Thursday, March 28, 2013

Hokkaido Milk bread with Tangzhong


So today Aniket (my son) and me, we christened my little Bread Tortoise ‘’ LOTTY’’ .Isn’t he cute? You can see him below.





Today I made this amazing   Hokkaido milk Bread .This bread is known for its soft and fluffy texture and is also called Asian Sweet Bread or Hong Kong Pai Bo. Aniket’s “lottY” was the outcome of this. I used only half the quantity of ingredients mentioned below and made a small loaf, a little tortoise and with the remaining I tried to make the ever famous Pav bun. Wow I never dreamed that I would make the softest pav bun at home one day….But the wonderful results were before my eyes and I was elated.


#



Aniket was fascinated by lotti like me.Tommorrow It will be easy for me to cook up a story when I tell him how smart and brave  he is when he swallows lotty.Another story to get him to eat something  with sound and imaginary screen play…As for Poor lotty.We will always  love you –my  Hokkaido Milk bread pet tortoise!
 

Well The Hokkaido  milk bread  was as a part of the We knead to bake project-3 .To quote Aparna” Hokkaido milk bread owes its height and texture to an ingredient called Tangzhong,The tangzhong method  involves cooking one part of bread flour with 5 parts of water(by weight)at 65c to  form a roux. At this temperature the gluten in the bread flour water mix would absorb the moisture. creating a leavening reaction. The tangzhong when added with other ingredients produces light fluffy bread.” The credit for the Tangzhong method of bread baking goes to a Chinese woman named Yvonne  Chen in her book-``65C Br

ead Doctor”.

You can see the recipe below-:

Ingredients
Adapted from 65 Degrees Tangzhong “65C Bread Doctor” by Yvonne Chen, and adapted from Kirbie’sCravings)
Video ref: click here (how to make Tangzhong)(note recipe is differant)


For the Tangzhong (Flour Water Roux) (The recipe uses only half of the  Tangzongh)

All purpose flour-1/3 cup
Water-1/2 cup
Milk-1/2 cup

For the bread dough

All purpose flour-21/2 cups
Sugar-3 Tbsp
Salt-1 tsp
Milk powder-2 tbsp
Instant dry yeast-2 tsp
Milk-1/2 cup ora liitle more only if needed
Cream-1/8 cup (25% fat)
Tangzhong-1/2 of above
Unsalted Butter-25 gms
Chopped chocolate -1/2 cup


Method

For the Tangzhong (Flour – Water  Roux)

Lightly whisk flour water and milk in a sauce pan till smooth and there are no lumps.
Place saucepan over medium heat and let the roux thicken. Keep stirring to avoid lumps and so that the roux turns smooth
Cook roux till it reaches 65c or 150 F if you are using a thermometer. If you don’t have a thermometer cook till you see lines forming on the roux as you stir it.Then remove from heat.
Let cool for 2-3 hours. If not using immediately transfer to a bowl covered with a plastic wrap and refrigerate.

For the Bread Dough

It is better to use a food processor or kitchen aid rather than kneading the dough by hand as it gets very sticky
Put flour,sugar,salt,yeast, powdered milk in a bowl and pulse for couple of minutes.
In another bowl mix milk cream and ½ of tangzhong prepared well. Add to flour mixture.
Run on low speed till the dough comes together.
Add butter and process till you have smooth elastic bread just short of sticky.
The dough will be sticky but kneading will make it smooth
If the dough is firm and not soft to touch add a little more of milk to make it soft and elastic.
When the dough is done you should be able to stretch it without breaking, when it does break, the break should be in the form of a circle
Shape the flour as a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl turning it so that it is well coated.
Cover with atowel and let rise for 45 minutes or till double in volume.
Place the dough on a working surface .you need not dust it with flour.
This recipe makes enough dough to make one loaf (9” by 5” tin), 2 small loaves (6” by 4” tins) or 1 small loaf (6” by 4”) and 6 small rolls (muffin tins). Depending on what you are making, divide your dough. If you are making 1 loaf, divide your dough in 3 equal pieces. If you are making two smaller loaves, divide your dough into 6 equal pieces.

