Hello friends, its time for another guest on my blog. Today, I've Sowmya from Nivedhanams. If you wander through her blog you will get to know the many mouthwatering and yummy vegetarian recipes that she excels in. I am one of the biggest fan of her blog. She is going to show me and all you readers out there a rather difficult recipe in baking - Croissant. For our easiness, she has given a pictorial representation of each steps which makes it easy for a beginner like me to follow. Here goes the recipe...






Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 4 cups
Water - 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp
Luke warm milk - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Yeast - 4 tsp
Salt - 2 tsp
Cold butter - 290 grams
Soft butter - 40 grams



Method:

Heat the milk until it is about 110 degrees F. Add the soft butter to it and mix it well.

To a mixing bowl, add yeast, flour, sugar, salt and mix well

Now add butter and milk mixture and allow it to run on very slow speed for 30 seconds

Now add 1/2 cup water and allow it to run on medium speed for a minute or until combined. Add a table spoon or two more if needed.

Do not knead too much, then the gluten will get developed and it will become hard to roll later

Cover with a plastic wrap and allow it to rest on room temperature for 30 minutes

Pound the butter such that it becomes malleable and make a 8" pocket with parchment paper. Take a parchment sheet and fold it such that you get a 8 inch square in between (see below). Set aside. Keep the butter inside the pocket and roll it to a 8 inch square

After 30 minutes, lightly press the dough to a 10x7 rectangle and place it in parchment lined baking tray and cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to rest in the fridge for 2 hours and in the freezer for 30 minutes

Now the dough will feel like cold clay

With dusting the surface little, roll the dough to a 17x8 inch rectangle. Remove the butter from the fridge, from the pocket and place it in the center and cover the butter from both sides

Now lightly roll it and ensure that the butter does not come out. Pinch the seams and seal the butter

Roll it to a 8x24 inch rectangle and make the first fold. Fold it like a business letter. Fold it 1/3rd way and then fold from the other end

Keep it in the freezer for 30 minutes and re roll it to 8x24 inch rectangle and similarly fold it in three fold

Keep it back in the freezer for another 30 minutes and re roll it to a 8x24 rectangle and fold it three fold

Now keep it back in the fridge overnight and in the freezer for 30 minutes

Roll it to a 16x18 inch rectangle and cut it 2 pieces like 8x18 and 8x18.

To one 8x18 piece, mark along the edges marking 3 inches and on the other side, leave 1.5 inches gap at first and then mark 3 inch markings

Start cutting from one mark to another such that you get 3 inch wide triangles.
Make a cut in the center and stretch it with hands and roll the croissant from the wide side to the pointer side

 Allow it to rest on room temperature for 2 to 3 hours

Brush with milk / cream and bake it in a preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes. Mine took 18 minutes

Allow it to cool for a minute in the tray and transfer to the cooling rack and allow it to cool for 10 minutes

Enjoy warm!!!

Points / Tips

Do not run the mixer for long, it will build the gluten and will make it very hard to roll.
Making the butter pocket ensures that you have a square butter which is very crucial to this recipe
Have a ruler / scale which is very necessary for this recipe
Any time the dough feels warm or is starting to stick, put it back in the freezer for about 30 minutes and give it a time out and re roll
Always cover the dough or rolled dough or shaped dough with a plastic wrap to ensure that it does not dry out!!

This recipe will make around 26 croissants
I made only a few and kept the remaining shaped ones in the freezer. When I am ready to relish them again, I will need to bring it to room temperature and allow it to rise for 3 hours before baking.
Ensure that the butter is cold but malleable. If it is too soft, it will melt. If it is too cold, it will break
Temperature of the butter I used is 40 degrees F
Wow my mouth is watering after seeing the final result. Its worth all the effort... :)

Thank you so much Sowmya for taking out time and doing this post for me, u made my day!!!  Hope to see many more baking recipes, tips and tricks coming from your side.... :)

Do check out her blog Nivedhanam