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| Final products |
I have finally learned the fine art of making croissants and pains au chocolat and have come to the conclusion: why bother? When you combine all the different steps, they take about 48 hours to make yet they only cost 1 euro at the bakery and about 30 seconds to eat. The opportunity cost of making them is simply not in your favour. In fact, you could probably have them flown from France to Australia more quickly than making them yourself. In any case, if you are interested, I have included the recipe below. Enjoy wasting those hours of your life because you are not getting them back!
While I don't intend to make them again, I did thoroughly enjoy my class on Saturday. It was a three hour class at La Cuisine Paris. It was a bit of a cheat's way to learn how to make croissants but I didn't mind. We cheated because it takes so long to prepare the dough - so we were given pre-made dough to prepare our croissants and while they were rising, we prepared our own dough.
The key to croissants is not to muck up the dough and this is most easily done when you are rolling in your massive clump of butter. When rolling a 250g block of butter into the mix, you need to make sure that the butter stays cool otherwise it will burst through while preparing your layers. That means, with every simple and complex turn (yes, there are simple and complex turns with dough) you have to put the dough back in the fridge for about 20 minutes. For good dough you should do this about 8 times. How boring! After you have rolled your layers, you should really leave it in the fridge overnight. If you leave it out, you will activate your yeast and then it won't rise when you need it to rise later on.
Anyway, the class was fun and I enjoyed it but I was starving by the end and a croissant, pain au chocolat and a cup of tea really didn't cut the mustard.
Hot tip: For a real croissant experience in France, it is important to order a croissant au beurre. A croissant au beurre must be made with butter. All other croissants are made with margarine and are nowhere near as nice. When made with margarine they also tend to be straight as opposed to crescent-shaped.
Hot tip: For a real croissant experience in France, it is important to order a croissant au beurre. A croissant au beurre must be made with butter. All other croissants are made with margarine and are nowhere near as nice. When made with margarine they also tend to be straight as opposed to crescent-shaped.
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| Preparing the dough: Flour, salt, butter, water, yeast |
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| Worked into a ball and ready to be rolled. Cut a cross into the top, place your fingers in the middle and peel outwards to make a square. Not particularly clear, I know...sorry. |
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| Now roll into a rectangle. Btw: that is a special croissant brush |
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| This has 250g block of butter hidden in it. Needs to be rolled AGAIN. |
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| Cut dough into rectangles for pain au chocolat and triangles for croissants. |
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| Obligatory photo chez 'Olly |