Les Croissants Dlicieux de Madame Linke

Les croissants take some time to make, so they are probably

best done as a weekend project or any time you have an entire
day free. They are worth it though! :)
Les ingrdients:
3 1/2 cups de farine (our)
1 teaspoon de levure (yeast)
1 cup de eau (water)
1 1/2 cup de lait concentr sucr
(sweetened condensed milk)
1 teaspoon de sel (salt)
1 1/4 cups de beurre (butter)
(must be butter; margarine and
other butter-like products will
NOT have the right texture)
Other kitchen items you will
need:
- Plastic wrap
- A stand mixer with a paddle and
dough hook
- Rolling pin
- A clean counter (for rolling out
the dough)
- Knife (for cutting out the
croissants)
- Baking pan (for placing the
shaped croissants)
- Timer
- Lots of patience :)
1. Put the water and yeast in a
mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of the our
and mix on low just long enough to
break up lumps of our. Let it rise for
une heure.
2. Then mix in the remaining our,
the condensed milk, and salt. Knead
for une minute with a dough hook
(most stand mixers come with a hook
that attaches to the mixer). Cover
and let rest for vingt minutes.
3. Then knead with the dough hook
for about vingt minutes, or until the
dough is smooth and elastic. During
the kneading process, if the dough
looks too wet, sprinkle in more our.
Then put in the refrigerator for trente
minutes.
4. Take out the butter from the fridge.
Roll out a piece of plastic wrap on the
counter and place the sticks of butter
on top of it. Then put another piece of
plastic wrap on top of the butter and
pound it lightly with the rolling pin,
shaping the butter into close to an 8-
inch square. Because the butter is
cold, it might take a few minutes of
pounding to shape it.
6. Place the butter on one end of the
rectangle. Align the sides of the
butter and the dough with the sides
of your hands.
7. Fold the other half of the dough
over the butter. Pull the other half of
the dough so that the butter is
covered by the other half of the
dough, if needed.
5. After trente minutes, roll the dough
into a 9 by 18 rectangle (or at least
as close as you can get to a
rectangle).
8. Press gently on one side of the
square with one hand while rming
up the edge with the other to even
out the square.
11. Roll the dough into a 9-18 inch
rectangle. Fold the rectangle into
thirds like you!re folding a letter. This
way, you will end up with three
layers. This is the rst turn.
9. Press along the edges of the
dough to seal in the butter.
10. Gently pound the dough with the
rolling pin to stretch the dough and
the butter in it. If butter starts to ooze
out of the dough, don!t worry.
13. After the dough has had 4 turns
(about quatre heures later), roll the
dough onto a oured surface into a
rectangle. If the dough is sticking to
the rolling pin and/or counter while
rolling, sprinkle some more our on
the work surface.
14. Cut the large rectangle of dough
in half so that you have two squares
of dough. You!ll know that you have
done enough turns with the dough
when you see layers as you look at
the dough from the sides.
12. Cover the dough with plastic
wrap and refrigerate for at least une
heure. Continue in this way until you
have given the dough 4 turns total.
16. Then cut a slit at the base of each
triangle. Shape the croissant by
bending the two ends in so they!re
facing each other.
17. Roll on both sides of the slit,
pressing and pinching as you go.
Continue rolling while turning your
hands away from the center of the
croissant, to get that classic shape.
18. Continue rolling until the dough
looks like a log. Roll with the little tail
held in place under the log.
15. Use your knife to cut triangles in
one of the halves of dough you have
just cut.
20. Arrange the croissants on a
sheet plan, making sure to tuck in
the sides for the croissant shape.
19. Repeat steps 15 - 18 for the other
dough half.
21. Cover the croissants with plastic
wrap and wait until they are at least
doubled in size, either overnight in the
fridge or for trois heures in a cool
place. If the croissants haven!t
doubled in size, don!t worry too much.
They!ll puff up in the oven while
baking.
22. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Brush the croissants with a mixture of
one beaten egg and a touch of water
and bake for trente minutes, or until
they are puffed and golden brown.
23. Let them cool to room
temperature before serving. I
recommend having these with any
fruit jam (strawberry seems to taste
the best though) and some juice or
tea for a classic French breakfast! :)
24. And last but
not least.......
Bon apptit!