Yes. I did it. I made CROISSANTS.
It took a total of six hours. Approximately 30 minutes of work and 5 1/2 hours of sitting doing NOTHING. Well, for those of you who know me well, NOTHING meant cleaning, doing laundry and sewing curtains for the boys room, with an intermittent "beat down". No, not of the children. Of the dough. Now I understand why these damn things are so expensive. If you don' plan on being home all day, there is not a chance that you would make these!
I admit, I used Julia Child's recipe. I figured I loved that movie, Julie and Julia, and if a large American woman could do it....well then I could too. I now realize the movie depiction of her being incredibly bored was very accurate.
I started out by mixing 1/4 cup warm water, 1/2 tbsp of sugar, 1/4 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of dry yeast in a bowl. I let the yeast prove itself by letting it rest for 5 minutes until it was frothy and yummy smelling (gosh I love that smell!!!)
I then added 2 cups of unbleached flour (it has less gluten and doesn't get rubbery if you overwork it). 3/4 tsp salt, 2 tbsp canola oil, 1 tbsp sugar and 1/2 cup of tepid milk. I poured the yeast mixture into it and set my KitchenAid on mix with the dough hook attachment. After three minutes, quite honestly, it looked like hell. I thought "What have I done!!???" so i pulled it out and kneaded it by hand. It immediately looked better and within three minutes I shaped it into a ball, covered it in oil, and began the two hour long wait for it to double......
I punched it down into a flat circle, as directed by Julia, then wrapped it in wax paper and put it in the fridge for 20 minutes. I thought this "was a crock" as my mother would say, but it did make the dough easier to handle. Next I set about beating the butter.
It must be cold, and you beat it unto a 5 inch flat circle. WARNING: THIS IS NOT AS EASY AS IT SOUNDS. As it warms up, it sticks to everything. I suggest using a marble cutting board that has been chilled, should you have access to one. I ended up try to do this on wax paper (didn't work) and then on the counter (stuck to it) so in the end, it was probably not as chilled, but spread a whole lot easier. Which made me wonder "why did I chill it in the first place?" but I digress.
Next, roll your dough into a 9 inch circle, then place to circle of butter on it.
Fold the dough like an envelope around the butter.
Now its time to start "the folding". Roll this package into a piece of dough 15 inches long and 5 inches wide, with the seal side up. When you have that piece, fold it like a tri-fold brochure. Then, put it in the fridge for 20 minutes.
REPEAT THIS FOUR TIMES! yes, that's right. roll for 3 minutes, sit in the fridge for 20, roll for 3 minutes, sit in the fridge for 20,roll for 3 minutes, sit in the fridge for 20. Ridiculous.
FINALLY, cut your last 15 x 5 piece of dough into three equal pieces, and put two...you guessed it....BACK IN THE FRIDGE!!! Take the one you have out and roll it to about 9 x 5. Cut this piece into three equal pieces, 3 x 5, and then cut those into triangles. You should have 6 triangles at this point.
Starting from the wide end, roll the dough into the well known croissant form. Well, at least it is well-known in my house. Im not sure that is a good thing. Tuck the tip on the underside so it wont pop back open during cooking. Put these on a well-buttered tray, and, as you might have suspected, let them rise for 1 to 2 hours until doubled.
Once they have doubled in size, paint them with one egg, scrambled, with a tbsp of water added to it. Bake at 475 for 10-15 minutes. WATCH THEM CLOSELY. At 9 minutes, the tray on the bottom had burned and set off my fire alarm, prompting my daughter to say "don't worry mom, we all make mistakes. You can try again tomorrow. Like heck I can! I don't have another six hours. Looks like they are getting their croissants from SAMS CLUB.
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