I’ve long considered croissants to be the haute couture of the baking world. Beautiful, aspirational, and not at all practical for everyday. Contrary to what the makers of crescent rolls may tell you, a croissant is not simply a triangle of dough rolled up and curved into a crescent. The mark of a true croissant is delicate, buttery layers. And those delicate, buttery layers–like hand-embroidered embellishments–take a lot of time. Three days to be precise. Furthermore, the typical recipe for croissants has all the bewildering complexities of a treasure map: Pour flour into a mixing bowl. Dissolve sugar and salt in warm milk. Blend into the flour. Take the mixing bowl to the oak tree beside the river, then walk 40 paces north and jump the fence . . . I exaggerate. A little.
My previous attempts to make croissants went something like this: I looked up a recipe, realized I didn’t have three days to spare, and probably bought a donut for breakfast instead. Yet, croissants have long been at the top of my baking bucket list, so a couple of weeks ago I made them. (Though to be honest it was a team effort involving my boyfriend and I. And to be even more honest, he did most of the work.) Our first step in making croissants was clear: I researched all the ways we could cut corners. I found a recipe that took two days instead of three. I also found a video tutorial.
Needless to say, it was a tedious experience–the folding, rolling, waiting, shaping, more waiting. In the end though, we had a couple trays of edible croissants. The first photo in this post shows the croissants that turned out. But not all of them were so pretty. A few unrolled while they baked and looked like this:
I experimented a bit and made the final two into pain au chocolat (essentially, a chocolate croissant). For many years, my experience with croissants was limited to grocery store bakeries and a certain Burger King breakfast sandwich. Then a few years ago I went to France where bread-making is an art form (along with everything else). You could get fresh croissants just about anywhere, including a chocolate-filled croissant as big as my forearm called a “chocolat maxi.” My chocolate croissants were more mini than “maxi,” but still delicious.
The conclusion I’ve come to after all this is that when I want a croissant, I’ll probably go to my local coffee shop. That said, I’ll likely attempt to make croissants again (though next time I’ll try the almond version).
If you have a free weekend and would like to give these a try, here’s the recipe and the video.
A note about butter: At the suggestion of a recipe reviewer, we used European-style butter which has a slight tang and is less sweet than sweet cream butter. As a result, our croissants were missing the familiar sweetness that American-made croissants often have. It’s all a matter of preference.
Bon courage!
