i may owe you an apology
this week
is going to have a lot of sweets in it
particularly chocolate
i will sneak in something savory
but beyond that
i can't make any promises
i've 20lbs of chocolate
to play with
the other day
i tried my hand at croissant dough
it is a 2 day process
appropriate to its name (pain)
i hadn't made it in years
and to be honest
it is obvious
not my best effort
which only means
i will be doing this again
and possibly
again and again
until i can give myself a passing grade
good news is
hubster and the neighbors
aren't as critical as i
actually,
i think i may have caught them
praying for mistakes
(recipe from le cordon bleu professional baking)
225 gr milk--scalded and cooled to room temp
15gr fresh yeast
15 gr sugar
8 gr kosher salt
40 gr unsalted butter--softened
400 gr bread flour
225 gr unsalted butter--room temperature
chocolate batons or good quality chocolate chips
egg wash
dissolve yeast in cooled milk. add sugar, salt, 40 gr butter and bread flour. do not add 225gr unsalted butter. mix into a smooth dough, being careful not to develop gluten. cover and let sit for an hour in a warm draft-free place. punch down and spread out onto a sheet pan. place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
remove from refrigerator and roll out to a rectangle about 1/4" thick. smear the softened butter over 2/3rds of the dough. leave a margin around the edges. fold the unbuttered 1/3 of the dough over the center (i think i messed this part up). fold the remaining 1/3 on top. rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll into a long rectangle. place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to relax the gluten. do this process 2 more times, for a total of 3 turns (or folds). after the final turn, roll the dough out to 1/4", wrap in plastic wrap and place on a sheet pan in the refrigerator overnight.
to assemble:
roll dough out to a rectangle 1/8" thick. cut into rectangles 6"x4" or 3"x2" for minis. place 2 chocolate batons or a row of chocolate chips along the short end, leaving about an inch border. egg wash the opposite end of each rectangle so that the roll will seal. roll up tightly. proof uncovered in a warm draft free place. brush with egg wash and bake at 400.
hmm...now that i look at it
it sure seems tedious
i think i need to go back to the drawing board with this...maybe a vlog?