For the Loaf

Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into an oval shape, about 1/8” thick. Take one end of the dough from the shorter side of the oval and fold it to the middle of the oval. Take the other end and fold so it slightly overlaps the other fold. 
Roll this folded dough with the rolling pin so the unfolded edges are stretched out to form a rectangle. Roll the rectangle from one short edge to the other, pinching the edges to seal well. Do this with each of the three larger pieces and place them, sealed edges down, in a well-oiled loaf tin. Cover with a towel and leave the dough to rise for about 45 minute

For the Rolls

To make the rolls fold them in the same manner described above, but before rolling them up, place some chocolate chip on the dough. Roll the dough rectangles carefully and pinch to seal the edge. Place each roll of dough in a well-oiled muffin cup and cover with a towel. Allow to rise for 45 minutes.

For the Tortoise

To make the tortoise, take a ball of dough and shape it into a smooth ball. Shape a head and four limbs from smaller pieces of dough. To make the “”shell/ back/ carapace” take another small piece of dough, and shape into a thin round (1/8” thick) and mark it with a knife. This round should be smaller than the previous ball of dough.The marks should be deep enough but don’t cut through the dough. Wet the underside of the dough with water or milk and attach it to the back of the tortoise.Use choco chips for the eyes.
Carefully brush the tops of the rolls and the loaf with milk (or cream) and bake them at 170C (325F) for about 20 to 30 minutes till they are done (if you tap them they’ll sound hollow) and beautifully browned on top. Let them cool in the tins for about 5 minutes and then unmould and transfer to a rack till slightly warm or cool.

Notes

You can keep the Tangzhong refrigerated for a day and use it the next day. If not so used within the next day discard it.
If the Tangzhong is refrigerated let it come to room temperature before you use it.
The bread dough is very sticky dough initially, but kneading it well will make it smooth, elastic and easy to handle.
You can make plain loaves or dinner rolls. You can also stuff it with sweet or savoury filling. You can make knots, sweet animals and also shape it into Pavs for pav bhaji
)The bread is only mildly sweet  but If you want to make the savoury version you can reduce sugar to 1 tbsp. and add another ¼ tsp. of salt.
You can substitute cream with 2 tbsp. milk though texture is slightly better if you use cream.
If you want to make a Vegan or milk product free version you can substitute the milk and butter with water and oil.



Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Chinese Vegetable Noodles



I was never a big fan of noodles. But my son Aniket is.This was when we had travelled to London and when we visited Campton Town. A lovely shopping area filled with innumerous by lanes and by lanes of cloth shops, small eat outs serving cuisines from all around the world and lots of souvenir shops to take back some memories home.



As usual I was window shopping fascinated with every shop that appeared before me…till I got hungry and my stomach started growling at me…My husband who abhors shopping kept throwing  his usual bored  look at me.He complained I was taking too much time in each shop.so we decided to eat,finally.We proceeded to choose from a long by lane full of small eateries .There was Italian, Indian, Chinese, Mexican - name any cuisine from any country it was all there….For some odd reason I decided to try Chinese that day. That was Aniket’s first taste of Chinese …and he loved it.We hogged on Chinese noodles, tempuras and spicy Manchurians and he kept motioning me to give him some more of the Noodles…




I remember during my childhood, all my friends loved Maggie noodles. It was always one of their lunch box favourites. But not for me.Things changed and slowly the Maggie monopoly ended with the entry of other competitors like Top ramen and Knorr. But I still disliked Noodles whatever the brand.



