I'm on pace...pretty much. I think I am one week behind, meaning there is only one week in 2010 where I haven't put forth a baked good. I started with some easier recipes, things I felt I had a reasonable chance of completing correctly. For example-
Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread
Zucchini Walnut Bread
Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies
as well as some cupcakes that didn't turn out so well, and so will not be receiving any airtime.
This week I decided it was time to up my game (disastrous chocolate cupcakes aside), and ended up taking on a much larger project than I had planned. Valentines Day Croissants.
For those who have never considered what goes into making such things (I hadn't), it starts with just a basic bread dough, no big deal...or so I thought. Once the dough is made, the real work begins. The dough is rolled flat into a 10in by 16in rectangle, into the middle of which is placed 3 cubes of butter, which must be shaped into an 5in by 8in rectangle. The dough is then folded into thirds (like a letter) over the butter and the whole thing is then rolled into a 10in by 15in rectangle, which is folded back into thirds and put into the fridge to chill for an hour. You then repeat the process of rolling the dough out into a 10 by 15 rectangle and folding it into thirds three more times, chilling an hour between each. Following the final folding, the dough is placed into the fridge to chill for at least eight hours.
I realize the above makes no sense, I mean, I wrote it, and recently made the recipe, and I still can't make any sense out of it. Don't worry, the details aren't important. All one really needs to know is that it takes a ruler and about 14 hours before the dough is ready to be rolled out, cut, and rolled into little croissants. But I digress. They turned out great, and we even made eight or so chocolate. Below are some pictures-before and after baking.
The burrito looking ones at the bottom are the pain au chocolat
No comments:
Post a Comment