This story begins with many failed attempts using surefire recipes. They all say they are the best and are easy to do. Let me start off by saying it’s not that easy but it’s not impossible either. Here I explain how you make croissants from scratch anywhere in the world from ingredients you can get yourself and how to make your oven work for you like a real baker’s oven with steam injection.
Ingredients:
500g Flour (get specialty pastry flour if you can otherwise the finer ground kind or use normal flour)
70g Sugar
10g Salt
1 packet yeast (instant ~7g or active ~8g or 20g fresh bakers yeast)
240g water (adjustable to get dough right)
200g butter (unsalted preferably and the best kind you can find: higher milk fat content the better. Normal is 80% better is 82-85%)
Recipe:
1: take some wax paper and make it into a 20 cm x 20 cm envelope.
2: place the butter is the center of the envelope. Close the envelope and then take a rolling pin and pound and roll the butter flat into the shape of the square envelop. Then put it in the freezer at least 10 mins.
3: take your yeast and slowly add the water lukewarm and mix it out. It will try to clump but work it out so that it becomes homogenous. Add the sugar. Then let it sit for about five minutes and if a froth forms on the surface your yeast is working.
4: mix it with the flour and salt and kneed it for 10 minutes. At first it will be a bit clumpy then a bit sticky and if you keep working it will dry out and become a good tacky dough. Too wet and it will not hold it’s shape when rising. Too dry and it will not raise much. Roll it into a 20 cm x 40 cm square and sandwich it with wax paper.
5. put it in the freezer for 10 minutes.
6: then place butter in center of dough and fold over the ends so that butter edges meet. chill in freezer for 10mins.
7: double turn: Roll out to 40cm x 20cm in the direction of seam and fold back ends one shorter than the other, end to end. Then you have 20cm x 20cm. Then fold half again. now you have 20xm x 10cm. The crease will not be in the fold. Freeze 20mins.
8: single Fold: Roll out in the direction of seems to 40cm x 20cm. Then fold back on itself in thirds. Pat down and return to freezer for 20mins.
9: cut half and roll out thin. Then cut 30/60 triangles, spit base and pull tip for croissant or roll double chocolate bars into dough and cut the roll.
10: leave to raise. With good butter 1hr at 35 deg. C or room temperature for 4-6hrs. Until double or more in size. Or place in oven/microwave with a cup of boiling water to create a moist warm environment.
11: then preheat oven with heavy ceramic plate or casserole dish to place dough on and heavy cast iron pot on the bottom to add boiling water for steam. Preheat to maximum temperature of oven for at least 30mins.
12: brush dough with egg and mist with boiling water in spray bottle. Careful not to melt bottle. I use a cup and take a cleaned sprayer head and dip the end into it while I spray.
13: place dough directly on ceramic plate and add about two cups boiling water to cast iron pot. Turn temperature down to 170-180 depending on size (smaller size higher temp.). If upper and lower heating elements in oven, use lower one to cook evenly. Before closing door, spray boiling water on the all metal inner walls of the oven to create instant steam.
14: remove when golden brown and place on rack to cool for about 20mins.
15: freeze to store.
tip: you can make until step 8 and then freeze. Put dough in the fridge for 4hrs to thaw and then continue. This way you can make a bunch and use it for about a month.
tip: make the Pain au Chocolat by making Nutella bars. Spoon Nutella onto wax paper in a long strip and roll into round. then freeze before using.
please exercise caution. if you spray the glass in the oven it may explode. The boiling water with burn you if your not wearing gloves.
Extra: you can make higher milk fat butter by slowly heating the butter. When it melts the impurities will float to the top and can be removed to make clarified butter. We just want to take a little of that off, not all. Then cool and mix to redistribute the impurities. You’re trying to take about 5% off to take the butter from 80% to 85% milk fat.
reference this video for visual example (best I could find)