?
Prep 30 min + 2–3 hr rolling
Proof in a single day + 2-3 hr
Prepare dinner 15-25 min
Makes 4-6
Tools Stand mixer
For the yeast combination:
60ml full-cream, lactose free milk, warmed
7.5g dried yeast
1 tsp caster sugar
For the dough
120g fantastic white or brown rice flour
90g tapioca flour
60g buckwheat flour
½ tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
15g psyllium husk powder
100g caster sugar
¼ tsp fantastic salt
50g unsalted butter, softened
60–125 ml full-cream, lactose-free milk
2 extra-large eggs
For the beurrage (butter block)
150-200g good high quality unsalted butter
To end
1 egg, frivolously crushed
Make the dough the evening earlier than. Begin by making the yeast combination. Place the nice and cozy (not scorching) milk in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the yeast and sugar and blend to mix. Put aside till effervescent and foamy, about 10 minutes.
Mix the flours, xanthan gum, baking powder, psyllium, sugar and salt within the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the activated yeast. Utilizing the paddle attachment, begin mixing dough on low pace. Add the softened butter and proceed mixing till mixed.
Add milk and eggs and blend till a comparatively thick, batter-like dough types. Dough with much less milk is simpler to laminate, however dough with extra milk ends in a extra open crumb. I like to recommend utilizing much less milk for a newbie, then including extra if you get the dangle of the method.
The dough will likely be a little bit thinner than a standard croissant dough, however you must be capable to decide it up and scrape it out of the bowl. If not, wait 10 minutes for the psyllium husk powder to soak up some liquid.
Switch dough on to a big piece of plastic movie. Wrap to cowl and press it right into a rectangle form. Chill in fridge in a single day.
The subsequent day, place the butter for the beurrage on a big sheet of baking paper and put aside to simply barely soften for 10 to twenty minutes, season dependent. Fold one aspect of paper over the butter block and use a rolling pin to bash the butter right into a rectangle form. Lay the butter rectangle flat within the fridge when you work on the pastry.
Utilizing tapioca flour, generously flour a big sheet of baking paper or a clear, dry bench and each side of your dough. Gently roll dough out right into a rectangle, double the size of your butter block. The thought right here is to attain a fair layer of butter between each little bit of the dough layers, as that is what helps the croissants to rise.
Mud the surplus flour off the pastry and place your butter block on the underside half of the rectangle. It’s best to be capable to cleanly fold the highest half over the underside, simply pinching the perimeters and backside to safe the butter within the dough. Choose dough up gently to make sure the underside has ample flour to stop it sticking. Place it again down with the shorter aspect going through you.
Utilizing mild and even stress, roll the dough out right into a rectangle, roughly 20 centimetres in size. The size doesn’t matter an excessive amount of – it simply must be lengthy sufficient to fold into thirds. If the dough cracks or the butter feels too strong, cease rolling and wait 5 to 10 minutes. Equally, if the butter begins feeling gentle or seeps out, switch it straight to the fridge.
We are attempting to roll tiny, skinny sheets of butter into dough (that has no gluten!) with out it melting, cracking or breaking, so you actually need to focus on even, gradual and thought of stress. Should you hack on the dough, you possibly can count on a really dense and unimpressive croissant.
Mud any extra flour off the pastry. Fold the highest third into the center of the pastry and the underside third up excessive; that is known as a enterprise letter fold. Press the dough down gently to safe along with your rolling pin, earlier than wrapping in plastic movie and inserting it within the fridge for 10 to half-hour. That is to agency the butter up, so permit extra time in a scorching kitchen and fewer in a cool one. Congratulations! You’ve simply accomplished your first flip.
Full this technique of rolling, folding and dusting two extra occasions, letting the dough soften or placing it within the fridge as usually as mandatory. I like to finish my turns with the seams of the dough going through up, so that they fold again into the pastry. It makes for a neater dough that’s simpler to deal with.
Extra lamination isn’t higher within the case of croissants. Should you exceed three folds you’re on a quick observe to a really time-consuming brioche, so be sure to hold depend of what number of turns you have got executed.
Generously flour a big sheet of baking paper or a clear, dry bench with tapioca flour. Lay out the turned dough with the quick aspect going through you. As soon as it warms to a superb rolling temperature (you must have a way of this by now), start rolling it out into an extended rectangle, about 7.5mm to 1cm thick, and the width of the baking paper. The longer the rectangle, the extra rings you’ll get on the completed product.
Use a small, sharp, non-serrated knife to trim the sides with a clear, swift motion. Blunting the sides now will squash all these stunning layers we’ve labored exhausting to create. Slice the dough into 4 to 6 lengthy triangles. Two triangles ought to equal one lengthy rectangle, in order that the dough begins and finishes with the straight edges.
Gently decide up the primary triangle, transferring the others to the fridge in the event that they begin to stick.
Flip the triangle over, mud off any extra flour and lower a small 1-2cm slit within the centre of the broad base. Flick the 2 edges of the slit outwards to the sides of the dough. From right here, begin rolling the croissant up fairly tightly. When you get to the tip, depart the croissant tail hanging down. Don’t tuck it beneath the croissant as you’d with common ones – for those who do, the croissant will break up down the center because it bakes. Repeat with the remaining croissants.
To proof, cowl your croissants fully with out the protecting touching the croissants. I wish to divide them into ceramic baking dishes and place the dishes in big ziplock baggage. Subsequent, take into account your kitchen and climate situations; if it’s scorching, they may want much less proofing time.
Place them in a temperate zone (by no means in direct daylight) and verify on them every now and then. Should you see any leaking butter, pop them straight within the fridge. Should you’re baking in winter, place the ziplock-bagged croissants within the oven with both the sunshine on or a small baking dish of scorching water on the base of the oven. Change the water each hour or so, checking on the croissants as you do.
Your croissants are proofed, or near proofed, once they really feel puffy and light-weight to the contact. They may not look as if they’ve expanded considerably, however the dough ought to really feel springy and the tray of croissants a little bit lighter than you’d count on them to be. They may really feel like crackling sherbet towards your fingers if you contact them frivolously.
Whereas this may solely take an hour or two in summer season, it might take many of the day in a chilly, wintery kitchen, so be affected person and don’t panic.
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a big baking tray with baking paper, then rigorously switch the croissants to the tray. Use a small paintbrush to brush the pastry tops with crushed egg, being cautious to not paint the uncovered edges, which is able to glue the layers collectively and cease the croissant from rising and changing into flaky.
Switch the croissants to the fridge for 10 minutes to relax. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, or till golden brown and puffy. Some butter leaking is regular, but when yours are swimming, this can be a signal they have been under-proofed. It will probably additionally counsel that the butter wasn’t rolled into the dough with sufficient precision. Subsequent time, proof them for longer and deal with even, thought of rolling of the dough.
Gently switch the croissants to a wire rack to chill. They are often eaten warmish, however I give them at the very least an hour to set.
