Although the word is French for "crescent", croissants originated in Budapest in 1686 to celebrate Hungary's defeat of the Turks. While the Turks were invading the city by tunneling through the walls, virtually the only people awake during the late night hours were the bakers. They sounded the alarm and saved the city. In honor of this event they created a pastry-like bread roll in the shape of a crescent - the well known emblem of the Turks. French cooks immediately took to these rich bread rolls.
Perfect flaky croissants can be prepared at home, and once you have mastered the knack of making them, each effort should end in success. Croissants at their best, should be spongy and well risen on the inside but flaky on the outside. They may be baked plain or filled with a small quantity of grated cheese or almond filling.
Ingredients:
20 g fresh yeast
5 ml salt
25 ml sugar
250 ml cold milk
1 egg
250 g cold hard butter
+- 460 g Cake flour
Glaze:
1 egg yolk
15 ml milk
Method:
1. Cream yeast, salt and sugar to form a syrup. Add cold milk and egg. Add 30 ml of the butter, cut into small cubes, and sufficient of the flour to form a soft dough. Knead only until smooth, ( 2 minutes), and chill for about 15 minutes.
2. Cut the remaining butter into 6 slices, sprinkle with flour and keep cold. Roll out dough on a well floured surface into a rectangular shape, approximately 5 mm thick. Place 3 slices of butter in the center of the dough and fold over dough from one side to cover the butter. Place the remaining butter slices on top and cover with the dough from the other side, ensuring that the butter is sealed in on all sides completely.
Turn dough 90 degrees and roll out again into a rectangular shape, about 5 mm thick. Fold again into three layers. Repeat the rolling and folding process (turning the dough 90 degrees each time), until you have rolled 4 times. Streaks of butter will still be visible. If pastry is made in hot weather, chill between rolling and folding, for soft butter complicates the process and sticks to the rolling surface.
3. Chill dough at least 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours before shaping. Divide dough into 2 and roll out each portion on a floured surface to form a circle, approximately 250 mm in diameter and 5-7 mm thick. Cut into 8 even sized triangles as you would cut the wedges of a cake. If filling is used, place a small quantity at the base of the triangle. Roll each croissant loosely from the base to the tip and make sure to end with the tips underneath to prevent themfrom curling up during baking. Twist each croissant into a crescent shape, in such a way that the tip will be on the inside, and place slightly apart on greased baking trays.
4. Brush with egg wsh. Allow to rise at room temperature or, if weather is cold, in a slightly warm place for about 30 minutes ( depending on temperature , maybe longer). They need not up to double in size but must clearly show signs of rising.
5. Bake in center of 180 degrees centigrade preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden brown.
Tip:Eat warm soon after taking out of the oven with lots of farm fresh butter and fresh jam.
