Classic Croissants

I am happy to announce that I have officially moved onto Chapter 2, Layered Pastries! I enjoyed honing my bread skills, but I am looking forward to working more with pastries. I love croissants and I've made them once before, so I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to make this recipe after work last night (needless to say I wasn't in bed until after one a.m.). Croissants belong to a group of pastries called "laminated doughs" since layers of butter are sandwiched between thin sheets of rich dough. The recipe began by mixing the croissant dough--a combination of yeast, whole milk, sugar, butter, salt, and flour. Once the dough was in a rough mass it rested in the fridge while I worked on the beurrage (butter block). Next, I rolled out the dough into a large rectangle and placed the beurrage on two thirds of the dough and did my first letter turn. Since I worked quickly and the butter stayed cool, I was able to roll out the dough and do a book fold for my second turn, before returning the dough to the fridge to rest for an hour. After a third and final letter fold, I let the dough chill for two hours before rolling it out to be shaped. Classic croissants are cut into triangles, then a small slit is made at the base (creating the shape of an Eiffel tower) before the dough is gently tugged and rolled into its final shape. Once all the croissants were shaped, they sat on the counter to proof for an hour and a half (it was a cool, slow proofing so the butter didn't melt). Then, after a quick egg wash, they went into a 400-degree oven for sixteen minutes. The final croissants were a deep golden brown with a beautiful, splintery crust and tasted better than anything you can buy from the store. I really enjoyed making these croissants and even though they are quite a bit of work, I know I will go back to this recipe again and again.

On deck: Morning Buns