How could anyone turn down that face? These muffins were a spin from Cook's Illustrated. I substituted yogurt for buttermilk and cut down the baking times, and boy, if there's a go-to blueberry muffin recipe this is the one. The one I'm going to marry, Ma, if it'll just give me a chance.
There's nothing like a recipe that requires a bowl, a wooden spoon and some elbow grease.
Ho boy.
What are you still doing here? Didn't you have some muffins to bake?
2 cups (about 10 ounces) fresh blueberries 1/2 cup dried blueberries (optional) 2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 cup (7 ounces) sugar 3 large eggs 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly 1/4 cup vegetable oil 3/4 cup plain, whole-milk yogurt 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 4 tsp turbinado sugar
1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position to heat oven to 350F. 2. Bring 1 cup fresh blueberries and all dried blueberries to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently and pressing blueberries against the side of the pot, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened, about five minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly. 3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in the large bowl. Set aside. 4. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Slowly whisk in melted butter and oil until incorporated. Whisk in yogurt and vanilla until combined. 5. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in remaining one cup blueberries. 6. Gently fold in flour mixture until just moistened. Batter will be very lumpy. 7. Using a large spoon, divide half of the batter equally among the 12 muffin cups (about a third filled.) Place a heaping teaspoon of berry mixture on top of batter. Scoop remaining batter on top of berry filling. Using a skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter. 8. Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of the muffins. 9. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 15 to 17 minutes, or a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean--they will continue to cook in the pan when removed from the oven. 10. Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. Eat. All.
When I discovered the magical powers yogurt has in baking, I started looking for it in recipes or figuring out how I could use it. From my basic understanding, yogurt/sour cream/buttermilk (in other words, acidic liquids--from my AP Chemistry class in high school, solutions with a pH <7) tempers gluten strands in flour batters, allowing a higher rise, more tender crumb and all-around deliciousness. That acidity is balanced by the addition of an alkali, like baking soda and powder. In other words, make these muffins.
Tiny, soft and puckeringly tart, these muffins are a great way to make friends. I don't understand how poppy seeds work so well with lemon. For example, the phrase "they got along like poppy seeds and lemons" is so very appropriate I just might use it today.*
*Think that's nerdy? I have this in my repertoire: "He liked her as much as a weak acid likes protons." Trust me. It works.
In any case, this recipe from the inimitable Ina has been used to make a beautiful loaf, many mini loaves for gifting, and in this sweet bite-sized form. Make them however you like; just make them fast.
I mix the glaze ingredients in my 1-cup measure and just heat it directly over the stove.
makes about 24 mini muffins, 12 regular-sized muffins or one 8 1/2" x 4 1/4" loaf
Ingredients 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt 1 1/3 cups sugar, divided 3 large eggs 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons) 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
For the glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease baking pan, muffin tin, or loaf papers, then flour.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil and poppy seeds into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes in a loaf pan, 25 minutes in a muffin tin or about 20 minutes for mini muffins, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the batter comes out clean.
Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in, or brush over individual muffins. Cool.
For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake. (Note: I usually leave out the glaze and the muffins are wonderful without it.)
I'm not one for particularly cold foods. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for ice cream and salad (separately), but when food is generally designed to be hot I prefer it that way. Cold chicken, cold pizza--count me out. And I consider myself to be fairly moderate about this. Lily enjoys her food at about scalding.
That being said, I ate this cake cold and I've never regretted it.
I hurriedly made this before work because it was the last day for my favorite boss. I had no inspiration. I scrolled listlessly for anything to make and thankfully I had the good sense to unearth this recipe. Of course, anything remotely smelling of "homemade" at my work has the tendency to disappear within seconds, so the safe thing to do is leave it in the walk-in refrigerator until ready to unveil. That meant putting my fresh cake straight into the cold box, which was how it was served, and boy, was it ever good. Make this cake.
