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”
Tag: laminated dough
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”
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”
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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Kouign-Amann pastries: shortcut method
This is my easy version of this wonderful Breton pastry, Kouign-Amann, roughly pronounced “queen ah-marn” which loosely translates as buttery cake. And these are indeed buttery and flaky, with terrific caramelisation. There is also very little hands-on time when it comes to making them. Continue reading “Kouign-Amann pastries: shortcut method”
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: a crisp outer shell that rains flakes as you bite into it, revealing an open honeycombed interior. And then there’s it’s rich buttery flavour and an almost nutty aroma. Certainly not to eat if you’re counting the calories, but a real joy! Continue reading “Croissants”
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