Bernard Clayton Croissant Recipe Help
Has anyone tried Bernard Clayton's croissant recipe? I have never made them before and tried making the dough with the recipe in his Book of Small Breads, and it came out terribly. The dough was extremely wet. I tried adding more flour but it wouldn't come together as a solid mass at all and was almost like a batter. I tried adding even more flour and when I checked on the next day, it smelled very yeasty and was still very sticky and much too sticky to roll (or so it seems to me).
I tried a different recipe I found online that used about half as much liquid total and had much greater results. Well, the product isn't finished yet but at least the dough could be laminated.
I've included a picture; does anyone know what might be wrong?
The recipe uses:
4 cups flour
2 tsp salt; 2 packages of dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1.5 cups warmed milk
.5 cups half and half
I haven't made a laminated dough in a while, but looked up the recipe. It describes the mixed dough as batter-like and says it will firm up when chilled, so it could be that patience and experience with it will prevail to good success. You mentioned an alternative recipe, how did it go?
Cathy
The other recipe went well. I won't post pictures because the end result was nowhere near the level I've seen here on this site but I'm happy that at least I ended up with croissants (and just enjoyed one with my coffee this morning)!
It's too much liquid. You'll end up with bready croissants. I divide 4 cups all-purpose flour by 3 to get 1 1/3 cups of liquid. It's a rough estimate of liquid to use. So maybe 1/3 cup warm water and 1 cup warm milk. The ratio I use for croissants is 3 cups of all-purpose flour to 1 cup unsalted butter. I get less leakage of butter during baking with that amount. So the butter you might be using for 4 cups all-purpose flour is 1 1/3 cups unsalted butter. When pouring liquids into the flour mixture, I recommend gradually pouring and kneading. You don't want to pour liquid all at once because the flour might not need that much liquid. If the dough is too dry, you can gradually add liquids by teaspoonfuls.
I recommend laminating right after forming the dough. Don't let the dough rise before lamination, or you may end up with bready croissants.
Lazybaker, thank you. After comparing it to other recipes, I did think it was too much liquid. Was I supposed to take the amount as just a guide? I'm just surprised because it seemed like Clayton has a very good bread baking reputation.
Do you chill your dough first, after making it but prior to laminating?
Yes, I do chill the dough prior to laminating and after incorporating the dough ingredients. The dough should be firm as the chilled malleable butter.
Form dough into a ball. Flatten ball into a disk. Wrap disk of dough in plastic wrap. Chill for 5 to 10 minutes in freezer. Roll out dough to encase butter. Wrap the entire thing in plastic and return to freezer for 10 minutes. Take out to roll and laminate.
I always use a chilled dough to make my croissants. it will make the dough feel drier and makes it easier for the lamination. also, it will prevent the yeast from rising the dough too much while you work. if it gets too warm, i stick it in the freezer for a few minutes before and then fold and roll again. you dont want it frozen, just firm. such that you can fold it without cracking but takes a little effort to roll it together after a fold. also remember that different flours absorb water differently so sometime you cannot follow a recipe exactly and have to know by feel.
"also remember that different flours absorb water differently so sometime you cannot follow a recipe exactly and have to know by feel."
And also remember that ambient room temperature, altitude, and humidity can also affect how much water you need. That sounds complex, but you only need a little practice to come to terms with it all.
My tie on your photo is that you had a good dough but needed more kneading. Butter-enriched doughs are VERY sticky at first, but come together beautifully after 3-5 minutes of hand-kneading. Can I suggest you take a quick peek at some online videos of master patisseries at work making croissants? They'll give you a very good idea of the dough you are aiming for. Here's one (in English):
http://www.brunoskitchen.net/bread/croissant-taste-of-paris.html.
And there are many more.
Above all, you need to chill your dough throughly. The standard practice is to shape it into a rectangle, chill for at least 30 minutes, do your first lamination turn (with chilled butter), chill again for another thirty minutes and so on until you're done. It's a time-consuming process but the only way to be sure you get all those lovely flaky layers.
If you work with a pastry slab or board, chill that too. If you have a bag of frozen peas, it's a great way to chill your workbench down - just plonk it down with a couple of tea towels on top to make sure the peas don't thaw too fast. Some people (me) even chill their rolling pin between turns. But only on very hot days.
Thanks for your comments and I like the suggestion about watching some videos.
The dough in the photo above didn't have any butter in it yet. I didn't hand knead it much but it had been under the dough mixer for quite awhile.
The second recipe I used came together much better and I did chill it before and during the lamination process.