Cake 2 cups flour 2 cups sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 sticks butter 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder 1 cup boiling water 1/2 cup buttermilk 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp vanilla extract
Frosting 1 stick butter 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder 6 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups powdered sugar 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
Directions Preheat the oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Set aside.
Melt the butter in a saucepan or the microwave. Stir in cocoa powder, then add boiling water. Let simmer for 30 seconds, then remove from heat. Pour over flour mixture and stir lightly to cool.
Combine buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and vanilla extract. Stir into batter and mix until just incorporated. Pour onto half-sheet pan and bake 18-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make frosting. Melt butter over medium-low heat, stir in cocoa and remove from heat. Thoroughly mix in milk, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Stir in pecans and pour immediately over cake.
Cut into squares and serve. Cold if you like, but I doubt it'll last that long.
I've mentioned before that I get hit by baking cravings. That means I'll just be sitting around minding my own business when a chocolate cake might come up from behind and punch me. It's pretty awesome. I decided on a whim to make this cake with no clear idea of how it was going to get et, and in the middle of the ordeal I get a call from my mom telling me it's my uncle's birthday that night and we're all coming over for dinner. I love my life!
This recipe uses Ina Garten's famous chocolate cake. The cake is soft, rich and oh so chocolatey, with two thick layers sandwiching an oozy strawberry filling. I omitted the coffee in the cake recipe because hey, I'm just not that into coffee flavor in baked goods. Instead I used hot water, which serves the purpose just fine. The idea from the filling came from Katie of Chaos in the Kitchen, which was itself adapted from Deb of Smitten Kitchen. The frosting is a basic chocolate ganache, which was good, but I recommend using a softer, sweeter frosting.
Start by combining dry ingredients (sift the cocoa powder; I use Dutch-processed Valrhona and that stuff gets clumpy).
Give a quick whir.
I never have buttermilk on hand and use this awesome buttermilk powder whenever a recipe calls for it. Just whisk 1/4 cup of powder with 1 cup of water...
Et voilà!
Add remaining wet ingredients (except water) and give them a stir.
Slowly add wet ingredients to dry. When incorporated stir in hot water until just combined, then divide batter evenly into cake pans and bake at 350F for about 35 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring strawberries, sugar and cornstarch to a boil until thickened and allow to cool completely.
For the ganache, heat cream in a saucepan to boiling and pour over chopped bittersweet chocolate. Stir continuously until thick.
Following Joy the Baker's frosting tips, place 1 layer on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting, creating a dam around the edges to try to hold in your runny filling. (She makes it look a lot easier.)
Put way too much filling on the cake and watch a lot of it spill over.
Frost the second layer and carefully place upside-down on first layer, creating a frosting sandwich with the filling.
Use remaining ganache to frost top and sides of the cake, ignoring the mess, and insist that your family eat it.
Moral of the story: If the urge to make a cake hits you, accept it. Embrace it. Eat it. Or, You Never Know When it Might Be Your Uncle's Birthday.
Ingredients
Cake: 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups sugar 3/4 cups cocoa powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup buttermilk, shaken 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 large eggs, room temperature 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup hot water, almost boiling
Filling: 1 bag frozen strawberries, partially thawed 1/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon corn starch
Ganache: 100 grams heavy cream 125 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the water and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
While the cake is baking, make filling. Give the thawed strawberries a rough chop. In a saucepan, bring strawberries, sugar and cornstarch to a boil, stirring constantly, until thick. Cool completely before spreading over cake layer.
Make ganache by heating cream in a saucepan until boiling. Pour over chocolate and keep stirring until thick and spreadable.
When ready to assemble, prepare first cake layer by spreading about 2/3 cup ganache on top, creating a raised dam around the edge to hold in the filling. Spoon filling onto first layer. Frost second layer thinly, just to protect it from the filling, and place upside-down over first layer. Frost top and sides of cake. Cut a fatty slice and enjoy.
