How to cook a real French croissant? Step-by-step instructions

How to cook a real French croissant? Step-by-step instructions

In the classic recipe for this dish, it is important to take into account a few peculiarities.

France is famous for its culinary traditions, and one of the symbols of this country is the croissant. It is used both for desserts, adding chocolate, almonds, cottage cheese or apricots, and as a main course, adding ham, mozzarella or even salmon.

French Bakery SeDelice sous chef

“It’s not just a pastry, but a true symbol of French cuisine. To make it perfect is not an easy task. I will share with you the secrets of its preparation.”

Choose your ingredients carefully

The quality of ingredients plays a key role in making croissants. Use only high quality butter with high fat content, fresh eggs and extra virgin flour. The butter should be cold, but not frozen, to ensure proper dough layering.

Adhere to proper dough kneading techniques

Kneading the dough is a process that requires patience. Make sure that the dough is elastic. For this purpose, it is necessary to observe the proportions of the ingredients and the temperature of the dough during kneading.

Remember, layering is the foundation of the croissant.

The layering is what makes the croissant real. The dough is rolled and layered to create multiple thin layers. This process is called “tourage” and requires several repetitions of rolling and folding the dough. It is important to let the dough rest in the refrigerator between the tourage steps.

Observe the temperature conditions

Baking is a labor-intensive endeavor that requires attention to detail. The oven should be preheated to the ideal temperature (180 degrees) to ensure even rising and a golden crust. Baking time and temperature may vary depending on the size and shape of the pastry.

Cooking a true French croissant is a process that takes time and practice, but trust me, the result is worth it. By following these secrets and tips, you will be able to create a masterpiece of French pastry right in your kitchen.

Recipe for a classic croissant

Zloženie:

• flour – 500 g;
• sugar – 60 g;
• salt – 10 g;
• dry yeast – 10 g;
• milk – 300 ml;
• butter – 250 g;
• melange – two eggs, 10 ml of milk and 1 g of salt.

Príprava:

Step 1: Dough:

• In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt and yeast;
• gradually add the milk, kneading the dough until smooth;
• form the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film and leave it in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Step 2: Prepare the creamy layer:

• divide the cold butter into four pieces;
• roll out each piece between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of about 1 cm;
• fold all the butter pieces together to form a square layer.

Step 3: Layer the dough:

• take the dough out of the refrigerator and roll it out into a rectangle;
• place the butter in the center of the dough and fold the edges of the dough over, covering the butter;
• roll the buttered dough into a rectangle, then fold it in triplicate like a letter;
• wrap the dough in foil and leave it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes;
• repeat the rolling and folding process three more times, chilling the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes each time.

In this way, you will have puff pastry. You can also use store-bought, but in this case you also need to add butter to it.

Step 4: Shape the croissants:

• Roll out the dough into a large rectangle about 0.5 cm thick;
• cut the dough into triangles;
• roll each triangle starting from the wide side to form croissants;
• place the croissants on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and leave them to rise for one to two hours.

Step 5: Baking:

• preheat the oven to 180°C;
• brush the croissants with the mélange;
• bake the croissants for 15-20 minutes until golden.