Stephan
The classic French breakfast or brunch delicacy rolled bread, is loved all over the world, but not very easy to make. I spent many many hours going over all the different recipes, videos, and other hints that are out there, and put together this one, that works really well for me; I have tried to put in all the tips I can, so you can really do this yourself, too!
Beware, this is the normal, slow way of making them. At the time of writing, I have yet to experiment with quicker methods.
| Ingredient | Amount (±18 medium or 12 large) |
|---|---|
| Yeast, dried | 7 g (1 baggy) |
| Flour, low protein (not ‘duro’/’durum’) | 350 g |
| Sugar (fine) | 40 g |
| Butter: 80+% fat | 235 g |
| Eggs (large) | 2 large |
| Milk (optional) | 1 tbsp |
| Salt | 7 g (± 0.8 tbsp) |
Three days, or day 1 + day 2 in morning + evening of one day.
- salt, water, wax paper, plastic foil, tools
Day 1
Bloom yeast
185g water body temp (37 °C / 98 ºF)
7g yeast (1 sachet)
(~10 min)
Mix:
350g flour (low protein)
40g sugar
7g salt
Add yeast mix +
35g butter, melted
1 egg yolk (large)
Make into dough
Slap against table and add little bits of flour until smooth surface
Then make a Ball
Cover with foil: Rest in fridge min. 10 minutes
At least 20-30 times: Pull point out and fold on top; result: a still soft, but elastic ball
Cover with foil: Rest in fridge min. 20 minutes
Wax paper, fold into 20x20cm, if not larger than 42x42cm use two sheets
Fold around dough in square
Roll, pushing into the corners and press until fully even and flat
Wrap in foil
Fridge overnight (or > 6 hours)
Day 2
Square of wax paper, 14x14cm; same as with the dough (but probably only 1 sheet)
200 g butter (80+% fat)
Quickly flatten and press until it’s a smooth and even block (just like the dough, only much more stiff), then straight into fridge, it needs to be cold&hard!
Roll dough into ± 25x25cm square, pull corners if necessary to get a real square
Put butter on diagonally, fold over tightly (leaving no air) with 1cm overlaps
Press the folds closed, make sure that all seams & corners are well closed
(Here: If not really stiff anymore, put in fridge for 10-20 minutes)
Touring (a.k.a. Laminating; you’re doing the steps on this page 3 times, so it takes a bit over 2 hours if done patiently, 1 hour the quickest)
{
Tour I (1 thick → 3 medium layers of butter),
Tour II (3 medium → 9 thin layers of butter),
Tour III (9 thin → 27 sliver layers of butter):
Roll out into 51cm rectangle (will be ± 20cm wide)
Carefully fold in 3 (17 cm folds), pull corners until rectangular, wrap in foil
Fridge 30-60 minutes
}
After third tour (27 layers of butter), instead of 30 minutes:
Fridge overnight (or > 6 hours)
Day 3
2½ hours before eating:
Roll out into ± 22x95cm rectangle (30x70cm for large croissants)
With a pizza cutter, mark width ±10cm per croissant flap (±14cm for large), and opposite markings halfway
Cut triangles + make 2cm cuts (no photo) in the middle of the short end
Stretch and roll
Put on (oven) plate with wax paper
(You should be able to see the layers from the side)
1 Whole egg + 1 tablespoon milk (can replace with water)
Whisk, use a bit to coat croissants (not too thick, should not run off!
(Keep the rest for later)
Leave to rise for 2 hours @ 25 °C / 77 ºF
Heat oven to 190 °C / 375 ºF (depending on oven), lower and upper heat
After rising, coat with another thin layer of egg/milk
Bake 6 minutes
Lower temp to 150 °C / 300 ºF (depending on oven)
(Open oven until cooled to that temperature)
Bake for 13 more minutes (depending on oven, and ±20% longer for large croissants)
Take out and either eat right away or cool down and freeze immediately
(from freezer: 8 minutes in 180 °C / 355 ºF preheated oven)
Voilà!
