Dominique Ansel Croissant
Dominique Ansel Croissant
Dominique Ansel Croissant
MASTERCL ASS
Chapter 15 Dominique Ansel MasterClass • 50
Baking Timeline
I WEEK BEFORE 2 D AY S B E F O R E 1 D AY B E F O R E D AY O F
METHOD
1 Week Before:
MAKE LEVAIN STARTER
Day 1:
In a large mixing bowl at least twice the size of your
mixture, combine 50g (3⅓ tbsp) flour and 50g (3⅓
tbsp) water and mix with a spatula until evenly com-
bined. Loosely cover with a dish towel or cheesecloth
and leave at room temperature spot for 24 hours.
Day 2:
Add another 50g (3⅓ tbsp) flour and 50g (3⅓ tbsp)
water, mix with spatula to combine. Loosely cover and
leave at room temperature for another 24 hours.
MAKE BUTTER BLOCK to seal the butter inside. You should have a square
slightly larger than the butter block.
Draw a 7-inch (18cm) square on a piece of parchment
paper with a pencil. Flip the parchment over so the Lightly dust the work surface with flour to ensure that
butter won’t come into contact with the pencil marks. the dough won’t stick. With a rolling pin, using steady,
Place the softened butter in the center of the square even pressure to roll out the dough from the center
and cover with another sheet of parchment paper. so that it triples in length. This will take several passes
Use an offset spatula or bench scraper to spread the and you may need to add more flour in between
butter evenly to fill the square. Refrigerate overnight. rolling to keep the dough from sticking to the surface
Tip: It’s important that the butter is truly softened to and rolling pin. When finished, you should have a rect-
make forming the butter block easy. Once perfectly angle about 20 by 10 inches (50 by 25 cm) and ¼ inch
room temperature, the butter will be spreadable and (6 mm) thick.
have the consistency of cream cheese.
Place the dough so the shorter sides run left to right.
Day 2: From the top side, fold one-third of the dough onto
MAKE THREE FOLDS itself, keeping the edges lined up with each other.
From the bottom side, fold the remaining one-third
Remove the butter mixture from the refrigerator of dough on top of the side that has already been
and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes to become pliable folded. Line up all the edges so that you are left with
enough to work with. It should still be soft enough to a smaller rectangle. This technique is called a “letter
bend slightly without cracking. If it is too firm, gently fold,” since the dough is folded as if it were a piece
beat it with a rolling pin on a lightly floured work of paper going inside an envelope. Wrap the dough
surface until it becomes pliable. Make sure to press tightly in plastic wrap and place on a sheet pan. Re-
the butter back to its 7-inch (18 cm) square after frigerate for about 1 hour to relax the gluten.
working it.
With the seam always facing to the right, repeat steps
Lightly flour your work surface. Remove the dough 3 and 4 for your second and third folds. After the
from the refrigerator, making sure it is very cold third fold, refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
throughout. Place the dough on the work surface.
Arrange the butter block in the center of the dough Tip: If you don’t have enough space in the refrigerator,
so it looks like a diamond in the center of the square you can gently fold the dough in half to fit.
(rotated 45 degrees, with the corners of the butter
block facing the center of the dough sides). Pull the Lightly flour the work surface and lay the dough flat.
corners of the dough up and over to the center of Trim about ½ inch of dough from each side to make a
the butter block. Pinch the seams of dough together neat rectangle. Using a ruler, start from the left side
Chapter 15 Dominique Ansel MasterClass • 54
and score the dough every 3 inches (8 cm) along the croissants on the sheet pan about 4 inches (10 cm)
bottom edge until you reach the right side of the apart. Lightly lay a piece of plastic wrap over the
dough. Make the first score on the top edge 1½ inches croissants and refrigerate overnight.
(4 cm) from the left end. Continue scoring the top
edge every 3 inches (8 cm). These staggered marks Day 3:
should give a nice guideline for cutting triangles. Use BAKE
a large chef’s knife to connect each score mark on
the top with the two at the bottom on either side of Remove the tray of croissants from the refrigerator.
it. The isosceles triangles should measure 3 inches (8 Keep them lightly covered in plastic wrap. Let stand
cm) wide and 10 inches (25 cm) long. There will be at room temperature until tripled in size, about 2 to 3
narrow triangles of dough left over at each end. Place hours.
the cut triangles on a parchment paper-lined sheet Tip: This step is called “proofing”, a step in bread and vi-
pan, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for ennoiserie baking that activates the yeast in the dough.
30 minutes to 1 hour. When proofed at the proper temperature and environ-
ment, you’ll see the croissant dough triple in size and
Remove the dough triangles from the refrigerator, become light, fluffy, and jiggly. What’s most important
and make sure there is no flour on your work surface. in the proofing step is to make sure the dough is nei-
Working with one triangle at a time, hold the base of ther overproofed (where it’s proofed up so much that it
the triangle with one hand and use the fingertips of eventually collapses, causing the layers to separate and
your other hand to lightly grasp the triangle near its the butter to leak) or underproofed (which will result in a
base and gently stretch it an additional 2 to 3 inches tight crumb and you won’t get those fluffy, flaky layers).
