Annika's Amazing Croissants

For quite a few weeks, Annika has talked about wanting to make croissants. I cannot lie ... I basically LOVE the fact she wanted to take on croissants. 

The issue ... ok, not issue, exactly .... the important thing to keep in mind is croissants are not a quick baking project. It isn't like the "Hey, Mom? Can we make cookies?" type of request that we can basically do at the drop of a hat. Laminated dough takes time. The ingredients have to be assembled, the dough has to rise, and then it has to be rolled, folded, rolled, folded, rolled, folded, chilled for 30 minutes (and repeat two more times). Typically, I like to make croissants over the course of a weekend; the dough is made, rises, and has its three rounds of rolling/folding on day 1. It spends the night in its plastic wrap sleeping bag in the fridge, and then day 2 is when we cut/shape the croissants, let them rise in their sauna, and then we bake them. 

Annika did a fantastic job! She was careful with her measurements and paying attention to the details. She listened well as I explained why certain things are done. As she beat the butter in the mixer, she proved (once again) that she's my girl by exclaiming how much she loves the smell of butter.

Annika adding the dry ingredients to the mixer

I'd like to throw out a huge bit of praise for Annika. She has been out of her cast for a smidge over a week, and was already battling dough with a rolling pin. That's not an easy task with two fully-functioning arms, and there she was persevering (Eric!!!) with one arm that wasn't quite up for that sort of task yet. Yes, I did help roll out the dough when she needed some assistance, but even that impressed me... she was willing to recognize when a helping hand was in order. (That's something I still struggle with. "I do it b'self!")

Rollin', rollin', just keep rollin'

After our third round of rolling and folding, we wrapped up the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for the night. Side note: I am SOOO glad I checked on the dough before I went to bed because it had enough carry-over heat that it continued to grow and it was HUUUUUGE! I knocked down the dough (TAKE THAT, dough) and put it back in the fridge ... with an extra layer of plastic around it just in case.

Sunday morning was rolling, cutting, shaping rising, baking, and (most importantly) EATING day!!!

We pulled out my marble slab (thank you to Eric's brother and sister-in-law for the heaviest-ever Christmas present!!), rolling pin, and croissant cutter (a special thanks to my brother and his co-worker for getting that amazing toy for me... still love it after all of these years!) and we got to work. After we rolled out the dough, I showed Annika how to use the croissant cutter, how to shape the rolls, and how we use a Hefty bag and bowl of hot water to create a croissant sauna.

Shaping the croissants

Annika and her croissant cutter super hero mask

Before long, the first batch of rolls was out of the oven (and that's when I realized we neglected to  put the egg wash on them ... whoops!) so I quickly brushed them with egg wash, popped 'em back in the oven and browned 'em up a bit more. Adapting is part of the baking game, people! :)

First batch out of the oven waiting for its forgotten egg wash

Annika with one of her finished croissants. SOOO yummy!!! 

Look at those flaky culinary masterpieces. Way to go, Annika!

Making something like croissants take a lot of patience and precision. Annika really showed how she's maturing by taking on a project like this. Sure, I had to encourage her to stick with it during the less exciting times here and there, but she really did a great job with this project. Very proud of our girl .... now I need to go ride our stationary bike 350,000 hours to work off the insane amount of croissant-shaped calories I've ingested since yesterday. 

Homemade Croissants - Revisited

A number of months ago, the Daring Baker's challenge was to make croissants ala Julia Child. Mine were ok at best, never that flaky goodness I expect croissants to be. I got it in my head that I needed to try again, but using a different flour blend (per Julia's suggestion ... like how we're on a first name basis now??)

I closely followed an episode from her TV show, during which she detailed the croissant-making procedure. and I went to work. Mind you, making croissants isn't a difficult task, but it takes A LONG TIME to complete. Rising and chilling time alone equals about 8 hours.

The final result from the time and effort? Still not 100% what I was hoping for, but MUCH closer to it than my previous attempts. Definitely getting closer to what I'm looking for. These croissants had a great flavor, lovely exterior, and fluffier/flakier interior than past attempts, but still a bit more dense than what I ultimately want. I think I need to find white pastry flour instead of the whole wheat pastry flour I used. Just means I get to keep trying!

Yum!

Daring Bakers Challenge Revealed: CROISSANTS!

I am so excited to announce this month’s Daring Bakers challenge! Croissants ala Julia Child. I have wanted to make homemade croissants for years, but was too intimidated by the idea to try. Well, the Daring Baker’s challenge made me face my croissant fears and look ‘em square in the flaky eyes.I’m officially addicted to baking croissants now. In fact, I’ve made 4-5 different batches of them this month and plan on doing more (once my knee heals!). I even ventured into making chocolate-filled croissants. There was definitely a learning curve and I had a few flops (especially when using the pre-corrected recipe that called for WAY too much flour), but also enough successes to make it worthwhile. This is not a fast process; it takes about 12 hours to make a batch of croissants, but it sure seems to pay off once you take a bite of the warm, flaky goodness.The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!