TCC, Day 43: Croissants

I started making croissants nine days ago. I started a levain from scratch. I thought levain was a special croissant thing, and then as I was re-reading instructions I realized it's just "starter" in French. So I started a starter nine days ago, only it was fancy because I called it levain.

I'm not convinced the starter is exactly right. It worked fine, but there's something about how it gets watery that may or may not be like it should be.

You feed the starter for at least five days, and then you're ready to start the croissants. You do a tiny step, refrigerate overnight, do a tiny step, refrigerate overnight. On the last two days, you do a tiny step, refrigerate for two hours, do a tiny step, refrigerate, etc.

When you make the dough, you also make a butter block. Softened butter formed into a perfect 7x7 square. I liked doing that.

When it comes time to start forming the croissants, you place the butter block on the square of dough and you fold it like origami. And you roll it out. Refrigerate. Origami. Roll it out. Refrigerate. Origami. For like two days. You get the picture.

Before you complete the final step to create the croissants, the dough has this really awesome layered look and you feel like you accomplished something very impressive.

At one point I misread the directions and did two steps in a row without refrigerating in between, but what was done was done. We went with it. The croissants were a little fatter than they should have been, and I think it was a result of my error.

Then they rise and you cook them and you say little prayers that nine days of croissant making aren't a total waste.

And then you have croissants!  Some of them look a little blobby rather than croissant-y, but I just put those on the bottom for the picture - problem solved!  They are bread-ier than I think they should be. Is that a thing? I wish I new if it was my starter or the step I missed. I'm thinking of getting another batch going and adding chocolate chips when I shape them. Even if they're still bready they'll also be chocolaty and that can't be bad.

Tomorrow for breakfast I shall have a made-from-scratch croissant with some honey and butter. It will be lovely.

In corona-related news, the governor announced today that some things will be opening up again on Friday with social distancing guidelines. Perhaps I'll talk about those tomorrow.

Today I wanted to talk about croissants.

The end.