Croissants!

Saturday morning and I was absolutely buzzing. And all because the croissants I worked so hard on came out perfect for a first timer like me. What a feeling! Well, it also had to do with the fact that we made a generous breakfast, my husband made espresso and we took our time to enjoy Saturday morning with the paper. And then there was this buttery, light, flakey croissant with a crispy exterior reminiscent of our trip to Paris last spring, where we ate them daily.

I say that the croissant I made was not far from that. How rewarding! This is what baking is all about. You make something, and when it turns out well, you can feel happy.

The Kitchn posted a link for croissants, which I followed, and altered to my liking. Now making croissants is no easy feat, you must spend a lot of time with it, but mostly waiting while the dough chills and rests. I rather enjoyed it!

Croissants
Inspired by Verbalized
Makes 16 mini croissants

3/4 cup milk, warm
1 1/2 tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
150g salted best-quality butter, cold

1. In a large bowl, proof warm milk, sugar and yeast until the yeast looks active (signs: bubbles and/or foam on the surface).

2. Add flour and salt and knead until smooth and elastic. Do not add additional flour as the dough should be very soft. Chill for 1 hour.

3. Meanwhile, using a knife or a rolling pin, cut or flatten the butter into a 5 x 5 inch square. Wrap in plastic wrap (or parchment paper) and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

4. After an hour, place the chilled dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll into a 10 x 10 inch square. Place the chilled butter in the center, like an 'x' facing you and not like a square. Fold each side of the dough over the butter and form a sealed square. Make sure all the seams are sealed.

5. Gently roll the dough into a rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick, and then fold the dough into thirds. Cover with plastic wrap or place in a sealed container and refrigerate for one hour.

6. After an hour, roll again into a rectangle and fold the dough into thirds. Cover and refrigerate for one hour. Repeat 2 more times. (Total fold, including the first fold in step 5, should be 4 folds.)

7. After an hour of your last fold, repeat the fold one more time and then roll into a rectangle 1/8 inch thick. Cut the dough into 16 triangles. The width of the triangle must be short and the length must be very long.

8. Take a triangle and stretch it's width first, then stretch its tail considerably. Make a slight cut in the middle of the triangle's width and stretch a little more and begin rolling into a crescent, making sure to stretch the tail as you roll. (This technique is displayed in this video.)

9. Repeat with the rest. Place on a parchment-lined storage container, leaving 2 inches gap between each croissant. Refrigerate for 8 - 10 hours. (If you will not be eating all 16 croissants the next day, you can freeze the rest. Just put them in the refrigerator overnight in order to thaw them before baking.)

10. In the morning, or after 8 - 10 hours, remove from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature for about an hour.

11. Preheat oven to 200C or 400F. Bake the croissants on a baking sheet for 10 - 15 minutes, until golden brown.

12. Cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy and do let me know how they turned out!