Ashley came home in March with her friend Chris from Boston to show him a rip-roarin' southern California time for spring break. This visit happened to coincide with a "homemade versions of your favorite childhood treats" kick I was on, and I asked her whether she preferred Oreos or Nutter Butters. She chose Nutter Butters, but I am withholding and petty. Or she said Oreos and I graciously demurred, I can't remember.
These cookies come out somewhere between crispy and chewy. Like a crisp chewy Oreo. To ensure evenly-sized cookies I rolled the dough into 0.4 ounce balls, but they turned out to be around 3 inches in diameter. I'd make them even smaller if you want them to be more authentic. They taste great--somehow missing that hydrogenated oily crunch from real Oreos, but a whimsical crowd pleaser, and the filling's pretty spot on.
Homemade Oreos from Retro Desserts by Wayne Brachman via Smitten Kitchen
Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies
Ingredients For the chocolate wafers: 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp 1 large egg
For the filling: 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temp 1/4 cup vegetable shortening 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions 1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375F. 2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass. 3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool. 4. To make the filling, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy. 5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.
Notes: -I don't have a food processor. When recipes call for cutting in butter, like pie crust, I just use two knives and cut the butter into the flour mixture just like I would cut a steak: the two tips pointed toward each other, moving back and forth, until the dough is crumbly. -I hate piping bags. For this recipe I rolled the filling, which is relatively stiff, into little balls and sandwiched them between two cookies, being sure to apply pressure evenly as the cookies may crack.
I know the authors recommend waiting for the bread to come to room temp before serving or slicing, in order to enjoy the full flavor from the loaf. Unfortunately, I have no idea what this tastes like at anything below 10-minutes-out-of-the-oven, because the irresistible crackle and warm, chewy crumb forces me to risk burning my fingers in order to get that in my mouth, stat. Did that make sense? Who cares! The bread is ridiculously easy and is a nice gateway into working with different yeasted doughs.
Ingredients 3 cups lukewarm water 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt 6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour Cornmeal for the pizza peel
Directions Mix all ingredients with a spoon in a food-safe bucket. Let it rise, covered (but not airtight) at room temperature for 2 to 5 hours. At this point, use or refrigerate the dough for up to two weeks, baking as needed.
When ready to bake, cut off a one-pound hunk, flour well and form into a ball, leaving to rest on a peel or parchment for about 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450F with baking stone on the bottom and an empty baking sheet on an upper rack.
Slash the top of the dough several times and quickly slide onto stone, pouring 1 cup of water into the preheated sheet and shutting the door to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes until the crust is a deep brown, then remove and leave to cool on a rack. Somehow this bread never gets past the "tear into chunks and dip in balsamic vinegar/olive oil or eat with cheese" phase. Beats me.
Ah, crème brûlée. A custard of heavy cream, egg yolks and sugar with a shell of caramelized sugar on top--what more could one ask? Oh, a splash of Grand Marnier and a clementine suprême in every dish? Why, thanks, Peabody!
I follow Alton Brown's advice on everything/torching the sugar, which he does by holding the flame directly above the ramekin, focusing on one spot, then moving over a little after that one's all done, rather than rotating the flame over the sugar in circles. You can also finish these off under the broiler, but keep an eye on them!
Ingredients 1 cup heavy whipping cream 1/4 cup crème fraîche pinch of salt 4 large egg yolks 3 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Grand Marnier 2 clementines, peeled, sections and skin removed sugar for topping (about 1/8 cup)
Directions Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 300F. Have ready four-6 ounce ramekins or custard cups and a 10-inch square baking pan. Place three slices of Clementines at the bottom of each ramekin. Put on a kettle of water to boil for the water bath.
Combine the cream, crème fraîche, and salt in a medium heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, just until hot. Remove from heat.
Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and Grand Marnier in a medium bowl. Slowly pour in the cream mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture through a fine strainer set over a large glass measure or bowl.
