Croissant

THE "ORIGIN" OF THE CROISSANT

The Croissant, contrary to what many people think, is not of French origin but Austrian.
Its origin is even considered one of the great legends of all times.
So, among the many known, the one below stands out

THE “LEGEND”

In 1683, the Ottoman Empire of Turkish origin (one of the strongest empires in the world) was trying to expand its dominion by invading European lands.
But they found it very difficult to enter the city of Vienna, the Austrian capital.
So they decided to take advantage of the darkness of night to dig some tunnels that would lead them to the center of the city.
But they didn't count on the bakers of Vienna, who, working at dawn, heard them and denounced them.

The story goes that bakers were offered some rewards.
They did not accept them. Except the exclusive right to create something to commemorate their victory over the enemy.
And so came into being the little half-moon shaped puffy breads, which they called "kipfel".

THE "ARRIVAL OF THE CROISSANT IN FRANCE

It was only later, around 1770 that the croissant arrived on French territory, through Marie Antoinette, who became Queen by marrying the French King Louis XIV.
However, forbidden to maintain any kind of attachment to her homeland, instead of following the food tradition at court with the other diners, she chose to eat her "kipfel", one of the few things that reminded her of her origins.
And which she later renamed croissant.

Croissant in French means "crescent" and represents the shape of a half moon, allusive to the flag of the Ottoman Empire. Et voilà... The Croissant was created and became part of the French pastry.

In the 18th century, the croissant was just an improved bread dough.
But as it is known today, it was only created around 1920 by Parisian bakers.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CROISSANT

The main characteristic of the croissant - and also its secret - is in the dough.
This semi-flat dough has less fat, fewer folds and biological yeast.
The folds are responsible for the separation of the dough and fat layers, which provide the croissant's "puffiness".

A good croissant should look good, crescent shaped, have a crispy crust and a nice golden color.
The edges should be detached from the middle, the crumb should be airy and show the right consistency.
Over time, it has become an icon of gastronomy in many different bakeries around the world.

Nowadays, the croissant can be made with different fillings and can easily be found in sweet or savory versions.

It is a French icon and it is humanly impossible to visit France and ignore croissants.

THE MANUFACTURING

Croissant pastry is a leavened puff pastry like that of "pains au chocolat".
It uses the same principles as normal puff pastry, except that it contains baker's yeast.

And yeast puff pastry generally requires less butter than conventional puff pastry.

In 1968, according to Jean-Léon and Jean-Georges Kiger, in France, the eight stages of croissant manufacture were the following, which still remain in their essence today.

1. The Raw Materials

The raw materials used are flour, sugar, butter, yeast and water;

2. Kneading the Croissant:

It is the main stage of the manufacturing process and determines the consistency and texture of the dough.

3. Mass division:

The purpose of the division is to form pieces of dough from the quantity obtained;

4. Lamination:

Laminating consists in passing the croissant dough between two smooth rollers rotating in opposite directions at the same speed and according to an adjustable spacing.
This phase leads to degassing.
The dough is placed in the laminator to be flattened and receive the butter sheets.
A single rotation of the ply is then performed.
Laminating must be done carefully so as not to break the sheets;

5. Rest:

It is a resting phase at 3°C, from half an hour to an hour.
This step is carried out to facilitate the deformations that will follow.
After the expansion, there follows another rolling, which consists of two more passes.
At the end, the dough is about 3mm thick;

6. Croissant modeling:

This is the step that will give the final shape. The dough is rolled out one last time.
It is cut into identical strips lengthways and then into triangles, before being rolled out;

7. Preparation of the Croissant:

At this stage the croissant dough only goes through one fermentation stage.
The growth takes place for 3 hours at 25°C.
Under the yeast development, the gas pressure increases and the alveoli grow.
Each croissant triples in volume;

8. Croissant cooking:

Baking is done at 180°C. The steam produced during cooking will separate the different layers of the puff pastry.
After cooking, it has a crunchy, crumbly texture.

FINAL TRIVIA

As with bread, the croissant is ideally baked in an oven that enhances crispness and is the true mark of quality, know-how, and craftsmanship.

In total, there are about fifty parameters to master to make a good croissant, including the quality of the flour, yeast and butter used, the fermentation time of the dough, how to incorporate the butter, modeling, heat of the oven, baking ...

Today, the low profitability of this product and the lack of time and qualified labour have led some bakers and pastry chefs to replace butter with margarine, or make croissants with frozen dough (usually with margarine).

It is estimated that more than 80% of croissants and sweets purchased in traditional bakeries are industrial frozen products.

That's not the case in Dacquoise.

Get to know some examples of our collection of Fine Pastries