sue@burdvax.UUCP (05/25/83)
sorry for the delay - here's the Bon Appetit recipe I promised. BASIC CROISSANTS (makes 24 croissants) 2 envelopes dry yeast 3/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F.) 3 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour 1/2 cup milk 2 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons salt 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, well chilled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk Combine yeast and water in medium bowl and stir until yeast dissolves. Add 3/4 cup flour with milk and sugar and whisk until smooth. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let stand in warm area, about 75 degrees F, 1 1/2 - 2 hours to mature. (An oven preheated to lowest setting 1 minute and then turned off works well.) About halfway through rising process, batter will bubble up, then sink down; if preperation is to be discontinued at this point, stir bubbles out of batter and refrigerate up to 24 hours; maturing process will continue. Combine remaining 3 cups flour with salt in large bowl. Add well-chilled butter and mix, flattening butter pieces slightly between fingertips and working quickly so butter remains firm. (my note: I started to flatten the pieces, and they broke, so I stopped. I found it wasn't really critical to the recipe to flatten the pieces much.) (Refrigerate mixture if yeast batter is not ready to use.) Pour yeast batter into flour mixture and carefully fold in using large rubber spatula, just moistening flour without breaking up butter pieces; dough will be crumbly. (my note: crumbly is not the word for it - it looks as though you can't possibly be doing this right-- it's a sticky mess with whole butter pieces in it-- especially since the next step is to roll it, but keep going - it's really does work!) To fold dough: Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Pat dough down and roll into a 18 x 12 inch rectangle; if dough is sticky, sprinkle top lightly with flour. (my note: I tended to use a lot of flour, but that didn't seem to effect the final outcome.) Using a metal spatula or pastry sheet (I reccommend a unsided cookie sheet) fold right 1/3 of dough toward center, then fold left 1/3 over to cover - as for a business letter; dough will still be slightly rough. (mine was more than slightly). Lift folded dough off work surface, scrape surface clean (I had whole butter pieces that stuck - I just snuck them inside the folded dough) and sprinkle lightly with flour. Repeat patting, rolling and folding dough 3 more times. (If butter starts to soften and run, immediately wrap dough in plastic and freeze 10 - 15 minutes; butter pieces must remain layered throughout dough to ensure flaky pastry.) (my note: I was able to do all the folding without freezing, but it was close at the end.) Wrap in plastic and chill at least 45 minutes (or up to 24 hours). To shape croissants: Pat dough into rough rectangle. Cut in half lengthwise through center, then crosswise into thirds, forming 6 equal pieces. Return 5 pieces to refigerator. (the following was the hardest part of the recipe for me - if you know of a better way to to this, try it instead!) Roll remaining piece out on well-floured surface into 5 1/2 x 14 inch rectangle. Using pastry cutter or long sharp knife, divide dough in half crosswise to form tow 5 1/2 x 7 inch pieces. Cut each piece diagonally to form a total of 4 triangles. Using rolling pin, GENTLY roll across shortest side of 1 triangle until dough measures 7 inches across. Gently roll from longest side to point until dough measures 8 inches across. (I never got one triangle that was close to being the right shape!) Holding point of triangle with one hand; loosely roll dough up from base to point with the other hand. Transfer croissants tip side down to ungreased rimmed baking sheet. Curve both ends down slightly, forming crescent. Repeat with remaining dough. Brush croissants with egg mixture. Set aside, uncovered, in warm area (70 - 75 degrees F) and let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 to 2 hours; reglaze with egg mixture once during rising. To bake: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. Reglaze croissants with egg mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 12 - 15 minutes. Let cool on rack at least 10 minutes before serving. (Croissants can be cooled completely, wrapped airtight and frozen. Reheat unthawed croissants in 375 degree F oven for 10 minutes). My note: These were spectacular! (don't bother putting butter on them...) Sue SDC- aBC (burdvax!sue)