Croissant

Takes 400 minutes | Serves 20 |

Ingredients

500 g unsalted butter, cold
100 g whole eggs
100 g egg yolks
100 g milk
1350 g croissant dough
500 g butter block

Steps

Butter Block and Egg Wash

• Place a piece of parchment paper on the table. Center the butter on the paper. Top with another parchment paper and pound the top of the butter from left to right with a rolling pin to begin to flatten it. Continue to flatten the butter until you have a rectangular shape of 30 cm x 30 cm. Wrap and refrigerate.
• Put all the ingredients (whole eggs, egg yolks, and milk) in a bowl and mix with a whisk. Reserve in the fridge until ready to use.

Laminating the Croissant Dough

• Take the croissant dough from the freezer 1 hour before use and keep it in the fridge. The dough should be 50 cm x 30 cm and firm to the touch.
• Place the cold butter to cover 2/3 of the dough. Fold the top of the dough to the center and fold the bottom of the dough over the top. This is your first 'single fold.' Lightly dust the work surface and the top of the dough with flour, then turn the dough so that the seam is vertical. Cut the sides of the dough to allow the butter to spread evenly. Begin rolling evenly from top to bottom, alternating in both directions to ensure proper lamination until the dough is 10 mm thick. Ensure the dough is rolled to the same thickness for its entire length. Flip the dough and roll evenly to 5 mm thick. If the dough sticks to your rolling pin or work surface, lightly dust with flour.
• Visualize the dough divided into fifths. From the left-hand side, fold one-fifth of the dough inwards, and fold that part inwards again. From the right-hand side, fold the remaining two-fifths of the dough in half towards the center. Then fold once more so that the two sides are on top of one another. Cover the dough and rest for 40-60 minutes in the refrigerator.

Laminating, Shaping, Proofing, and Baking

• Remove the dough from the fridge and cut the sides to allow the butter to distribute evenly. Then roll the dough to its final shape. Lightly dust the work surface and the top of the dough with flour. Roll the dough to reach 40 cm wide, then turn the dough so that the seam is vertical and on your right side. Roll to 3 mm thick.
• Cut the dough into 9 cm x 38 cm triangles and roll them up into croissants.
• Place the croissants on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in a proofer for about 2 – 2.5 hours, at 28°C and 85% humidity. (Freezing the croissants before proofing is optional; in this case, remove them from the freezer one hour before and proof for 2.5 – 3 hours.)
• Preheat the oven to 170°C. Brush the croissants lightly with the egg wash. Bake in the oven for 18 minutes. Remove the croissants from the oven and place on a rack to cool.