Friday, December 23, 2005

Christmas Croissants!

I'm not a cookie baker. Should I apologize to my family?

I have been reading my favorite blogs and admiring all the beautifully decorated cookies that will get gobbled up during the Holidays. Peek at Nic's site and Joe, these guys must stay up all night!

Me.....Nothing rings my bell more than dough; pastry dough, bread dough.....I love it!

Nevermind that you have to start these babies a day in advance. Plus I haven't made Croissants for over a year, I might be a little rusty. I'm going to give it a try.
The dough in the photo is on its 2nd turn and sits each time for 2 hours before giving it the final 'wallet fold' turn. Leave the dough in the fridge overnight to ferment and grow!

First thing in the morning I pour my coffee and head to the back fridge to see how the dough behaved. It had risen a bit, but it was manageable! Sometimes a yeasted dough will act up and expand, then you have trouble!
Time to get my gadget out, compliments of M.O.R.A. and roll out my croissants! Somewhere, I learned that a good croissant must have 7 'rolls' (must have been a Frenchman). I strive for this each time, but you can see perfection failed me, and I have some with 8 and more!You leave these to proof in a cold oven with a pan of hot water for steam. They rise, but in a spongy way, if that makes sense!! This takes about 1-2 hours.
When ready for the oven, spritz the tray with water and bake for about 20 minutes.

Mine got a little more 'caramalized' than I would have liked, but very flaky and tasty!
I've got the other half of dough still in the fridge......shall I set my alarm early tomorrow to make sure my family have fresh hot croissants before the feeding fest begins?? We'll see! I'm missing an important family member this Christmas!!!

I hope this finds you healthy and happy and enjoying the season, wherever you are.
Merry Christmas!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Such gorgeous croissants, Melissa! Have a wonderful christmas.

Nic said...

Merry Christmas, Melissa. These look so delicious, I don't think you own anyone an apology for not making cookies!

Joe said...

We hope you have a Merry Christmas Melissa! I must say that you have my mouth watering at these Croissants - I don't think I could ever attempt these!

Anonymous said...

These look so amazing. Just found your blog and can't wait to look at past posts.

Banlieue Blog said...

--Keiko, Merry Christmas to you!

--Nic, Thanks Nic, always enjoy checking in on you!

--Joe, these would be a piece of cake for you!!

--Anonymous, thanks for taking a peek at my blog. happy holidays!

Cindy said...

They look so great ! So much better than those I tend to find at the bakery. Merry Xmas !

Daisy Mae said...

OMG! Those Croissants look to die for. If I had to chose a last meal...

Mona said...

Happy New Year Melissa, I believe it will be midnight very soon there:)

Anonymous said...

Lovely croissants Melissa. Each Christmas I buy premade frozen uncooked croissants. You leave them out overnight to rise and pop them in the oven in the morning. Cheating I know, but really nice and no fuss.

Banlieue Blog said...

---Cindy, I know you could whip up a batch of these with your eyes closed!

--Daisy Mae, these were very good! But to have them for breakfast, I needed to wake up about 4:00am to have them ready for 6:30.

--Mona, I hope you had a great celebration with your family. I've enjoyed reading about your vacation!

--Barbara, a little cheating is allowed every now and then! I'm very happy to see you logged back on!
Happy New Year!

*fanny* said...

Hi Melissa, those croissants looks so perfect. I have never try making some yet. Maybe i should consider it. Fresh baked croissants. The pure comfort food.
By the way thanx for explaining to us how to do confit de canard. It's one of my favourite meal and i always wondered how you could make it.

Happy new year.

xoxo
Fanny

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh girl!! Steph said that you now had a blog and I'll definitely check it out often! Hey, remember the day that we took that croissant class at Cordon Bleu and made those croissants!!! WOW, yours do look great!!!