CROISSANT

The most delicious yet long-way-to-make bread! But, I'm so happy cos I made it. When I heard Christine made croissant, I wondered how was it. She explained to me the steps and it made me lost my interest to make it.

Then, suddenly two days ago, I decided to challenge myself to make this bread. So, I did all the steps until the last step, it made me worry that my croissant would failed because the texture of the dough was kinda hard. But, I still give a try :).

And...........voila........my croissant was reallyyyyy good. The texture was flaky enough for the beginner like me :). I am extremely happy *lebay..lebay :)*. For me, it is really worth to try, it needs efforts and times to make it tho, but it must be healthier than you buy it from a bread shop :). But, I'm warning you that croissant never become healthy food, cos it is high cholesterol bread *it needs 3 sticks of butter for 1/2 recipe only*. Since, this is my first croissant, I didn't fill it with any filling, but I did plan to make croissant sandwich *mmm...it reminds me to croissant sandwich from Dunkin Donuts :)*

Now, let me share the recipe :). Enjoy!

Croissant

Source : Chef Pino (see this link for the steps)

Ingredients:

3/4 lb lukewarm milk

1 tsp dry yeast

1 lb (450 gr) all-purpose flour

2.5 oz (75 gr) sugar

1/2 tsp salt

10 oz (30o gr or 3 sticks) butter

Egg wash:

2 egg yolks

2 tbsps milk

Instructions:

First Step:

Combine warm milk with yeast, set aside.

Mix flour with salt and sugar.

Add milk and stir with a rubber spatula enough to combine, do not overwork.

Wrap tight dough in plastic (Belzy - make sure to wrap it with several layers plastic, cos the dough will be rising), and refrigerate for 8 hours.

Second Step:

Cut butter into 8 pieces, pound thin, refrigerate.

Roll the dough into a rectangle on a floured counter.

Incorporate half of the butter with one single turn and two double turns.

Wrap in plastic, refrigerate overnight (8 hours or more).

Repeat folding until 4 times and dusting with flour everytime you fold it

Third Step:

Roll half of each package to form a rectangle 3mm thick. Cut triangles for croissants.

Form the croissants, brush with eggwash, let proof until risen (1.5 to 2 hours), bake at preheated 375`F oven for 12 to 15 minutes (Belzy -- I set the oven at 375`F for the first 15 minutes, then I reduced it to 350`F for another 5 minutes).