Croissants
There are some recipes in baking that would scare you not for its complexity but the sheer effort that goes into its making. In India you do not get puff pastry very easily the few that you get are frozen since ages and are usually brittle or rough to handle by the time you start handling it. The point is you need to invest some time. I have made rough pastry many times and puff pastry as well. Building on that I always wanted to make my own croissants at home.
While this takes time it is definitely not difficult. Only you should plan this activity a couple of days ahead of when you actually want to eat the croissants.
Although this recipe does not yield the flaky puff pastry kind of layers, it is no compromise on the taste. I use very small quantity of butter primarily because with the humidity in Mumbai it is impossible to work on large portions unless I decide to roll and freeze at every step. When I use the quantity of butter presribed in my recipe, I have lesser effort and added bonanza of no guilt or lesser guilt relatively
Ingredients
2 cups APF/ Maida
6 tspn sugar
1 1/4 tspn instant yeast
1 cup milk luke warm
2-3 tspn butter
1 tspn salt
1/2 cup butter cold ( I used slightly lesser)
Method
1) One butter paper, keep chopped pieces of your butter in about 6 by 6 inch square . Cover with another butter paper and roll it with rolling pin to form a rectangle of 6 by 8. Try to maintain shape so it is easy. Now put this in the refrigerator to chill
2) In the meanwhile, prepare your dough and mix it using fork. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 6 hours
3) After 6 hours, remove the dough using lightly oiled hands and gather it. Knead it to deflate it. Roll it out in a rectangular shape about 8 x 14 inch
4) Place the butter wrapped in butter paper in the centre and fold the dough from both sides like an envelope
5) Quickly roll it out again in rectangular shape. Fold in again from both sides like an envelope
6) Turn 90 degrees and roll it out again. Fold and then wrap in a butter paper and refrigerate for 30 min
7) Remove and repeat the steps for 3 more times. Again refrigerate and again repeat for 2 more times.
8) After the last time, refrigerate overnight or for 12 hours.
9) Now, remove and cut the rolled out dough in two parts. Roll it out flat in long rectangles. Cut each into triangles.
10) Place a filling of your choice - jam , cheese and start rolling from the wide side. tuck both the sides together
11) Cover and let them rise for 20-30 min
12) Bake on greased tin in a preheated oven at 200 c for 12 min. Brush the top with oil or egg or milk if you like.
Serve hot with butter or jam.
While this takes time it is definitely not difficult. Only you should plan this activity a couple of days ahead of when you actually want to eat the croissants.
Although this recipe does not yield the flaky puff pastry kind of layers, it is no compromise on the taste. I use very small quantity of butter primarily because with the humidity in Mumbai it is impossible to work on large portions unless I decide to roll and freeze at every step. When I use the quantity of butter presribed in my recipe, I have lesser effort and added bonanza of no guilt or lesser guilt relatively
Ingredients
2 cups APF/ Maida
6 tspn sugar
1 1/4 tspn instant yeast
1 cup milk luke warm
2-3 tspn butter
1 tspn salt
1/2 cup butter cold ( I used slightly lesser)
Method
1) One butter paper, keep chopped pieces of your butter in about 6 by 6 inch square . Cover with another butter paper and roll it with rolling pin to form a rectangle of 6 by 8. Try to maintain shape so it is easy. Now put this in the refrigerator to chill
2) In the meanwhile, prepare your dough and mix it using fork. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 6 hours
3) After 6 hours, remove the dough using lightly oiled hands and gather it. Knead it to deflate it. Roll it out in a rectangular shape about 8 x 14 inch
4) Place the butter wrapped in butter paper in the centre and fold the dough from both sides like an envelope
5) Quickly roll it out again in rectangular shape. Fold in again from both sides like an envelope
6) Turn 90 degrees and roll it out again. Fold and then wrap in a butter paper and refrigerate for 30 min
7) Remove and repeat the steps for 3 more times. Again refrigerate and again repeat for 2 more times.
8) After the last time, refrigerate overnight or for 12 hours. 9) Now, remove and cut the rolled out dough in two parts. Roll it out flat in long rectangles. Cut each into triangles.
10) Place a filling of your choice - jam , cheese and start rolling from the wide side. tuck both the sides together
11) Cover and let them rise for 20-30 min
12) Bake on greased tin in a preheated oven at 200 c for 12 min. Brush the top with oil or egg or milk if you like.
Serve hot with butter or jam.
Comments
Croissants are looking awesome
I never tried to attempt them because of the butter and the work involved and also not being sure whether I could replicate the soft, flaky store bought ones.