Divide the custard evenly among the ramekins, skimming any foam from the top. Place the ramekins in the baking pan, place the pan in the oven, and carefully add enough boiling water to the baking pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until custards are set around the edges but still slightly jiggly in the center. Do not over bake--the custards will set further as they cool. Remove the pan from the oven and let the custards stand in the water bath for 10 minutes.
With tongs or a wide metal spatula, carefully transfer the ramekins to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, tightly covered, for at least 3 hours, until thoroughly chilled and set, or for up to 2 days.
Sift sugar evenly over the custard. Using a kitchen torch on low flame, melt sugar until it has turned a dark amber color and serve.
When I was 12, my best friend Lauren (still my best friend) pulled me into her kitchen, where we made a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I'd never considered that normal people outside of TV (or at least the ones I knew) made their cookies--in my odd, second-generation way, I thought fridges were designed for oyster sauce and fish paste alone. But that glimpse showed me the knack I have for baking, and the pleasure I derive from it.
My family has never been too crazy about sweets, but Lauren's all-American family sure was, so my baking was strictly limited to her kitchen throughout the rest of middle school and high school. And although I went over there a lot (easy to do when you live down the street), I didn't bake every day. So I stuck to the hits: chocolate chip cookies, the occasional snickerdoodle, and my secret show-stopper: brownies.
I may not have understood what was happening when I combined things, but I knew if I followed the instructions exactly I would have a pan of sweet bribery to offer any takers. Which is easy for me, because I like being manipulative meticulous. Now that I've been baking in my own kitchen for the last few years I've had a chance to diversify, try new things, buy crazy ingredients and tools for myself (like tuile cones, gods know I need six of those).
Once again, this has very little to do with the following subject. It's a pretext for me to hide behind while I explain how sometimes I can get wide-eyed by a single recipe or demonstration I see and am seized by a sudden urge to make THAT, using THAT EXACT recipe, RIGHT NOW. And by now I mean, at some point several months in the future.
Also I blame WikiHow for making "How to Make Croissants" show up on my home page. In short, I saw a video demonstration for homemade croissants last year, before I was really into baking beyond my limited repertoire, and I was so enthralled by the relatively simple process that I filed the recipe away, never to research the subject again. That was sometime in July. I finally made it in October. And now I'm writing about it in April. How am I graduating college again? (Turned in my last paper Thursday. It feels as good as it sounds, even the whole sleep-deprivation from staying up all night after starting a 12-page research paper midnight of the day it's due thing.)
This is probably the most difficult baking project I've embarked on yet, which I attribute to poor technique and undeveloped baking sense. The recipe itself seems entirely simple, it's really no more than a pâte feuilletée with yeast. If you'd told me that 6 months ago, though, you would have been greeted with silence, a suspicious glare and a slow shoulder twist in the direction away from you. I've since forced myself to become more comfortable with yeast, from breads to sweet doughs, but I still have yet to revisit this recipe. Actually, as a soon-to-be unemployed college graduate, I'm sure I'll have plenty of time!
The recipe comes from Video Jug, a very interesting how-to website devoted only to the video platform. They have sharply produced tutorials without talkative hosts, preferring to use a level-headed voice over narrator instead. This, of course, makes for pure comedy in their romantic advice videos, such as their classic How to Remove a Bra. Since they're headquartered in England, their cooking section features some pretty interesting British classics too. The WikiHow recipe is easy. The Video Jug video they base it off is brainless. (Which explains a lot, when it comes to me.*)
*sly self-deprecation. I'm actually convinced I'm the smartest person in these pants.
I can't say that this recipe produces the tastiest or most authentic croissants, considering I effed them up pretty horridly and it wouldn't be fair to blame outside forces, much as I would like to. Perhaps we'll touch on this again in Croissant Wars: PART DEUX. But until then, here's the play by play.
Ingredients: 17 1/2 oz flour 1/2 oz yeast 3 1/8 oz sugar 1/2 oz salt 10 1/8 oz warm milk 12 oz butter, room temperature 1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp water extra flour for dusting
Directions: Begin the dough Put the flour into the mixer. Add salt, sugar, milk and yeast. Mix on low for 8-10 minutes until it has a smooth elastic consistency. Dust the dough and a large bowl with flour. Remove the dough from the mixer and transfer it into the bowl. Cover with the towel and let rise until it doubles in size, roughly 1.5 to 2 hours.
