The idea with this method is that you can make a batch of croissant dough in an easier and quicker way, without having to do lots of different turns. Continue reading “The “Swiss Roll” method for croissant dough!”
Category: Croissants & Viennoiserie
Rum baba stollen bites
A simple, kind of “throw it all together” bake, this is basically stollen crossed with rum babas and is a popular sweet treat in this house. It is not just for making and eating at Christmas either; I often make it for Easter and at various other times of the year. Continue reading “Rum baba stollen bites”
Coffee and walnut choux buns
Something of a sweet treat to welcome in the Autumn. As if I needed an excuse! Continue reading “Coffee and walnut choux buns”
Easy spiced orange & vanilla Danish pastries
Always a total comfort to eat (cue what has got to be guilt-free indulgence!), these buttery pastries, with with an orange and vanilla almond filling, evoke the flavours of Panettone. Continue reading “Easy spiced orange & vanilla Danish pastries”
Croissant-wrapped sausage rolls (croissage rolls!)
For me, a sausage roll is truly one of life’s simple culinary pleasures. As long as it has a generous, well-flavoured filling and a crisp, buttery pastry, I can eat one (well, several!) at any time of the day or night. Continue reading “Croissant-wrapped sausage rolls (croissage rolls!)”
Chocolate and cherry pastries
Kirsch-soaked Morello cherries and dark chocolate encased in a crisp, buttery croissant pastry – what is not to love? Continue reading “Chocolate and cherry pastries”
Sourdough croissants
While I make croissants using commercial yeast fairly often and sourdough bread frequently, I am fairly new to making sourdough croissants. But boy have I been missing out: not only is the flavour even better than using commercial yeast, you get even crispier croissants that truly shatter as you break into them. Continue reading “Sourdough croissants”
Chocolate & orange bi-coloured viennoiserie
Bi-coloured croissants and the like have been doing the rounds for a few years and has been on my “to make” list for some time, especially as they can look striking. In essence, you have a croissant dough with a second, coloured dough running through it.
Continue reading “Chocolate & orange bi-coloured viennoiserie”
Easy chocolate & ginger viennoiserie
If you have ever been daunted by pastry, particularly for croissants and the like, these rich chocolate and ginger pastries are actually quite easy to make. Certainly compared to making croissant dough the traditional way. Continue reading “Easy chocolate & ginger viennoiserie”
Lemon sherbet cruffins (quirky viennoiserie!)
This is my take on cruffins: rich, buttery croissant pastries baked in muffin tins. For this batch I have gone for a tangy lemon filling, dusted with a lemon sherbet-esque caster sugar. For added zing, I have topped these cruffins with lemon icing and a few dried raspberry pieces. Continue reading “Lemon sherbet cruffins (quirky viennoiserie!)”
Sfogliatella pastries with a honey, orange & pistachio filling
This is my first attempt at these challenging Italian pastries – pastries I tried for the first time only a few years ago. It goes without saying that I had to have a go at making these, relying solely on a loose recipe description from a bakery….. Continue reading “Sfogliatella pastries with a honey, orange & pistachio filling”
Quick and very easy peach Danish pastries
These are very simple and utterly delicious Danish pastries, made using a short-cut croissant dough, a dough that takes just 20-30 minutes to make, plus time for the made-up dough to chill before using. Seriously, this particular croissant dough is quite fool-proof. Continue reading “Quick and very easy peach Danish pastries”
Easy bitter orange pains au chocolat
England and France unite in this English breakfast variation on pains au chocolat, with the addition of a bitter orange kick from a little marmalade inside the pastries, as well as being used to glaze them. Continue reading “Easy bitter orange pains au chocolat”
Easy ham, cheese & mustard croissant whirls
Although an unembellished home-made croissant is a truly wonderful thing to eat, savoury variations excite me hugely! Continue reading “Easy ham, cheese & mustard croissant whirls”
Chocolate & cherry brioches
This is my chocolate and cherry version of a brioche: very rich, with a buttery interior that is actually very light to eat and practically melts in the mouth. Continue reading “Chocolate & cherry brioches”
Easy orange & rhubarb Danish pastries
These very easy Danish pastries, using quick croissant dough, are an excellent approximation to Danish pastries that are made with traditional croissant dough. Continue reading “Easy orange & rhubarb Danish pastries”
Croissants & pains au chocolat
Updated with further troubleshooting and general tips
Updated Jan 2014: a few more tips & troubleshooting; clearer pictures for shaping pains au chocolat.
Sections in this post:
- Introduction
- Recipe for a laminated yeasted dough
- A few tips
- Troubleshooting
- Proving: a cooler environment
- Shaping the dough for croissants and pains au chocolat
- Variations
- A rough timescale for making croissants
- Quicker croissants
- A slightly different approach
Introduction
There really is something quite magical when you get the lightest croissant, pain au chocolat or savoury variation – all with the crispiest flakes and a rich, buttery flavour. The photos in this post are of various batches of croissants I have made.
Rather than just a light, cresent-shaped, bready concoction with not much flavour – ie) your typical mass-produced croissant – I like a croissant to have a crisp outer shell as you bite into it, with bits of the flaky exterior falling off; a honeycombed interior structure; a rich, buttery flavour and…
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The quickest & easiest croissants: 20-minute lamination!
Quicker croissants: 20-minute lamination!
A batch of traditionally made croissants can take the best part of a weekend with all the resting and chilling in between the turns and at other stages.
Don’t get me wrong, making croissants this way is one of the top baking pleasures for me, but there are certainly times when effective shortcuts are called for. And this shortcut is certainly effective in that it gives excellent results and is easier to achieve than traditional croissants. Continue reading “The quickest & easiest croissants: 20-minute lamination!”
Kouign-amann pastries
This is my version of this buttery, caramelised pastry, Kouign-amann: roughly pronounced “queen ah-marn”. Oh, and these really are truly buttery and flaky, with a nice salty kick and terrific caramelisation all over. Continue reading “Kouign-amann pastries”
Croissaladière (anchovies, olives, confit shallots on croissant dough)
The classic Pissaladière is true celebration of the simplest of ingredients that give the most impressive of flavours. A thin bread base with a topping of slightly sweet confit shallots, salty anchovies and juicy olives (green, black, stuffed or a mixture!). It makes for the most wonderful light meal. Continue reading “Croissaladière (anchovies, olives, confit shallots on croissant dough)”
Sour cherry & white chocolate pastries
These are very light pastries with the wonderful combination of both sweet and sharp flavours. The sour cherries, having been steeped overnight in rum or Amaretto, pack a lovely punch; the fragrant sharpness of a passion fruit crème pâtissière, enriched with a little white chocolate, offers an indulgently soft filling for the crisp, buttery pastry. Continue reading “Sour cherry & white chocolate pastries”
Croissants
For me a croissant is one of the greatest baked goods to eat: that crisp outer shell that rains flakes as you bite into it, revealing an open honeycombed interior…. and then there’s its rich buttery flavour with an almost nutty aroma. A total joy! Continue reading “Croissants”
Phil's Home Kitchen 