(5 to 8 cm) in length, pulling your fingers toward the
tip and being careful not to tear the dough. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat
Tip: Stretching out the dough not only gives you more to the oven to 375°F (190°C) for conventional or 350°F
roll, it also relaxes the dough. (175°C) for convection. In a small bowl, make the egg
wash by whisking together the eggs, salt, and milk.
ROLL AND SHAPE Gently remove the plastic wrap from the croissants.
Lightly brush the croissants with the egg wash, mak-
Starting at the wide end, roll the croissant dough to- ing sure not to apply too much pressure to prevent
ward the tip, keeping steady and even pressure as you deflating the croissants. Bake on the center rack for
roll, until it comes to a rest on the tip of the triangle. 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Remove from
When finished, make sure the tip of the dough is on the oven and let cool briefly.
the bottom of the croissant or else it will unravel in
the oven. STORAGE
Best served fresh and hot out of the oven. Croissants
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Place the should be eaten within 5 hours of baking.
Chapter 15 Dominique Ansel MasterClass • 55
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“Flour, butter, and the levain are the three critical cold from the refrigerator, trying not to handle it too
ingredients to making a good croissant,” Chef Dom- much with your hands to avoid warming. Work quick-
inique notes. As such, take care to buy quality ingre- ly, but calmly, and keep everything as neat as possi-
dients so the finished croissant is equally exemplary. ble. This both minimizes the amount of waste from
Buy fresh, all-purpose flour and use high-quality, Eu- the dough, but also keeps the dough in the perfect
ropean-style butter that has the highest fat content shape to give you the beautiful croissants you’re after
you can find. Good butter is like clay: it’s malleable in the end.
and elastic, even when cold from the refrigerator.
Once the croissants are rolled, be careful not to
The quality of the levain depends on how long it destroy all those beautiful layers you worked to build
ferment, so follow Chef Dominique’s recipe closely. up. Be gentle when rolling and shaping the croissants
To make levain, you must first let flour and water and use a light hand when applying the egg wash–you
capture the natural yeasts in the air, which will give don’t want the brush to to drench the dough or crush
the croissants the same slightly acidic, pleasing it. Once baked, allow the pastries to cool to room
smell you normally get from a freshly-baked loaf of temperature and use a sharp serrated knife so
sourdough bread. This process takes about 5 days it can cut through, not crush, all those flaky layers.
to get going. Then, once it is, you must add new The layers inside should resemble a “honeycomb” in
amounts of flour and water to feed the yeast, literally, that they should not look dense, and the air pockets
and allow it to grow, thus producing more and more should be of an even size from the inside to the
of itself and developing layers and layers of flavor. outside. Smell the croissant; it should smell yeasty
Once the levain is ready, you will take some of it to and buttery.
use in making Chef Dominique’s croissants, but you
will be left with much more, so be prepared to either If you cut into your freshly-baked croissant and find
give it away to other bakers and friends or continue that it’s hasn’t come out as you’d imagined, exam-
feeding it to make more croissants. The levain, after ine its interior structure and look for these common
all, is the “DNA in the croissant,” as Chef Dominique signs that things might have gone wrong while mak-
notes. ing your croissants:
Once you’re working with quality ingredients, make • If the croissant has air pockets that are very small
sure to follow the steps closely to make sure the and the texture is “bready” (chewy and tough),
dough you’re working with is the proper tempera- that means the croissant dough was overhydrated.
ture. If the dough gets too cold, it can be difficult to This can happen when there’s excess moisture in
roll and the butter layers inside can break apart and the air or too much water was added to the dough
become brittle, which will impede the development in the beginning. To correct this, add a little less
of flaky layers in the finished croissant. Keep the water than the recipe calls for and see how the
countertop cool and work with the dough while it’s dough absorbs it. If it looks and feels well-hydrated
Chapter 15 Dominique Ansel MasterClass • 56
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and supple, it’s likely that you don’t need the extra • If the croissant has a slightly concave bottom and
water. Keep in mind that a humid environment uneven air pocket size inside, that means the crois-
could contribute to overhydration of dough. sant dough was under-proofed and did not develop
the strength necessary to stabilize the dough that
• If the croissant has a dry ring of crumb on the comes from proper proofing time. If you’re unsure
outer edge, that means the croissant was baked for about whether your dough is proofed long enough,
too long because the oven wasn’t hot enough. The it is better to give the dough a few more minutes
faster you bake the croissant, the better because than to pull it too early and risk working with
you want the outside to set and turn deep gold- dough that isn’t ready.
en brown at the same time the inside is cooked
through.