Prepare the butter Put a sheet of plastic wrap onto work surface. Place the butter on top and cover it with a second layer of plastic wrap. Flatten with hands, then use a pin to roll into a rectangle about 20 X 25 cm (a sheet of copy paperish) and place into the fridge to chill.
Roll out dough After the dough has doubled in size, sprinkle with a little bit of flour. Gently deflate and place onto a floured work surface. Roll dough out into a large rectangle approximately three times the length of the sheet of butter, adding more flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface or pin.
Fold in butter Unwrap the chilled butter and place it onto the middle of the dough. Fold one end over the butter, then the other on top of that. Rotate the dough 90 degrees so the open end of the dough is facing you and the seam is vertical, and roll into another rectangle about the same length it was originally. Fold this into thirds again, brushing off the excess flour as you go. This completes the first turn.
Sigh. Notice the clumps of butter uncouthly puddling around the left side. The right side only looks so straight because this was the point in the recipe after I'd cut the dough in half and frozen one part for future use.
If there is an issue at any point with the butter oozing out of the ends or squishing through the dough, the butter is too warm and needs to go back in the fridge to firm up again. I wish someone had told me that when I was going mad with butter all over my rolling pin. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place into the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes--essentially allowing the dough to relax a bit after all the rolling and giving the butter a chance to become cold again, as butter is one thing raw dough generally shouldn't warm up to. Eh? Eh?
Turn the dough At the end of the 30 minutes (or however long you need), sprinkle work surface with flour. Unwrap the dough and make sure that the it is placed with the seam vertical (that is, running up and down in relation to you). Dust with flour and roll it out into another rectangle. Fold, brush and wrap, exactly as before. This now completes the second turn.
The key here is to create alternating layers of dough and butter, which in the case of puff pastry results in a delicate flaky mess and in the case of croissant dough results in a chewy delicate flaky mess. That's why there are so many turns and rolls, only no fire drill. If you're careful.
Chill and turn again Place the back into the fridge for another 30 minutes. Once removed, roll and fold for the third and final turn. Make sure that the dough is well wrapped before placing into the fridge once more to chill overnight.
Shape the croissants Once chilled, cut the unwrapped dough in half on a floured surface. Dust the dough with some flour and roll one half of the dough into a rectangle. Reflour the surface when necessary and continue to roll until the dough is roughly less than half a centimetre thick. Trim the edges of the dough neatly and cut into triangle shapes (geometry, anyone? We're looking for isosceles here). Take the bottom of the triangle at its widest part and tightly roll it up. You can freeze the other half of the dough for use another time, or repeat the process to make more.
"Oh hey guys, you must have forgotten to invite me but it's cool 'cause I found an invitation. Where's the bathroom?" (below is the culinary version of this scenario)
Variations: cut horrible uneven "square shapes" and fill with your confiture of choice, or a gaggle of bloomed Belgian dark chocolate chips like I used here from the back of the fridge.
Here we see a classic case of childhood selfishness, wherein the patient refuses to share and conceals all chocolate from outside forces.
Allow to rise Place the croissants onto a baking sheet lined with parchment (not entirely necessary, as there's so much butter I don't think you'll have trouble removing them). Place inside clean plastic bag and leave to double in size. Or, if you don't live in England, leave in a warm, draft-free area for 1-2 hours sans bag. Ooh, "sans." Look how continental these are making me.
We've all seen "The Wedding Singer," yeah? That scene where Robbie's fiancee Linda has just left him and he goes to sing at a wedding anyway, and is so raw and emotional in a way only seen in gritty documentaries and 80s period pieces, including the part where he points out the Mutants at Table Nine.
You know, the ones who looked FUBAR?
