Laminated yeasted dough folded three times around a slab of good butter and proved slowly until the layers separate. The work is spread over two days, with the dough chilling overnight before lamination begins. What you are after is a honeycomb crumb and a shell that shatters.
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Terms ↗7 Steps
Mix the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, milk, water and soft butter and knead for 6 minutes only, to a shaggy but cohesive dough with moderate gluten. Shape into a flat rectangle, wrap and refrigerate overnight; this long cold rest is not counted in the preparation time.
The next day, beat the cold lamination butter between two sheets of baking paper into a 18 x 18 cm square of even thickness, then chill it for 15 minutes so it is cool but still bends without cracking.
Roll the dough to 20 x 40 cm, set the butter square on one half, fold the other over and seal the edges. Roll out to 25 x 60 cm and give it a letter fold, then wrap and rest 45 minutes in the fridge.
Repeat the roll and letter fold twice more, resting 45 minutes in the fridge between each. These rests are essential and sit outside the stated prep time. If butter breaks through the surface, patch with flour and chill longer before continuing.
Roll the finished block to a 3.5 mm sheet about 30 x 55 cm. Trim the edges square, cut into triangles with a 10 cm base, notch each base 1 cm and roll up from base to tip without stretching, ending with the tip underneath.
Space on lined trays, brush with beaten egg and prove at 24 to 26 C for 2 to 3 hours until visibly puffed and wobbling like a jelly when you shake the tray. The layers should be clearly visible on the cut sides.
Brush again with egg and bake at 200 C for 10 minutes, then drop to 180 C for a further 10 minutes until deep amber all over, including the underside. Cool on a rack for 20 minutes before eating.
The butter block and the dough must be the same firmness when you start folding: bendable like cool plasticine, not brittle and not greasy. Prove the shaped croissants at 24 to 26 C, never warmer, because if the butter melts before baking it runs out of the layers and they bake up bready.
Comments (4)
proved mine too warm in a bangkok kitchen and lost butter onto the tray. lesson learned
two days of work but the honeycomb inside was worth every minute
my butter cracked on the first fold. chilled it less the next time and it behaved
the note about matching butter and dough firmness is the whole recipe honestly
it really is. everything else is just patience and a cold kitchen.