Wednesday evening
I made the pastry dough Wednesday evening as it needed to be left overnight in the fridge to firm up. I first mixed the flour and dried yeast together before adding the milk, sugar and salt. I then beat by hand the mixture until all of the the ingredients were combined into a shaggy-looking dough. I covered the bowl with cling-film and left the dough to rise by a radiator. I was unable to leave my dough to rise in my airing cupboard as the cupboard is in Thomas's room who was asleep at this point.
It should have taken 30-45 minutes for my dough to rise but because it was by the radiator it took nearly 2 hours to double in size. Once risen I punched down the dough, recovered it with the cling-film and put it into the fridge to chill ready for the next day.
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| The risen dough |
While the dough was rising I made the almond filling for the croissants so that I would not have to worry about making it tomorrow. I beat the butter by hand until it was creamy before adding the sugar and lemon zest. Then I gradually beat the mixed egg and yolk into the butter mixture. Finally I folded in the ground almond and the tablespoon of flour. The great thing about the almond filling is that it will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge if stored in an airtight container.
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| The almond filling |
Thursday
I started the next stage of the croissants while Thomas had his morning nap so that I would not have any interruptions. Before taking the dough out of the fridge I had to pound the chilled block of butter between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper until it became pliable. The pounded butter had to be shaped into a square with sides measuring about 12cm.
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| The pounded butter |
I took my chilled dough out of the fridge, punched it down and rolled the dough into a ball. The recipe then said to cut a deep cross in the top of the dough. To create the cross I had to cut almost right through the dough so that I was able to roll out each quarter of the cross to create 4 separate flaps. I put the pounded butter into the middle square of my dough and folded the flaps over the butter so that the butter was completely enclosed.
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| The dough cross with the butter in the middle |
Next I had to roll out the buttered dough into a rectangle about 30 x 60cm. To help me visualize how big my dough needed to be I measured out 30 x 60cm on my kitchen surface using a measuring tape. Once the dough was rolled out, I then folded it into three like a business letter. I put the folded dough onto my cutting board, covered it with cling film and put it into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. I had now completed the first 'turn'.
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| The dough folded into three |
The recipe instructed me to give the dough two more 'turns'. After I had completed each 'turn' my dough ended up being left for longer in the fridge then the recommended 30 minutes as I had to look after Thomas who was now awake. After the second 'turn' my dough was left for an hour in the fridge and after the third 'turn' the dough was left for over two hours in the fridge. I was only able to continue making my croissants when Thomas had his afternoon nap.
Once all the 'turning' had been completed I had to roll out the dough into a rectangle about 40 x 75cm. The "How to Bake" book was really not kidding when it said that you had to clear the decks to make plenty of space when making the croissants. I had to take nearly everything of my kitchen surface so that there would be enough space for the 40 x 75cm dough rectangle.
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| The 40 x 75cm rectangle |
I trimmed the edges of the rectangle and then cut it in half lengthways creating two equal strips. I cut each strip into triangles with 20cm sides and a 12cm base. The triangles had to be chilled in the fridge for the dough to firm up and I had to do this in batches as I had cut out 21 triangles.
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| The triangles |
To make the croissants I first put a teaspoon of my almond filling at the centre of the base of each triangle.
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| A dough triangle with almond filling |
Then I rolled up the dough towards me, using one hand to roll the dough and the other to pull down the long point of the triangle. I made sure that the pointed end of the triangle was underneath the rolled dough so to ensure that the croissant would keep its shape in the oven.
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| The rolled up triangles |
I put all of my rolled triangles onto the lined baking sheets and lightly brushed them with the egg glaze. I then left the dough to rise for about an hour till the croissants had doubled in size.
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| The risen croissants |
The recipe said to preheat the oven towards the end of the rising time to Gas Mark 8 as the hot temperature of the oven will help the layers of the pastry to puff up during baking. The oven temperature must not be too low as this could lead to the croissants becoming tough rather then tender. Before baking my croissants, I brushed them again with the egg glaze and scattered flaked almonds over the top of them.
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| Ready for the oven |
I baked the croissants first for 10 minutes at Gas Mark 8 and then for a further 8 minutes at Gas Mark 6. I took them out of the oven when they had reached a good dark golden brown colour all over.
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| My almond croissants |
The verdict
I am completely overjoyed that I have successfully made the almond croissants. I feel like I have finished a marathon after spending Wednesday evening and all of Thursday making them. I can proudly say that my almond croissants tasted stunning with a yummy almond filling surrounded by heavenly light, crisp, flaky pastry.
Next Week's Baking Challenge:
Large Fruit Cake
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