I'm baring my soul here. Have mercy.
p.s., pre-proof and post-proof. Think maybe I should have been a little less ambitious for my first yeasted recipe?
Preheat the oven Set the oven to 190ºC (375ºF).
Wash and bake Once the croissants have risen remove the plastic bag, if necessary. Very gently brush them with the egg wash. Place into the center of the oven and bake for roughly 15 minutes. When they are a deep golden brown remove them from the oven.
One of my less-unfortunate looking attempts at pain au chocolat.
Serve Your croissants are now ready to serve! They go well with anything, from plain butter, jam and marmalade to ham and cheese. By the way, serving this butter pastry with butter is a GREAT idea. Tell all your friends. And thank you for bearing with me. Don't try this at home.
Ingredients: 17 1/2 oz flour 1/2 oz yeast 3 1/8 oz sugar 1/2 oz salt 10 1/8 oz warm milk 12 oz butter, room temperature 1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp water extra flour for dusting
1. Put the flour into the mixer. Add salt, sugar, milk and yeast. Mix on low for 8-10 minutes until it has a smooth elastic consistency. Dust the dough and a large bowl with flour. Remove the dough from the mixer and transfer it into the bowl. Cover with the towel and let rise until it doubles in size, roughly 1.5 to 2 hours.
2. Put a sheet of plastic wrap onto work surface. Place the butter on top and cover it with a second layer of plastic wrap. Flatten with hands, then use a pin to roll into a rectangle about 20 X 25 cm (a sheet of copy paperish) and place into the fridge to chill.
3. After the dough has doubled in size, sprinkle with a little bit of flour. Gently deflate and place onto a floured work surface. Roll dough out into a large rectangle approximately three times the length of the sheet of butter, adding more flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface or pin.
4. Unwrap the chilled butter and place it onto the middle of the dough. Fold one end over the butter, then the other on top of that. Rotate the dough 90 degrees so the open end of the dough is facing you and the seam is vertical, and roll into another rectangle about the same length it was originally. Fold this into thirds again, brushing off the excess flour as you go. This completes the first turn.
If there is an issue at any point with the butter oozing out of the ends or squishing through the dough, the butter is too warm and needs to go back in the fridge to firm up again. Once the first turn is done, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place into the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.
5. At the end of the 30 minutes (or however long you need), sprinkle work surface with flour. Unwrap the dough and make sure that the it is placed with the seam vertical (that is, running up and down in relation to you). Dust with flour and roll it out into another rectangle. Fold, brush and wrap, exactly as before. This now completes the second turn.
6. Place the back into the fridge for another 30 minutes. Once removed, roll and fold for the third and final turn. Make sure that the dough is well wrapped before placing into the fridge once more to chill overnight.
7. Once chilled, cut the unwrapped dough into half on a floured surface. Dust the dough with some flour and roll one half of the dough into a rectangle. Reflour the surface when necessary and continue to roll until the dough is roughly less than half a centimetre thick. Trim the edges of the dough neatly and cut into triangle shapes. Take the bottom of the triangle at its widest part and tightly roll it up. Freeze the other half of the dough for later use, or repeat the process to make more.
Variations: cut dough into smaller rectangles and roll around a stick of high-quality bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate, placing on a sheet seam-side down.
8. Place the croissants onto a baking sheet, lined or not. Place inside clean plastic bag or in a warm, draft-free area and leave to double in size, about 1-2 hours.
9. Preheat the oven to 375F. Remove the plastic bag, if necessary, once the croissants have risen. Very gently brush them with the egg wash. Place into the center of the oven and bake for roughly 15 minutes. When they are a deep golden brown remove from the oven and serve immediately with a mug of hot chocolate, ignoring the terrible mess in your kitchen while trying not to cry.
Variations: 1. Go to Paris 2. Enter a patisserie 3. Politely ask for un (ou neuf) croissant(s), s'il vous plaît 4. PAY and then leave 5. Serve immediately with a mug of hot chocolate