I made Noodles for Aniket  today. I served him some noodles on a small plate and absentmindedly left it in front of him while I went to the kitchen to get him some water. I came back in time just to see my 2 year old son had just grown an “instantaneous noodle beard” he had just stuffed some noodles into his mouth…an  earnest attempt to eat something he loved on his own and impress mummy?. Hey he seemed to like it, unlike me.ok my little man if u love noodles so much U shall have more of it…..and may be just Maybe I’ll learn to love it too, With you.

Ingredients

Noddles-170-200 gms
Carrots-1/2 of medium sized(long cut)
Capsicum-1/2 of medium sized(long cut)
Cabbage- A handful(long cut)
Beans-2 or 3 (longcut)
Onion-1/2 of a medium sized onion9long cut)
Ginger garlic paste-1 tsp.
Spring onion-1 cup
Soy sauce- 2 tsp.
Water-4 1/2 cup or 1 ltr
Vinegar- 1 tsp
Pepper-1/2 tsp
Green chilli sauce-2 tsp


Method

Boil 1 ltr or 41/2 cups of water (enough to immerse the noodle. Add salt and 1 tsp. oil.to it when it bubbles add noodles.
Reduce to medium flame. Close vessel with lid and cook for 4-5 minutes until noodles are soft.
Drain water. Keep noodles in the drainer under a tap of cold running water. Drain the cold water. Add 1 tbsp. of oil and mix it gently with your finger. This keeps the strands separate and glossy.
Heat 3 tbsps. Of oil in a large wok. Sauté the onions for a few seconds. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté (30 sec -1 min)
Add carrot, beans, cabbage then capsicum and sauté for 2-3 minutes in high flame till vegetables are crisp and cooked but not too soft.
Add spring onions and sauté for 1 minute on high flame.
In high flame add soya sauce and stir well. Then simmer.
Add green chilli sauce, pepper, salt, vinegar. Toss the veggies.
Add noodles. Toss or mix with fork in swirling upward motion.


Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Kiwi, Mint and Lemon Mocktail


This time I got a variety of fruits from “The fruit Shop” .There were loads of Avocados, egg fruits and kiwi neatly arranged in rows and rows of wooden shelves there. I couldn’t think of buying an avocado or kiwi 10-20 yrs back…it was just not available …..and now it’s right here, at my nearby Fruit shop. I was overjoyed. I pounced on them and went on a happy shopping spree.



I saw the kiwis sitting in one corner….like how my husband says “like a small furry animal”. The recipe of my Kiwi mint and lemon mocktail  immediately popped up in my  mind .A green coloured mocktail rich with the taste of kiwi pulp, diluted with the piquant taste of zesty lemons and mint leaves. It’s a terrific combo- Kiwi Lemon and mint all brought together in this mocktail. The rich taste that mint lends to this drink makes it a delightful appetizer.



So I came back home and wasted no time. I peeled the kiwis pulped the fruit and proceeded with the recipe….After the mock tail was done I refrigerated it...I had some chores to finish so I went out.




 After a long afternoon out in the sun I came back home. It is so hot outside that by the time I finished what I had to do I was famished. My mom immediately served me my chilled kiwi mocktail. One sip-Wow !-As the chilled drink went down my throat.. a chill that envigoured a tired me.I could feel fatigue sparks bursting out of my head –Like  in some Ad commercial. I smiled-My KLM Mocktail-this moment nothing could be better.




Ingredients

Water- 1 Cup or 250 ml
Granulated Sugar-1/2 cup or 125 ml
Kiwi fruit-2
Mint leaves- 1/2 cup
Lemons-2
Salt- a pinch

Method
Heat water and sugar in a saucepan in medium heat stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved. Simmer for 5 minutes. Switch off flame. Stir in mint leaves and let it stand for 20 minutes. Allow to cool.
Peel the kiwi and cut it into chunks. Puree it.
Add the water sugar mint syrup to the pureed kiwi and strain.Press the mint while you strain and discard the leaves.
Add juice of 2 lemons and stir. Add salt and more sugar if required.Refrigerate and serve cold.

