Photo: Ulrika Ekblom © 2014 Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern
- Classic croissant
- Pains au Chocolat (chocolate croissants)
- Croissants aux Amandes (almond croissants)
Make croissants yourself
Paris, 24 ° C, bright sunshine - Paris is not only the city of love, but also the city of enjoyment. Macarons, crème brûlée, croissants - each of these French little things sounds more delicious than the other.
The puff pastry is the basis of the French pastry. A fine yeast dough, which is traversed by several butter plates. Baking croissants takes time and money, but what a magical feeling when the scent of freshly baked croissants drifts through the bedroom!
Croissants taste freshly baked the best! If you do not want to eat all at once, then fill the puff pastry croissants from the day before with a delicate almond cream. Unbeatably delicious!
The famous pastry chef Mia Öhrn takes you on a culinary journey to the land of croissants and shows you how sweet France (Mia's sweet France, Jahn Thorbecke Verlag, ISBN 978-3-7995-0561-1, € 16.99) can be, Do it like the French - dip your croissant in a café au lait and let yourself be enchanted by its sophisticated charm. Bon Appetit!
A little tip: If you can not make yourself a puff pastry, you can safely grab finished puff pastry and refine to your heart's content.
Classic croissant
ingredients
125 ml of cold water, 150 ml of whole milk, 20 g of yeast, 500 g of wheat flour type 550, 40 g of sugar, 1 1/2 tsp of salt, 300 g of cold butter to roll out, 1 egg to brush
preparation
1st day 1: Mix the water and the milk in a mixing bowl. Add the yeast and stir everything.
2. Add the flour, the sugar and the salt and mix everything into a dough. Knead the dough by hand or in a food processor for about 10 minutes. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rise at room temperature for about 2 hours.
3. Squeeze the dough in the bowl and let stand in the refrigerator overnight for about 8-12 hours. It is best to look again after 1 hour and squeeze again when it has risen.
Day 4: Cut the cold butter into thick slices and beat a dough roll to soften it. The butter should have about the same consistency as the dough and be formed into a square about 5 mm thick.
5. Place the dough on the work surface, press it a little flat and cut it crosswise. Pull apart the four pieces of dough and roll out on the lightly floured work surface until the dough plate measures approx. 30 x 30 cm. Place the butter dish in the middle of the dough and fold over the corners. The butter must be completely covered.
6. Place the butter dish in the middle of the dough and fold over the four corners. The butter must be completely covered.
7. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 40 x 70 cm rectangle. Measure with a yardstick or a ruler.
8. Brush the flour from the surface of the dough and fold the dough in triplicate. Wrap in cling film and allow to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
9. Roll out the dough again to a size of 40 x 70 cm and fold it in triplicate. Let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Roll it out once more, fold it up and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
10. Roll out the dough again to approx. 40 x 70 cm. He should be about 2-3 mm thick. Cut off the edges with a sharp knife.
11. Cut out triangles with a base of approx. 13 cm. If necessary place the triangles on a lightly floured board, cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to make them easier to roll up. If they feel solid and good, they can be rolled up immediately.
12. Roll up the croissants and place them evenly on three trays of baking paper. The tips should be down.
13. Brush the croissants with a little whisked egg, leaving the cut surfaces free so that they do not stick together instead of forming nicely. Put some egg under the tip and press it so that it does not come off in the oven. Leave at room temperature for 1 ½-2 hours.
14. Bake the croissants in the middle of the oven at 225 ° C or 175-200 ° C hot air for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Pains au Chocolat (chocolate croissants)
Ingredients (16 pieces)
1 set of dough for croissants, 300 g dark chocolate, 1 egg for brushing
preparation
1. Follow steps 1-10 of the recipe for croissants.
2. Cut the chocolate into bars about 8 cm long and 5 cm wide.
3. Cut the dough into strips about 8 cm wide. The strips should be about as wide as the length of the chocolate bars.
4. Place a chocolate bar about 2 cm inside the edge of the dough strip. Fold the dough over it to cover the chocolate bar. Put another chocolate bar on top of the folded dough but not on the bottom chocolate bar. Roll it up and cut the dough roll off the dough strip. Repeat the same procedure with the remainder of the dough and place the Pains au Chocolat evenly on sheets of baking paper.
5. Brush the biscuits thinly with whisked egg. Also put something in the joint under the pastry and press it shut so that it does not come loose in the oven. Leave at room temperature for 1 ½-2 hours.
6. Bake in the middle of the oven at 225 ° C or 175-200 ° C hot air for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Best to eat the same day.
Croissants aux Amandes (almond croissants)
Ingredients (6 croissants)
For the sugar water: 2 tablespoons sugar, 200 ml water
For the almond cream: 100 g almonds (brewed and peeled), 85 g sugar, just 1/4 tsp salt, 100 g room warm butter, 2 eggs
In addition: 6 croissants from the day before, almond flakes, powdered sugar
preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 175 ° C.
2. For the sugar water: boil the water and the sugar and cook for about 1 minute. Let cool down.
3. For the almond cream: Mix the almonds, the sugar and the salt in a food processor. Add the butter and mix. Add the eggs one after the other and mix everything into a cream.
4. Halve the croissants and dip the halves in the sugar water. Drain slightly.
5. Place the croissants on a baking sheet with baking paper. Brush or sprinkle some almond cream on the lower part of each croissant. Place the top on top and apply or spray a fairly thin layer. Sprinkle with almonds.
6. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 15 minutes until the almond cream has got a bit of color. Allow to cool slightly and then dust with powdered sugar. Serve lukewarm or refrigerated.
