Tutorial: French Croissants
 
A step-by-step photo tutorial on how to make the perfect French croissant.
Ingredients
For the detrempe dough:
  • 2½ teaspoons active dry yeast
  • ¼ cup (62.5ml) + ¾ (187.5ml) cups milk
  • ¼ cup (50g) sugar
  • 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
For the beurrage block:
  • 1 cup (210g) cold butter
  • 2 tablespoons (16g) all-purpose flour
For the egg wash:
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon water
Method
Prepare the detrempe dough:
  1. Warm the ¼ cup of milk to about 38°C (100°F) and then sprinkle the yeast over it. Stir together and wait five minutes for the yeast to activate.
  2. Pour in the sugar and the rest of the milk, which should be cold.
  3. Sift the flour into a separate bowl and then add two cups of the flour and the salt to the yeast mixture. Stir and add as much of the remaining flour as necessary until the dough is soft and sticky.
  4. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead a minute or two until the dough has a smooth surface and forms a ball that flattens slightly as it stands.
  5. Move the ball of dough to a plate dusted with flour, and cut a deep X into the dough to split it into four quadrants. Sprinkle the top of the dough with a little bit of flour, and let rest in the fridge for at least an hour (I sometimes leave it for up to a day).
Prepare the beurrage block:
  1. Beat the butter until it is smooth and then beat in the flour.
  2. Place the butter on a lightly floured work surface and shape it into a square approximately 10cm (4 inches) large.
  3. Wrap the butter in plastic wrap and place in the fridge until the beurrage block and detrempe dough are equally hard (press on each one to check).
Prepare the croissant dough:
  1. Place the detrempe on a lightly floured work surface such that the tips of the X you cut are at approximately the 2, 4, 7, and 10′o clock positions. It should now look like four quadrants of dough at the north, east, south, and west positions.
  2. Using the heel of your hand press each quadrant away, flattening and stretching it about 2½ inches (6cm). Make sure that the center square of the “clover” is thicker than the “leaves”.
  3. Roll each cloverleaf with a rolling pin until it is about six inches long and five inches wide, still leaving a raised square in the middle. Your goal here is to roll the leaves thin enough so that their combined thickness is equal to the thickness of the center square.
  4. Place the beurrage onto the square you just made.
  5. Take the flap, or leaf, of dough that is furthest away from you and fold it onto the butter. Take the flap that is nearest you and do the same. Continue with the other two flaps, until you have a square piece of dough.
  6. Take your rolling pin and lightly hit the dough a few times to distribute the butter in it.
  7. Roll the dough into a 17 by 9 inch (43cm by 23cm) rectangle and cut away a few millimeters from each side to reveal the butter. If you don’t see butter, cut away more until you do. Make sure to repeat cutting away a little bit of dough for every fold to ensure there aren’t areas of the dough where layers of butter are missing. Also, never put the cut away dough back into the main dough as it will ruin the lamination.
  8. Complete a single turn of the dough by folding the left third of the dough into the center, and then the right third of the dough onto the left. This way, you should end up with a rectangle that is about 6 inches wide by 9 inches high (14cm by 23cm).
  9. After folding, take the rolling pin and lightly roll it over the dough to press the layers together and then refrigerate everything for at least one hour, and then place the dough in the freezer for half an hour.
  10. Roll out the dough into another 17 by 9 inch (43cm by 23cm) rectangle to prepare to do a book turn. Remember to cut away some dough!
  11. Complete a book turn of the dough by folding the short right edge of the dough 2 inches (5cm) to the left (this is the spine of the “book”). Then, fold the short left edge of the dough to the right to meet (but not overlap) the right edge (this is the pages of the “book”). After that, fold the dough from left to right so that it lines up.
  12. Using your rolling pin, gently roll over the layers to compress them together. Place the dough in the fridge to chill for at least another hour, and then place in the freezer for thirty minutes.
  13. When you take the dough out of the fridge roll it into another 17 by 9 inch (43cm by 23cm) rectangle and do another single turn of the dough after cutting away some dough. Compress the layers slightly using your rolling pin.
  14. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for at least six hours, and then place in the freezer for thirty minutes.
Form the croissants:
  1. Roll the dough into a rectangle 9 inches high by however much you can wide. Use a knife to cut off any uneven parts so that the dough is perfectly rectangular. Mark points 4 inches apart on the bottom of the rectangle, and then 4 inches apart on the top of the rectangle starting 2 inches away from the edge. Cut along these points to create triangles. Your first and last triangle will be smaller than the others. Place all triangles in the fridge to chill for thirty minutes.
  2. Take one of the triangles that was not from the ends and hold it in your hands. Stretch the base of the triangle so that it is about 5 inches (13cm) wide. Then, stretch the triangle until it is about 11 inches (28cm) long. For the half triangles at the ends, combine them by overlapping them slightly and pressing together. Then, stretch them like the regular triangles.
  3. Starting from the base of triangle, roll it up to the tip. That’s all you need to do to make a straight, French croissant. As you roll, try to stretch the dough slightly. Your goal is to have seven “steps”, caused by three full rolls of the dough.
  4. Continue rolling the other triangles and place them about 2 inches (5cm) apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet with the tip of the croissant at the bottom so that it doesn’t unravel.
Bake the croissants:
  1. Brush the croissants with egg wash (an egg beaten with a teaspoon of water).
  2. To proof the croissants leave them at room temperature for a few hours until they are doubled in size.
  3. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly brush the croissants again with egg wash (double egg washing helps them develop a nice crispy exterior). Bake for about 15-25 minutes, or until the croissants aregolden brown.
Recipe by IronWhisk at http://www.ironwhisk.com/2012/08/french-croissants/