Note:
You can also add mint leaves when the water is simmering.This gives the mocktail a rich mint flavour.






Monday, March 18, 2013

Coconut Rava Laddu/Sweet Semolina Balls


I made Rava Laddus today….With shredded coconut-usually called Coconut semolina Balls or Nariyal Rava laddu.

This was a dish my mother made when I pestered her to make something sweet sweet. But she usually made the version without the coconut shreds. Knowing my love for sweets she would make them promptly. As she made the balls I would pop up behind her and eat up all of the balls not even waiting for them to be transferred into containers .Seeing me swallow so much of sweet my mother got worried. As soon as the balls were mad e they were gone. The Lucky ones that got transferred into steel jars were gone by the end of the day…So my mother devised a plan. She made my rava laddus during the time I went to school and transferred it into 3-4 small jars. She stashed them away to unknown corners of the house. She opened a jar every time  I craved for the laddus and handed me 2or three. I pestered her for more .She would give me 2 more. She would  then show me the jar and say “Over” See its empty…A week later she would open the next jar to bring the smile back on my face or surprise me.This plan would invariably worked for her, everytime.
So that’s my sweet story….I loved the laddus I made today. But today the roles changed. The mommy in me used the same fool proof plan on her  lil Aniket today…He loves sweets too….Like my mom I was afraid that too much sweets would be bad on his tiny teeth…..I gave him one he asked for more…..so what did I do? I transferred the laddus safely to another jar and showed him the empty jar and said’’ Over” See its empty?




Ingredients

Rava/Semolina -1 cup
Sugar-1-3/4 cup
Ghee-25 gms/1/4 cup
Milk-25 ml/1/4 cup
Shredded Coconut-1/4cup ie:25 gms or ½ cup
Rrasins-10
Cashew nuts-10
Cardamom powder-2 pinches or 4 pods

Method

Heat 2 -3 tsp ghee in a heavy bottomed pan. Once ghee is hot reduce flame. Fry the cashew nuts and then rasins till they puff up. Keep aside
Roast the grated Coconut. Keep aside
Add remaining ghee. Heat it .Add rava /semolina and roast till aroma comes and it changes colour over medium flame.Switch off flame. Allow to cool
Add sugar to roasted semolina.Add Cardamom pods or powder. Grind this in mixer so that they mix well.
Mix grated coconut, rasins and nuts.
Add warm milk,just enough to help make round balls of the mixture.
Transfer back to heavy bottomed pan and  cook in sim for 2 minutes
Mix well and cover. Let it rest for 2 minutes.
Make round balls and serve.

Notes

1. Another method of making the above
 a. Roast rasins,  in ghee and keep aside
 b. Roast rava till aroma comes .Add grated coconut
 c. In another thick bottomed vessel boil ½ cup of water and ¾ cup sugar till one string consistency
 d. Add rava coconut mixture and stir well .
 e. Add cahew, rasins and cardamom powder to above. Keep aside to cool.
  Make balls and serve.

If you are not able to make balls add warm milk to above

Refrigerate laddu made with milk for later use(consume in 2or 3 days)




Sending this to Walk through Memory Lane

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Sweetcorn and Paneer Vegetable Curry



 This curry happened during one of my pantry clearing sessions. That day I had already made noodles and rice and I wanted to make something Chinese to go with it…May be Gobi Manchurian? But cleaning project being on the top of my mind I decided to make my Gobi Manchurian later and proceeded with the cleaning session. Then when I was clearing my pantry I had second thoughts. I had a small piece of cabbage, a capsicum, some carrots and beans stashed away in a corner of the pantry. I started wondering what I should do with them. Just then I realised I had half a packet of sweet corn and a big block of paneer too. So I decided to make a curry combining the two and of course with the veggies too. That would be a good choice. Anyway the cauliflower was fresh…My Gobi Manchurian can wait for another day!



