Hi, this is Lisa, I’m making a croissant today. A perfect croissant should have a crispy exterior, and multiple layers of honeycomb inside, crispy crumb and soft inside. Different from the pastry dough for making palmier, the croissant is made of fermented dough, so the temperature requirements are higher. I will summarize the key points that need to pay attention when making croissants at the end of the video. To make a croissant, a relatively hard dough is needed. Add various dry ingredients in the mixing bowl, A little more yeast is added to this dough, because a lot of butter and dough freezing will hinder the activity of yeast Choose a large egg about 60-65 grams. If the room temperature is relatively high, try to use ice water. Mix at low speed for 2 minutes. Since different flour has different water absorption properties, it is recommended not to add the water at a time. Check the softness of the dough and decide if the remaining water needs to add. After the dough is completely formed, turn to medium speed and continue to mix. Mix for about 8 minutes, the dough has formed a thick film, It is time to add the softened butter and mix at medium speed. Butter and dough are easy to stick to the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl, scrape off with a scraper from time to time, and continue to mix. After mixing for about 7- 8 minutes, take out a small piece for a windowpane test like this, No need to mix to a thin film like loaf dough. Fold the dough to make the surface smooth, place it on plastic wrap, Flatten and wrap. reeze in the fridge for 30 minutes. Let's make butter sheet. Fold a piece of baking paper into a 15 cm square shape. The butter directly taken out of the fridge is harder and easier to cut into slices. Use the unsalted butter, as it has lower water content than salted butter, which is good for making crispy croissants. After the butter softening at room temperature for a while, roll it out into a flat sheet. Put the sheet in the fridge (0-4C) for about 20 minutes to harden. For the lamination, the most important thing is to keep the consistency of the dough and the butter, so as to avoid cracking or buttery dough mixing together during lamination. Sprinkle a small amount of flour on the board. Take out the dough and butter sheet, Now the dough is just right, easy to roll out by pressing it lightly. Because the butter is easy to soften at high room temperature, so the room temperature is best controlled between 18C- 22C(65F-70F). Roll out the dough into a length of doubled sheet, about 15cm x 30cm. If the butter sheet has just been taken out of the fridge and feel hard, place it for a while at room temperature until feel it is as hard as the dough. Fold two sides towards the middle to wrap the butter. Pinch the seal tightly. Brush off the excess flour. If the dough has some small bubbles, use a toothpick to release the air. In the direction of both opening ends, roll it out to a length of about 45 cm. Cut off the two ends without butter laminated, avoid affecting the lamination. Now let's make the book fold, fold one side to the ¾ of the dough, and the other side, align the two sides and seal it, fold it in half like a book, wrap it in plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge (0-4C) for 40 minutes Let's do the second turn now. The procedure is similar to the first one, except that one less fold, so this dough has a total of 4 x 3 = 12 layers. Roll out a 15x45 cm dough sheet. brush off the flour on the surface, avoid affecting the crisping effect. When folding, be sure to align the corners of the dough and Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 40 minutes (0-4C) When the dough is taken out again, it’s time to shape. Sprinkle a little flour and press the dough gently in the direction of both opening sides, and roll it into a rectangular shape with a width of 23 cm, a length of 42 cm and a thickness of 4mm. cut off uneven sides roll into a 22 x 40 x 0.4cm rectangular shape Cut into 7 pcs of isosceles triangles with a base of 10cm. If the dough is too soft to handle, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for a few minutes. Now let’s shape, brush off the flour, stretch the dough to about 30 cm. Roll up the bottom part smoothly, the small tip is hidden at the bottom, do not roll it too tightly. Clear laminated layers can be seen from the side. Place the croissant dough on a baking tray lined with baking paper. check the tip of each dough is hidden at the bottom Egg wash on the surface, not on the side. Excess leftovers can also be used, cut into small pieces, and place in a 4-inch round mold. Since this dough contains a lot of butter, the fermentation temperature should be controlled between 25-28C(72-83F) to prevent the butter from melting. I put a tray of warm water around 60 degrees in the oven. If the humidity is not enough, spray some water to increase the humidity. The humidity is about 75%. The whole proofing process takes about 2-3 hours. To judge whether the dough is risen well, in addition to doubled in size, have a wobble test, just like this. At this time, the dough is very delicate, have an egg wash gently. Preheat the oven to 220C/430F, put it at the lower rack of the oven, and bake for 10-12 minutes. It is obviously larger. After the surface becomes golden brown, change to 190/375F and continue baking for 8 minutes. Observe the changes of the croissant in the oven during baking. Drop the tray to shake off the heat. Transfer to a cooling rack and let it cool. Serve warm. Feel the crispy while cutting the croissant. There is a very beautiful honeycomb texture inside with a crispy crumb and soft interior, which is very delicious. Finally, summarize a few key points in the process of making croissants: Temperature control
The room temperature should be controlled between 18-22C (65-72F) for easy handle The proofing temperature should not exceed 28C/83F, so as not to melt the butter which may cause uneven lamination The baking temperature must be high at the beginning and then lowered. The butter in the dough melts due to the high temperature, thus forming a honeycomb structure. If the temperature at the beginning is not high enough, it is difficult to form a large honeycomb structure. If fan-forced mode is used, the baking temperature needs to set about 15-20 degrees lower than that in the video, and adjust it according to your own oven. Water content The crispness of the croissant is largely due to the high temperature evaporation of the water in the dough, so the croissant dough should not contain too high water content. The dough itself is a bit hard, and the butter for lamination should also be unsalted butter with a lower water content. Do not change the formula to avoid failure. Other factors to affect making a Croissant
Brush off the flour on the surface every time you fold it. Cut off the unlaminated dough Pull the four corners at right angles to make the lamination more even If the butter in the dough starts to soften, place the dough in the fridge for a while to prevent the butter from melting and leaking out , causing a failure to croissants If the croissant does not rise too much or no honeycomb structure, it is mostly because the proofing is not enough and the baking temperature is not high enough; if the surface of the croissant is cracked, it may be related to the tightness of the roll. I hope this detailed tutorial will allow you to make a perfect croissant from scratch at home. Welcome to post your work to my facebook. if you like my video, please do not forget to like and subscribe. You can also leave comments if you have any questions. For more videos, please go to my channel “Lisa’s Kitchen”. See you next time.
