Pierre Herme's croissants

Za recept na srpskom, odite na dno stranice :)

If someone tells you that you can make fast version of croissants, that you can mix from scratch and bake  in an hour, do not waste your time. They will look like play-dough crescents.
Croissants are a buttery perfection that require patience and time, but resting time in the fridge, not hard work. Active preparation time is not more than hour and a half. But, I was making mine for 5 days. And here's why.
First day, I prepared the dough. I let it rise, punched it, and put it in the fridge. The next day, I prepared the butter, and laminated it for the first time. I put it in the fridge, and the next day, rolled it for the second time. It takes you 10 min to roll and fold it. Then back to the fridge. I let the dough rest in the fridge until Friday night, and Friday night I shaped them. Back to the fridge again. Saturday morning I let them rise, and baked them.
You can make them in a day, but you really do not need to rush. The dough can't be rushed, it won't like it, and you are not going to like it ether. When you rest it between folding, it has time to relax its gluten, and it will be easier for you to roll. For me, making them is a big pleasure that its very rewarding. Is there anything better on a cold Sunday morning than fresh croissants out of the oven and cup of coffee or hot chocolate?
I made them many, many times, using different recipes. But as you may know, I received Pierre Hermes cookbook for my birthday, and his croissant recipe was something I had to try. I adore good croissants, and his looked like pure perfection. So I decided to give them a try. I made a double dose. I always do that when I make danishes, puff pastry, or croissants. I bake half, and I freeze other half.

Croissants

12 gr compressed fresh yeast

100 ml whole milk warmed to 68F/20C

500 gr flour

12 gr salt

75 gr fine sugar

35 gr very soft unsalted butter

15 gr dry whole milk powder

145 ml still mineral water warmed to 68F/20C (I used regular tap water)

325 gr cold unsalted butter (do not use margarine)

Glaze:

1 egg yolk

2 whole eggs

pinch of fine salt

Prepare the croissants. Dissolve the yeast in the milk. Sift the flour, then incorporate the salt, sugar, butter, milk powder, two-thirds of water, and the yeast dissolved in milk. Knead the mixture briefly. Add more of the remaining water if the dough appears too firm (I used all of the water). Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and keep it at 72F/20C for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in volume. (It took me 3 hours for the dough to double at that temperature).
Punch down the dough to its original volume and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour. (I refrigerated it until the next day). Punch it down again, wrap in plastic, and place it in the freezer for 30 min.

Remove the dough from the freezer. Pound half the cold butter with a rolling pin to soften, then kneed the butter by hand to form rectangle. (I put my butter in the zip lock bag, rolled it until thin, cooled it in the fridge. Before placing it on the dough I just cut the bag to take it out).

Sprinkle a work surface with flour and roll out a long rectangle of the dough. It should be three times longer than it is wide. Mine was abotu 17cm wide, and 52-53cm long. Place the butter against the lower edge of the dough. With the palm of your hand, pull the butter over the dough until it covers two-thirds of it. ( I just placed two pieces of butter that I took out of my zip lock bag).

Wrap the remaining third of the dough over the two-thirds of it. Fold the lowest third of the buttered part over the other third. Place the dough in the freezer for 30 min, then refrigerate for 1 hour. ( Mine was in the fridge until the next day).

Roll out the dough into a long rectangle as before, and proceed in the same way with the other half of the butter. Place the dough in the freezer again for 30 min, than refrigerate for 1 hour. (I left mine in the fridge until the next day again, and I did 3 folds total).

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Sprinkle a work surface with all purpose flour and roll out the dough to a thickens of 3 mm. Using a sharp knife, cut out isosceles triangles 20 cm high and with a base measuring 12 cm. (My width was 12cm, but they were longer). Place each triangle on the work surface with the base toward you. Roll it up on itself, then curve the ends into a crescent, shape. ( I cut the middle of each triangle, and I left mine straight, french style).

As you finish shaping the croissants, place them on the lined baking sheets spacing them 5 cm apart. Set them aside at room temperature to proof for about 1 1/2 hours. ( I shaped mine Friday night, wrapped the pan really well, and put them in the fridge overnight. I took them out in the morning, and let them rise for 3 hours. They should be jiggly when you shake the pan, if they are ready. The temperature in the room should  be around 25 C )

Preheat a convection oven to 400F/200C.
Prepare the glaze. Whisk together the egg yolk, whole eggs, and salt in a bowl ( I just used 1/2 of the egg white, 1 egg yolk, and teaspoon of water, but i glazed them twice).
Using a pastry brush, coat the croissants with the glaze. Place the croissants in the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 350F/180C. Bake for 20 min. (I baked mine 25, but that really depends on your oven).