So what do I make? Rather how do I?I dint not have a readymade recipe…So I borrowed from one recipes I already had  and  put  my own imagination and experience to good use. I loved the dish. You can see the dish in the pic below..




This is a nice side dish for chapathis and even fried rice too. Moreover its healthy too .It’s a mixture of vegetables like cabbage, beans carrot and capsicum. I cut all my vegetables into long strips for variety.  The white of the cabbage, green of beans and capsicum ,orange coloured carrots added colour to the curry….





 At the end of the day my pantry looked spick and span …free from small bundles of plastic covers with little little of all the vegetables you know of !...... some of which I used in my new recipe..…
As for the curry I’m glaaad I have one more recipe for keeps.

Ingredients
Finely Minced Garlic-1 tbsp
Minced ginger- tsp
Spring onions-1/4 cup
Capsicum-1/2 medium sized(cut into long strips)
Carrots-1/4 cup(cut into long strips)
Cabbage-1/4 cup(cut into long strips)
Beans-2 (cut into long strips)
Sweet corn kernels-1/4 cup
Red chilli paste-1 tsp
Soy sauce-1 tsp
Vinegar- ½ tsp
Tomato ketchup-1-2 tbsp
Cornflour-1 1/2 tbsp
Paneer- 8-10 cubes
Chopped Green chilli - 1
Salt
Water-1 1/2 cup
Oil-vegetable oil/peanut oil/sesame oil
Method
Add oil in a thick bottomed vessel. When hot add garlic and ginger and stir for half a minute. Add green chilli and spring onions.
Add vegetables(cabbage ,beans ,carrot) stir on high for 4-5 minutes and toss them. If the vegetables are not cooked close lid and let it cook.
In the meantime boil water .Add corn kernels with little salt and boil for 4 minutes. Simmer and boil with lid covered for 2 minutes.
Add corn kernels and capsicum. Stir well till cooked.
Add paneer cubes.
Reduce heat. Add red chilli paste, soy sauce, tomato ketchup and vinegar. Mix and cook for 2 minutes.
Add water and cook till water reduces to half the quantity.Add Salt to taste.
Add little water to conflour and mix well so that there are no lump.
Stir till curry thickens.
Sprinkle green of spring onions and serve hot with chapathis or fried rice.


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Classic French Croissants-Pain Au Chocolat



So finally I made Croissants today. First let me tell you that it’s a looong looong recipe. The longest I tried spanning over a period of 3 days .But don’t you worry. You just have to follow the recipe word to word. And there you are. Done and happy with a BIG BIG smile looking at a batch of yummy homemade buttery Croissants. Like I told you follow the recipe word to word. That’s all.








When I saw my croissants baking in the oven I was elated. Am ''I'' making them? The least I got close to a croissant was buying it from a nearby bakery and chomping them down my throat. And here I am trying to bake them .All thanks to Aparna’s project-We Knead to Bake-2









Since the recipe involved a large amount of butter and owing to my novice status with the word baking in itself, I was unsure whether I should try the recipe or not .So I baked my croissants with only half the quantity of ingredients listed below except for butter which I used only 100 gms against the 250 gms mentioned below. I warned myself if I messed up I would be wasting a lot of butter and flour. I decided to make Pain Au Chocolat and then proceed to make the crescent shaped ones only if my previous attempt with Pain Au Chocolat succeeded. Which did .At the end of it I couldn’t believe I made them. Really.



Aniket and my mom were elated too .A Three day work paid off when I saw a gleam on their faces.


With the rest of the dough I made small croissants of various shapes. Actually I tried to make the crescent shaped ones but since I used only half of the quantity of all ingredients my triangles were not long enough to form the actual shape of the crescent shaped croissants. 




So what is a croissant?

Well croissants are- I quote Aparna’’ Croissants are basically yeasted puff pastry that is baked in the shape of crescents. If plain they are shaped into crescents (Croissant ordinaire/ croissant au beurre) but usually left as straight rolls if filled with chocholate(Pain Au Chocolat). For pain au Chocholat just cut out long strips of the dough, place the chocolate at one end and roll them up into logs.



