Undeniably there are quite a few steps to this recipe; however your reward will be a great sense of achievement when making croissants for the first time and an unparalled taste.
Any leftovers (what’s that?) you can create this croissant breakfast bake.
Ingredients
Croissant dough
Method
1.Line a 20cm square cake pan with plastic wrap, extending the wrap 5cm above the edges. Spread butter into pan; level the surface. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.
2.Meanwhile, to make croissant dough: Combine yeast, sugar and milk in a large bowl. Cover; stand in a warm place for 10 minutes or until mixture is frothy. Place flour and salt in a large bowl; rub in butter with your fingertips. Make a well in the centre. Add yeast mixture; using a butter knife, cut liquid through to bring mixture together. Knead for 2 minutes on a lightly floured surface or until a tacky dough forms. Pat out to a rough square. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate for 1 hour.
3.Turn croissant dough onto a very lightly floured sheet of baking paper. Lift cold butter from pan; fold plastic wrap over butter to enclose. Use a rolling pin to pound butter until butter is pliable and softened. Unwrap butter. Place butter on dough with the corners of the butter touching the midpoint of each side of the dough. Fold corners of dough over to enclose butter.
4.Roll dough into a 25cm x 50cm rectangle, dusting with a little flour as needed. Fold dough into thirds by bringing the top third down over the middle third, then the bottom third up to cover the folded dough. Turn pastry a quarter turn to the right. Roll out to a rectangle again; repeat folds, turning and rolling once more. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate for 30 minutes. Repeat rolling, folding and refrigerating two more times. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5.Roll dough out to a 30cm x 70cm rectangle. Turn dough with a long side in front of you. Mark the dough along the top long side at 10cm intervals; you will have six marks. Mark dough on the long side in front of you at 5cm from the left side, then at 10cm intervals; you will have seven marks. Cut dough into triangles, joining the marks at the top of the dough to the marks on the side in front of you. You will have 13 triangles. Discard scraps from both ends.
6.Line two large oven trays with baking paper. Roll up each triangle, starting from the wide base. Brush tip of pastry with a little of the egg; pressing firmly to seal. Transfer rolled dough to lined oven trays. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap. Stand in a warm place for 1 hour or until dough is puffy and springs back a little when pressed.
7.Preheat oven to 200°C. Brush croissants with a little more of the egg, being careful not to brush cut pastry edges. Stand for 5 minutes, then brush again.
8.Bake croissants for 12 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 180°C; bake for a further 5 minutes or until puffed and golden.
You can prepare the dough up to the end of step 4 a day ahead.
Croissants are best baked on day of serving.freeze Can be frozen for up to 1 month.
Note
