Recipe of the day: How to bake fluffy croissants
A croissant is a French delicacy that is prepared using yeast-risen dough. It's a light, buttery, and flaky crescent-shaped roll that is usually served for breakfast. Some croissants are also filled with sweet or savory stuffing. It is believed that this pastry was introduced to France in the 19th century by two Austrian bakers. Check out a classic croissant recipe here.
The ingredients required include one-and-one-fourth teaspoons of active dry yeast, three tablespoons of warm water, and one teaspoon of white sugar. Other ingredients that you will need are one-and-a-half teaspoons of salt, two-thirds cup of warm milk, two tablespoons of vegetable oil, and two-thirds cup of chilled unsalted butter. You will also need one egg and one tablespoon of butter.
Mix together active dry yeast, sugar, and warm water and allow it to activate. Add flour into a bowl. Mix together salt and sugar in warm milk and add this to the flour. Add oil and yeast, mix well and knead until smooth. Cover for three hours and let it rise. Deflate and cover for three hours more. Deflate and chill for 20 minutes.
Pat the dough into a 14x8-inch rectangle. Brush butter over the top two-thirds. Fold unbuttered third over middle-third and the buttered top-third down over that. Turn 90 degrees, roll out to a 14x6-inch rectangle and fold in three again. Sprinkle flour and put it in a plastic bag. Refrigerate for two hours. Unwrap, sprinkle flour and deflate gently. Roll to a 14x6-inch rectangle, folding again.
Turn it 90 degrees, repeat, wrap and let it chill for two hours. Roll the dough out to a 20x5-inch rectangle and cut it in half. Shape the half while letting the other half chill. Roll into 15x15 inch rectangle, cut into three 5x5 inch squares and cut each square in half diagonally. Each triangle must be rolled to elongate the point and make it seven inches longer.
After making each triangle seven inches long, grab the other two points, and stretch them out slightly while rolling them up. Place them on the baking sheet that is slightly curved. Let the croissants rise until light and fluffy. Glaze the croissants with egg wash, prepared with egg and water. Bake for 12-15 minutes in a preheated oven and serve warm, and puffy.