The Wikipedia says They are made of a layered yeast-leavened dough. The dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a sheet, in a technique called laminating. The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a pastry. A pain au chocolat called a chocolatine or chocolate croissant in south-western France and in French Canada, is a sweet roll consisting of a cuboid-shaped piece of yeast-leavened laminated dough, similar in texture to a puff pastry, with one or two pieces of chocolate in the centre.

So are you ready? Here comes the loooong looong recipe-:



Ingredients


Classic Croissants adapted from: Jeffrey Hamelman’s Classic Croissants. 


For the dough
All purpose flour-4 cups and a little more for dusting and rolling out the dough
Cold water-1/2 cup+2tbsp
Cold milk-1/2 cup+2 tbsp (I used 2 %)
Granulated sugar-1/4 cup
Soft unsalted butter-40 gms
Instant yeast-1 tbsp+scant ½ tsp
Salt- 2 tsp
For the butter layer
Cold unsalted butter-250 gms
To brush dough
Cold milk-1/4th cup or or 1/8 cup of cream + 1/8 cup cream or 1 egg for  egg wash

For filling

Cooking chocolate-50 gms

Method

Day 1

Combine all the ingredients for the dough in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. You can also use a food processor with the plastic blade, or do this by hand.
Mix on low speed for 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl once if necessary. Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
Lightly flour a 10-inch pie pan or a dinner plate .Place the ball of dough on it.
Gently shape the dough into a flat ball by pressing it down before storing it in the fridge, this makes rolling out next morning easier. Making a tight ball will strengthen the gluten which you do not need.
Lightly flour the top of the dough and wrap well with plastic so it doesn’t dry out. Refrigerate overnight.

Day 2

Make butter layer

The next day, cut out 2 pieces of parchment or waxed paper into 10” squares each.
Cut the cold butter into 1/2-inch-thick slabs.
Place these pieces on one piece of parchment/ waxed paper so they form a 5- to 6-inch square. Cut the butter further into pieces as required to fit the square. Top with the other piece of parchment/ waxed paper.
Using a rolling pin, pound the butter with light, even strokes. As the pieces begin to stick together, use more force. Pound the butter until it flattens out evenly into a square that’s approximately 7-1/2”.
Trim the edges of the butter to make a neat square. Put the trimmings on top of the square and pound them in lightly with the rolling pin.
Refrigerate this while you roll out the dough.

Laminate the Dough

Unwrap and lay the dough on a lightly floured work surface.
 Roll it out to a 10-1/2-inch square, and brush off the excess flour.
Take the butter out from the refrigerator —it should be cold but pliable. If it isn’t refrigerate it till it is. This so that when you roll out the dough with the butter in it, neither should it be soft enough to melt, or hard enough to break.
 Unwrap the butter and place it on the square of dough in the centre, so that it forms a “diamond” shape on the dough.
Fold one flap of dough over the butter toward you, stretching it slightly so that the point just reaches the middle of the butter square.
Bring the opposite flap to the middle, slightly overlapping the previous one.
Similarly repeat with the other two so that the dough forms an envelope around the butter.
Lightly press the edges together to completely seal the butter inside the dough to ensure the butter doesn’t escape when you roll out the dough later.
Lightly flour the top and bottom of the dough.
With the rolling pin, firmly press along the dough uniformly to elongate it slightly.
Now begin rolling instead of pressing, focusing on lengthening rather than widening the dough and keeping the edges straight. 
Roll the dough into an 8” by 24” rectangle.
If the ends lose their square shape, gently reshape the corners with your hands. Brush off the excess flour.
Mark the dough lightly equally into three along the long side. Using this as a guideline, pick up one short end of the dough and fold 1/3rd of it back over the dough, so that 1/3rd of the other end of dough is exposed.
Now fold the 1/3rd exposed dough over the folded side. Basically, the dough is folded like 3-fold letter before it goes into an envelope (letter fold).
 Put the folded dough on a floured baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze for 15 to 20 minutes to relax and chill the dough.