Remove from the oven and transfer the croissants to wire rack to cool. You will have perfect croissants.
We enjoyed ours with jams, and Pierre Hermes hot chocolate.

Za testo vam je potrebno:

12 gr svezeg kvasca
100 ml  punomasnog mleka ugrejanog na 20C
500 gr brasna
12 gr soli
75 gr secera
35 gr omeksalog neslanog putera
15 gr punomasnog mleka u prahu
145 gr negazirane mineralne vode ugrejane na 20C (ili obicne)
325 gr. neslanog putera (nikako margarina)

Za glazuru:
1 zumance
2 cela jaja
prstohvat soli

Napisacu vam recept iz knjige, i u zagradi cu dodati promene koje sam ja radila. Vi pratite ono sto vama najvise odgovara.
Ugrejte mleko na 20C i rastopite kvasac u njemu.
Prosejte brasno, dodajte so, secer, mleko u prahu, vodu, rastopljeni kvasac i omeksali puter. Kratko mesite testo dok se ne sjedini (ne treba dugo mesiti). Dobicete tvrdje testo.
Prebacite testo u posudu u kojoj ce narastati, pokrijte prozirnom folijom i ostavite na 20C dok se ne udvostruci. U knjizi kazu 1 - 1 1/2 sati, meni je uzelo duplo vise vremena.

Pritisnite testo rukama da ispusti vazduh i prebacite ga u frizider na sat vremena. (meni je odlezalo u frizideru do sutradan)
Izvadite testo iz frizidera, ponovo ga pritisnite da ispusti vazduh i prebacite u zamrzivac na 30 minuta. Za to vreme pripremite puter. Puter treba istanjiti na sirinu trake na koju cete tanjiti testo. Testo treba da bude tri puta duze, nego sto je siroko. Ja sam puter stavila u 4 zip kesice i istanjila. Dve su bile za prvo preklapanje, dve za drugo.

Testo izvadite iz zamrzivaca, istanjite u dugacku traku (debljina testa bi trebala biti 3-4 mm, duzina mi je bila oko 52-53 cm, sirina 17-18cm). Po testu rasporedite ocvrsli puter (vidi sliku gore). Puterom trebate pokriti 2/3 testa, 1/3 ostaje nenamazana. Tu jednu nenamazanu trecinu preklopite preko namazanog dela. Znaci, ako je puter na levoj strani, nenamazan deo testa na desnoj, preklopite sa desna na levo. Nakon toga, preklopite sa leva na desno, tako da vam strana sa puterom dodje preko gornjeg dela testa koje je nenamazano. Uvijte testo u prozirnu foliju i stavite u zamrzivac na 30 min, pa nakon 60 min u frizider. (Moje testo je odmaralo do sutradan).

Testo opet istanjite u dugacku traku, i po njemu rasporedite drugi deo putera, na isti nacin kao prvi put i preklopite na isti nacin. Ovog puta testo ce biti glatkije. Opet ga uvijte u prozirnu foliju, i stavite u zamrzivac na 30 min, pa u frizider na sat vremena. (Moje testo je odmaralo do sutradan, i tanjila sam ga i preklapala jos jednom pre nego sto sam oblikovala krosane).

Izvadite testo iz frizidera, i opet istanjite dugu pravougaonu traku na 3 mm debljine. Ostrim nozem secite trouglove koji su 12 cm siroki i 20 cm visoki. Zasecite sredinu svakog trougla (vidi sliku gore). Uvijte kao kiflicu. Poredjajte na pleh, ostavljajuci dovoljno razmaka da mogu nesmetano da narastu, oko 2 sata. Premazite lagano glazurom.
Rernu ugrejte na 200C. Cim stavite kroasane, smanjite tempreraturu na 180C.
Pecite oko 20 min. Korasani trebaju biti res peceni.

Vazne napomene:
* Kroasane nikako ne pravite sa margarinom.
* Testo obavezno odmarajte da bi se opustio gluten i da bi se ujednacila temperatura testa i putera.
* Prostorija u kojoj radite kroasane mora biti hladna. U toploj prostoriji ce se puter topiti, curiti i necete          dobiti slojeve.
* Puter i testo moraju biti iste temperautre. Mekano testo i hladan puter se ne mogu ravnomerno valjati,             puter ce pucati i kroasani se nece dobro listati.
* Premekan puter ce se upiti u testo, i kroasani ce biti masni i teski.
* Ako kroasani narastaju na previsokoj temeraturi, puter ce iscuriti iz njih pre pecenja.
* Kada zatresete pleh, kroasani trebaju da "zaigraju" kao zelatinozna smesa. To znaci da su dovoljno narasli    i da su spremni za pecenja.