Croissants
This is my sister’s tried and tested recipe and one that she’s been perfecting for the last five years. It is one, however, that is saved for high days and holidays as it does require an alarm for six o’clock in the morning! We all then stumble, bleary eyed, into the kitchen for a delightful, delicious and much anticipated breakfast of coffee and croissants.
Ingredients:
250g strong white bread flour - I used Shipton Mill’s White No.4 Flour
1 1/2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
125ml warm water
Method:
The night before, mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl: flour, sugar and salt
Mix the yeast and water together in another bowl, dissolving the yeast in the water.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until all is properly combined and you no longer have any dry, floury bits. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 10 mins.
Knead the mixture for about 10-15 minutes until the dough relaxes and it no longer resists OR stretch and fold the mixture in the bowl (called the ‘no-knead method’ used for sourdough bread), which is when you pull a portion of the dough up and then press it into the main body of the dough, repeating until you have done this to the whole portion of dough - forming into a round ball.
Once kneaded, cover and leave the dough to rise on the side for 30-45 mins, which will help to activate the yeast before leaving it to rest in the fridge overnight.
The next morning, remove the dough from the fridge and flatten it out onto an un-floured work surface until the dough is a couple of centimetres thick.
Next cut up the butter (150g) so that it is roughly the same thickness as the dough and place it in the dough. Now you will need to stretch the dough over the butter so that it is fully incorporated and there is no worry of the butter escaping!
Now that the butter is fully encased in the dough you can start rolling it out lengthwise, so that the butter is evenly distributed throughout. Roll the dough to about 1cm thick, folding the dough into thirds to form a nice, neat block of dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge for 20 mins. Repeat this step another two times, so that you should have a nicely laminated dough, having done three ‘turns’. After the third turn place the fridge in the dough for 40 mins.
Remove the dough from the fridge and lightly flour the work surface. Roll out the dough fairly thin until you have a large rectangle measuring 24 x 38 cm. Cut the rectangle into long, thing triangles, which should make about 8-9 depending on your dough. Roll each triangle up to form a croissant. Place each croissant on a prepared baking sheet, making sure to leave enough room between them, allowing them to rise. Let the rest on the side for 20-30 mins which allows for the folds in the pastry to separate. Preheat the oven to 220C and place a roasting pan at the bottom of the oven.
Lightly brush the croissants all over with an egg wash, or you can also use milk.
Place the croissants in the oven, and pour a cup of water in the now hot roasting tray—this will create steam which will help in creating that perfect bakery crust. Bake the croissants for 15-20 mins until golden brown.