Repeat the rolling and folding, this time rolling in the direction of the two open ends (from the shorter sides to lengthen the longer sides) until the dough is about 8” by 24”.
Once again fold the dough in thirds, brushing off excess flour and turning under any rounded edges or short ends with exposed or smeared layers. Cover once again with plastic wrap and freeze for another 15 to 20 minutes.
Roll and fold the dough exactly in the same way for the third time and put it baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap, tucking the plastic under all four sides and refrigerate overnight.

Day 3

Divide the dough

The next day, unwrap and lightly flour the top and bottom of the dough. Cut the dough along the longer side into halves. Cover one half with plastic wrap and refrigerate it while working on the other half.
Press dough firmly along its length with the rolling pin. Don’t widen the dough but simply begin to lengthen it with these first strokes. Slowly roll the dough into a long and narrow strip, approximately 8” by 22”. If the dough sticks as you roll, sprinkle with flour. Once the dough is about half to two-thirds of its final length, it may start to resist rolling and even shrink back. If this happens, fold the dough in thirds, cover, and refrigerate for about 10 minutes; then unfold the dough and finish rolling.
Check that there’s enough excess dough on either end so that when you trim the edges to straighten them, you have a strip of dough that is 20’ inches long. Now trim the edges so they’re straight.

Shape the dough

To make Pain au Chocolat, cut the dough into long strips (rectangular) 5" wide . Place the chocolate at one end and tucking it in, start to roll the dough strips reasonably tight, right up to the the other end, in Swiss roll/ jelly roll style. Lightly press down the end and seal it and place them on baking trays with the sealed side down    
 Place them on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet leaving as much space between them as they will rise quite a bit.

Proof the croissants


Brush the croissants with milk (or a mix of milk and cream). If you use eggs, make an egg wash by whisking one egg with 1 tsp water in a small bowl until very smooth. Lightly brush this on each croissant.

Refrigerate the remaining milk/ milk+cream (or egg wash) for brushing the croissants again later.
Place the croissants in a cool and draft-free place (the butter should not melt) for proofing/ rising for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. They might need longer than 2 hours to proof, maybe as much as 3 hours, so make sure to let croissants take the time to proof.
 The croissants will be distinctly larger but not doubled in size. They’re ready if you can see the layers of dough from the side, and if you lightly shake the sheets, the croissants will wiggle.

Bake the croissants

Just before the croissants are fully proofed, pre-heat your oven to 200C (400F) in a convection oven or 220C (425F) in a regular oven.
 Brush the croissants with milk/ milk+cream (or egg wash) a second time, and place your baking sheets on the top and lower thirds of your oven (if regular) or bake one tray at a time in the convection oven.

Bake them for about 15 to 20 minutes till they’re done and golden brown on top and just beginning to brown at the sides. In a regular oven, remember to turn your baking sheets halfway through. If they seem to be darkening too quickly during baking, lower the oven temperature by 10C (25F). Cool the croissants on the baking sheets on racks.
Serve warm.

Notes

Ensure that your butter is cold – cold enough that it is pliable enough to smoothly roll out; not hard (or it will break) or soft (it will melt). If the butter is too hard and breaks while rolling out the dough, you will not get the layers in the croissants.

Do not over-knead / develop the dough too much, too much gluten will not help during the lamination process. The lamination process itself is a kind of stretch and fold anyway and will strengthen the dough. So keep to the 3 minutes the recipe says. You want a soft dough, not an elastic one.

