CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS
I tested another croissant recipe. This one is a little shortcut. Again I over egg washed them and they came out dark, but still tasty. Second attempt ever at croissant. I’ll get there soon enough.
- 120 ml warm milk
- 250 g white bread flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 150 g butter, FROZEN
- 50 g sugar
- 7 g dry yeast
- dark chocolate small pieces
- 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon milk for glaze
Warm milk to just warm.
In a large bowl add flour and on one side add the salt and sugar, and on opposite side add your yeast. Whisk to combine.
Grate frozen butter straight into flour. Butter should be pea sized. Mix with a wooden spoon to disperse butter but don’t overmix.
Pour in milk and gently combine to create a dish dough. Don’t overmix. The butter needs to stay in pieces. Press dough together in bowl to create a ball. Turn out and press together to form a square… It will be soft. Cover in cling wrap and put in fridge to rest for 90 min.
Dust worktop and rolling pin very lightly with flour. Roll dough to a rectangle of about 35 cm x 25 cm.
Fold short sides of dough towards each other to meet in the middle. Dust off any excess flour. Turn dough 90 degrees. Roll dough a little to lengthen it again. Fold short sides of dough towards each other to meet in the middle. Dust off excess flour. Flip dough over so seams are at the bottom. Dust off excess flour.
Repeat the above process 2 more times. If butter starts to soften, put dough in fridge for about 15 min before continuing with the folding and rolling.
The dough should now be formed into a smallish rectangle. Wrap 2 times in cling wrap and put in fridge for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight.
Rolled the dough to a rectangle 3 times as long as it is wide – about 4 mm thick. Trim off any edges.
Cut dough into triangles about 30 cm long and 8 cm wide at base.
Cut a small slit in the center of each triangle base. Gently stretch the corners of this slit add the chocolate pieces to the wide end of the triangle and roll up into croissant shape. Repeat with rest of dough.
Place croissant, tip side down, on a large baking tray lined with baking paper.
Leave some space between them.
Cover loosely with greased cling wrap and let them proof for 2 to 3 hours at room temp. (Cover with a blanket)
Preheat oven to 200ºC. Brush proofed croissants with egg wash and bake for 10 min. Reduce oven to 170ºC and bake for another 5 to 10 min until golden and done. Cool on wire rack.
Recipe and photo: Dalila Viljoen
