Thermomix Croissants

This all started after seing the post by Tenina about her Masterchef Challenge with Chocolate Frangipane Croissants for George Calombaris.

I had heard that there was a croissant recipe available for the Thermomix - but NOBODY was willing to reveal the recipe as it had been placed under embargo from HQ.

So, always one for a challenge I decided to go back to the vast array of books and magazines to find a suitable recipe.

Loretta Sartori (who is doing a hands-on pastry class at Diana Marsland's next February) has 2 recipes in her marvellous book Patisserie . The first appears to be a version of that of Joel Bellouet, who demonstrated at French Kitchen in 1984.

Pierre Herme's recipe requires the dough to be placed into the freezer and then the fridge between rollings, while Christophe Felder, of l'hôtel de Crillon à Paris fame preferred to make a paste of butter and flour and envelope it, as in Loretta's second recipe. Both of these methods were discarded as too difficult for me.

Some preparatory words of warning:

This is a full day's work (or over 2 days) - but there is a lot of time between rolling to do other things, so it is not constant.

In terms of timing - you need about half an hour from starting until you do the mix
with all the flour and milk etc. Then there is 15 minutes before the dough goes into the fridge, then 2 hours resting and 15 minutes rolling, 2 hours resting and another 15 minutes of rolling before allowing another 2 hours of resting, then 15 - 30 minutes of rolling and cutting and rolling, before another 1 to 2 hours of proving before just 15 minutes of baking. So, be prepared. One of the two hour resting sessions can be done overnight, but only one.

This is NOT a bread and the dough should NOT be kneaded more than is necessary to combine the dough. It is essentially a puff pastry with yeast to aid leavening. Treat it as a pastry - NOT a bread - you DO NOT want the gluten to be activated - be gentle. Do not leave it kneading past the point that it has become a ball of dough.

Once the dough has been rolled it can be frozen or it can be filled with sweet or savoury fillings and the shapes may be the regular croissant or more in the pain au chocolat (square shape).



Slow proving of the croissants before baking produces the best results. An ambient temperature of about 22°C is best over a period of an hour or more.

Good luck.

Thermomix Croissants

Ingredients

45g sugar
175g milk
50g butter
10g salt

75g bakers’ flour
20g fresh or 7g dry yeast (1 sachet)
100g tepid water

500g bakers’ flour

180g butter, softened (this can be done at 37°C in the Thermomix)

1 egg and 30ml milk for egg wash

Method

Place sugar in TM bowl – grind for 30 seconds on speed 9 until fine.

Add milk, the 50g of butter and the salt to TM bowl and heat for 5 minutes at 70°C on speed 3. Remove and set aside.

Place 75g flour, yeast, and water into the TM bowl. Mix for 2 minutes at 37°C on speed 3. Leave in the TM bowl and allow to rise and develop for about half an hour, until the leaven becomes frothy.




Add the 500g flour and the milk mixture and mix for 20 seconds on speed 5.

Knead for 45 seconds on interval speed. Do not overwork the dough as you do not want to activate the gluten. Remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured board and gently shape into a flattened rectangle and let it rest at room temperature for 10 - 15 minutes (to allow the yeast to start working).

Then place dough into some plastic wrap and cover to prevent dehydration and place in the fridge for approx 2 hours.




Take the dough from fridge and place on a floured surface. Using a floured rolling pin, roll into a rectangle about three times the length of its width (approx 17cm x 50cm).

Place half (90g) of the softened butter onto one end of the rectangle and smooth it out over two-thirds of the rectangle.



Now fold the unbuttered third of the rectangle over the centre third



and then the remaining buttered third of the rectangle over the doubled section.



Now turn the dough so that the open fold is to your left


(the photo is taken looking from the chef's side of the table)
and roll the pastry again trying to maintain the shape and ending with a rectangle three times the length of its width. Fold the top third over the middle third and then the bottom third over the other section. Place in plastic film again and return to the fridge for another rest of two hours. It may be left overnight at this stage rather than just for 2 hours.

The dough is again rolled out to a triangle and the bottom two-thirds covered with softened butter. The unbuttered section is folded over the middle third and the bottom third folded back on top of the other section.

Again turn the dough so that the open fold is to your left and roll the pastry again trying to maintain the shape and ending with a rectangle three times the length of its width. Fold the top third over the middle third and then the bottom third over the other section. Place in plastic film again and return to the fridge for another rest of two hours. It may be left overnight at this stage rather than just for 2 hours, but you can only rest it overnight on one occasion.

After the final resting, roll the dough into a rectangle with a 3mm thickness.

Pre heat oven to 240°C (220°C with fan).

Prepare silicone baking sheets or ordinary trays using silicone baking paper.

Cut the dough into triangles with a width of approximately 17cm and length of about 35cm



With the points of the triangle facing away from you, place a cut into each triangle – this reduces the bulk in the centre of the croissant and ensures more even baking.




Roll from the base of the triangle towards the point firmly but do not stretch it lengthways and place onto baking sheet. It is actually best to place the croissants with the tail underneath to prevent it unravelling as in some pictured.



Leave croissants to rise for approx 1 & ½ to 2 hours at approximately 22°C before glazing each gently with egg wash.

Place in oven and turn down to 200°C (190°C fan-forced) for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack with legs to avoid condensation.


Freezing croissants.

If you want hot, fresh croissants for breakfast then place the rolled croissants before they are allowed to rise onto trays lined with baking paper and cover before freezing.

Once frozen the croissants may be stored in airtight plastic bags until required.

Remove the croissants from freezer the night before and place on a tray lined with baking paper at least 5cm apart.

Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to stand overnight.

In the morning the croissants will have risen and be ready for cooking.

Pre-heat the oven and follow the normal cooking instructions.