(This recipe came from “Bake Wise” by Shirley O. Corriher. This is a really long and picture-heavy post, so I’ve broken it up. There is a “more” jump at the bottom of the post.)
Since I made the decision to make croissants about two weeks ago, I’ve been terrified of today. The directions for this recipe take up two and a half pages in the cook book, and it was going to be an all-day affair. But I wanted to stick with my guns and make baked goods that proved to be a bit of a challenge. Croissants were definitely a challenge.
The croissants started last night when I mixed up the dough. It was then refrigerated overnight, while I tried not to think about it.
This morning, I got up at 9 a.m. (which is insanely early for me on a day off from work), and got to work. The first step was clearing off my counter and putting my mom’s “noodle board” on it:
The noodle board is basically a chunk of Formica-covered wooden counter top that used to be in someone’s kitchen, cut down to a manageable size and with the ends rounded off. My mother and grandmother use their noodle boards mostly for making…wait for it…homemade noodles. Although it comes in handy for rolling out pie dough as well.
In doing research for these croissants, I learned that I technically should have a pastry marble for this job. Marble keeps colder than most other materials, and it keeps the immense amount of butter in these croissants from melting on contact. But pastry marbles cost at least $160, so I passed on that and went for the noodle board instead. I think it did a fine job.
The next step was cutting three sticks of butter into long thin strips, which were then rolled in butter:
This sticks were then mangled and mushed and rolled and beaten into a roughly six inch by six inch butter block:
The dough was then retrieved from the refrigerator and the noodle board was oiled to keep the dough from sticking. I rolled the dough out to a roughly 12 inch by 12 inch square:
The butter block was then placed on the dough, which was pulled up and over, encasing the butter:
The dough was then rolled out to a 10 inch by 18 inch rectangle. The bottom third was folded up and the top third was folded down, like a business letter:
Then I wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerated it for one hour. This process was repeated SIX TIMES (yup, that’s six hours of refrigeration each time). After the final roll and refrigeration, it was time to prep the dough for the cuts.
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