baking architecture
Here's another attempt at crumb embellishment in croissants after an interesting cocoa experiment last week. Note the lower right croissant. The idea here is to have a bit of fun with the beautiful 'honeycomb' crumb that croissants produce (if done well). I wanted to see if a contrasting color could be incorporated into the lamination. The first attempt involved simply coating the dough in cocoa power and then performing the folds. That turned out to just complicate things as cocoa is so dry that nothing sticks. This time (after a suggestion by Leslie) I mixed up a separate dough with cocoa mixed in then added 3 layers to the usual 13 dough layer sheet. This improved the contrast and overall spring but seems to have caused the layers to bond during baking. All on all another fun little project (not sure what do try next though)
Comments
Here's the two dough version during final proof. Judging from what I saw I was a little more hopeful the final result would have turned out better - the three cocoa dough layers are pretty distinct but at the same time I think cocoa really disrupts yeast activity - this dough took forever to raise so it really just seems to have acted as a supression mechanism in the oven -
Did you do a search to see if cocoa does disrupt yeast activity? I know that tree bark based spices like cinnamon impede yeast growth. I would be curious to find out if cocoa is the same.
yep that's just about what i was going google - of it does then the question becomes how much yeast to add. Already these doughs with all the butter and sugar require a ton of yeast (as in 5-6%). Can't imagine increasing to compensate for cocoa. I think the next thing to try is cocoa butter but not sure how visually appealing that would be considering how it infuses everywhere - here's a shot of the separated layers mid-way through lamination and you can see how distinct the cocoa dough is -
maybe as Danni says. those layers look very distinct, shame he layers did that. was the dough feel very different?
Leslie
the single one that had the cocoa layer was just a dud. I tend to be a bit timid and try to use most of the batch for the things I am more confident will work out then reserve an off cut to perform such experiments and only had enough for one this time despite planning for 2. Out of a batch of say 6 regulars there's usually a dud that kind of collapsed on the inside like this so the more I think about it it may just be chance and perhaps trying a few more might reveal better results. As for the feel of the dough, it felt pretty normal just looked funky here's a pic -
as you say maybe just chance. so you will try again with a bigger batch? :)
looks interesting too.
Leslie
I'm curious how those bakeries make those bi-color croissants. Maybe you can learn something from them.
actually I posted this link on the prior name which shows a beautiful red berry layer and you can see that the additional color is applied rather thick - ie it's not incorporated until after the lamination has been completed. It seems that if you want more layers of contrast you need to laminate them kn to a degre but the problem is the other color becomes so thin it is hard to see - hence the reason this time I layered at the last fold. I was trying to get a thicker contrasting layer that the one on this article - https://ny.eater.com/2015/9/17/9345675/boulud-chocolate-raspberry-croissant