Making a flaky croissant with perfectly structured layers is one of the ultimate satisfaction in the art of bread and pastry baking. The inside should stretch as it is pulled apart followed by the instant aroma of the buttery and sweetness of this lovely pastry that fills the air much faster than the steam that emits from between the buttery layers of the flaky crusts.

There are many croissant recipes but I prefer this becaue it proves faster and it calls for a fewer ingredients. The folding part is 3 times single fold (if you’re unfamiliar with the rules of folding pastry, you can refer to this site  http://www.elclubdelpan.com/en/bread-encyclopedia/single-fold-or-tri-fold-method  ).  I do however,  make a book fold to my dough just to get that extra layers.  You can always experiment with the folding part to see the result you’ll get.

Ingredients:

Flour  500g

Sugar  50g

Salt  12g

Yeast  20

Water  300g

Butter for folding  300g OR 250g margarine

   The normal procedure for making bread dough is mixing the dry ingredients together. Then, in a mixer, put in the dry ingredients. Add a bit of water to it. Using a dough hook, knead at medium speed and slowly add water to it. Once all the water has been added to the flour, increase speed and knead the dough for about 5 to 7 minutes. . Rest dough in chiller for at least half an hour.

   Take the dough out and expand it into the best square shape possible enough to fit in the butter. The dough should be able to wrap the butter from all sides. Make 3 simple folds but remember to chill the dough at least half an hour in between each fold.

    After folding 3 times, take out the dough from the chiller and flatten to about 3 mm thickness. Cut into triangular shape.  Gently stretch each piece to lengthen it. Then, on a flat surface place the wider part facing you and the point away from you. Start shaping the croissant by rolling from the wider to the pointed end. You can either have straight croissant or a curved one by gently pressing the both ends together. Leave to proof for an hour and brush with egg wash. Bake for 180C until their colour turn golden brown.

   The best way to eat them is with the purest, creamiest butter while they’re still steaming hot.