 When you cover the butter square with the dough, make sure you seal the dough well, otherwise the butter will leak out when you roll out the dough, and there’s no way you can manage to put the butter back in. You will also end up with butter leaking during the baking

Always, always make sure your dough and butter inside it are cold.  Once the butter has melted, it is difficult to get the dough to produce layers because the dough tends to absorb the butter and will make greasy croissants. So, while working with the dough, or when rolling it out, if at any point you feel the dough becoming warm and soft, put it back in the fridge immediately for 10-15 minutes. Also work as quickly as you can so the butter stays cold.

During the lamination of the dough (rolling and folding repeatedly), chill the dough in the freezer and NOT the fridge. The overnight refrigeration is to be done in the fridge NOT in the freezer. Resting the dough is an important part of the croissant making process.

     You also need a lot of patience to keep rolling out the dough with just enough pressure to stretch it. The rolled out dough before shaping should be somewhere between 1/4” and 1/8” thick
Make sure your dough is shaped with straight lines and square-ish corners. All the time you are rolling your dough out, keep this in mind. This way you will minimise waste of dough. More importantly, the edges where there is no butter would get folded in during lamination and affect your layers. So trim off those bits if you have any of them

 Keep lightly flouring your work surface (not too much), just enough to keep working smoothly without tearing the dough. However, dust with a light hand or you could end up adding more flour than desirable

Do not be tempted to fold more than three times. A fourth fold will give you more layers, but thinner butter layers between them, and your croissants will not puff of as much as you would like them to


After lamination and refrigeration overnight you can cut the dough into half and bake in two lots. You can refrigerate the remaining half (you can wrap and freeze it) and use after 2 days
You can use an egg wash on your croissants for deep colour and shine. Otherwise use milk or mixture of cream and milk(this gives better browning and shine)

If at any point you feel the dough is not rolling right or butter is leaking ,roll the dough and keep in the freezer for 10-15 minutes, that would help heaps.

If there are butter leaks slightly pat with flour and continue working on it.

To make crescent shaped croissants


Follow upto Divide the dough section for Pain u chocholat

If you’re good at “eyeballing” and cutting the dough into triangles, then forget the measuring rule, marking and cutting instructions. Otherwise, lay a measuring rule or tape measure lengthwise along the top length of the dough.

With a knife, mark the top of the dough at 5-inch intervals along the length (there will be 3 marks in all).

Now place the rule or tape measure along the bottom length of the dough. Make a mark 2-1/2 inches in from the end of the dough. Make marks at 5-inch intervals from this point all along the bottom of the dough. You’ll have 4 marks that fall halfway between the marks at the top.

Make diagonal cuts by positioning the yardstick at the top corner and the first bottom mark. Use a pizza wheel/ pie wheel or a bench scraper and cut the dough along this line which connects each top mark to the next bottom mark and then back to the next top mark and so on. This way you will have 7 triangles .Scrap of dough at the ends.

Now work with one piece of triangular dough at a time. Using your rolling pin, very lightly roll (do not make it thin but only stretch it slightly) the triangle to stretch it a little, until it is about 10” long. This will give your croissants height and layers. You can stretch it by hand too, but if you don’t have the practise, your stretching could be uneven.

 Using a sharp small knife, make a 1/2- to 3/4-inch-long notch in the centre of the short side of each triangle. The notch helps the rolled croissant curl into a crescent.

Place the triangle on the work surface with the notched side closest to you. With one hand on each side of the notch, begin to roll the dough away from you, towards the pointed end.

Flare your hands outward as you roll so that the notched “legs” become longer. Roll the triangle tight enough but not too tight to compress it, until you reach the “pointy” end which should be under the croissant.

Now bend the two legs towards you to form a tight crescent shape and gently press the tips of the legs together (they’ll come apart while proofing but keep their crescent shape).

Shape all the triangles like this into croissants and place them on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet leaving as much space between them.

Proof and bake as for Pain Au Chocolat

You can watch this video  for getting an idea about the process of making croissants. This
video however shows the making process of crescent shaped croissants.

Btw this is yeastspotted!