On Sat, 3 Sep 2011 13:08:19 +0100, "Ophelia" >
wrote:

>Share your recipe for croissants, please?

Gladly. Although I have this in book form, I found it online, too.
Easier to cut and paste than scan and TinyPic, or re-type by hand.

Also, be sure to watch these videos. Not every single thing is the
same as the recipe (the recipe was done after the videos, I believe,
and in Julia's book, written with Dorrie Greenspan).

Croissants are not difficult to make. They are time consuming, there
is no question about it, and I don't recommend them for a warm kitchen
or weekend, as working with butter can get tricky then, but the
instructions are clear, the videos of great help, and I am sure the
nearest kindly doctor will prescribe some medication for lowering your
cholesterol.

A few years ago, one of the posters here (Nancy, perhaps?) recorded a
series of adventures making croissants with different recipes. It was
a marvelous set of postings. Quite helpful and interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S-tTTz7zUM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIFq1...eature=related

CROISSANT RECIPE
Recipe from "Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with
America's Best Bakers"

Ingredients
For 20-24 croissants
For the dough:
" 1 ounce compressed fresh yeast
" 3 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
" 1/3 cup sugar
" 2 tsp salt
" 1 cup milk
For the butter:
" 4 1/2 sticks (1 pound 2 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into
1/2 inch cubes
" 2 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour
For the egg wash:
" 1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp cold water
Method

Preparing 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.

Preparing 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) 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 is 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 wont risk having the dough go soft or the butter seep out.
(Each time you wrap the dough, make sure its well covered - even a
little air will cause the dough to form an unwanted skin.) If you are
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 thats 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.

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; its 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 refrigerate continued
in part 2 for at least 2 hours.

Third turn:

Start again with a 14 inch side running from your left side to your
right. Roll the dough into a rectangle 24 to 26 inches 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 thats 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.

Cutting the dough:

Working with a pizza cutter or a large, very sharp knife, cut
triangles from the dough. This is done most easily by making a
diagonal cut on the left hand side to get the pattern started; save
the uneven piece of dough. Measure off a 3 to 4 inch base and begin
cutting the triangles, always cutting from bottom to top. You'll have
another scrap when you reach the other end-you'll use these scraps
when you shape the croissants. Unfold each pair of triangles and cut
them in half to separate. You should have 10 to 12 maybe 14 triangles;
set them aside while you clear the work surface of all flour. Line two
large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Shaping the croissants:

Moisten your hands with a wet towel. Working with one triangle at a
time, gently stretch the base to widen it slightly, then, holding the
base of the triangle in one hand, run the fingers of the other hand
down to the point of the triangle. Use your thumb to pull and stretch
the dough until its almost twice the original length-have courage and
tug; the extra length is what allows you to make a large croissant
with sufficient rolls to show off its layers of dough.

Place the triangle, point toward you, at arm distance on the work
table this will give enough space to roll the croissant into shape
with-out having to lift it in mid-roll) Pull off a little piece of the
reserved scrap dough, mold it into a small football shape and center
it on the wide top part of the triangle-this will help make the
"belly" of the croissant plump. Fold about 1/2 inch of this wide end
over itself and press the ends down once to secure. With your palms
and fingers positioned over the flattened ends of the croissant and
the heels of your hands on the flat work surface, roll the croissant
toward you-try to keep your hands moving down and out to the sides as
you roll- ending with the point of the triangle tucked under the
croissant. A well shaped croissant-and it takes practice to achieve
one-will sport at least six clearly accountable sections, or ridges,
from rolling. Place the croissants on one of the baking sheets,
leaving room for them to triple in size without touching one another.
Repeat with the other half of the dough.

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 the croissants:

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.

Storing:

The croissants are best eaten the day they are made. If you must keep
them, freeze them, wrapped airtight. Thaw the croissants overnight in
the refrigerator or at room temperature and reheat in a 350F oven for
about 8 minutes.