What I love most - It's the croissant day!!!

Last week was what I'd been looking forward to, making croissants. Wow...wasn't that g-r-e-a-t to finally make this goodie. My past experience is dated back 10 years (or more perhaps?) that I tried to make croissant out of a 20-lined recipe. Well...it was a total flop considering hot/humid weather in Bangkok that made the butter ran out in every possible ways starting from rolling and proofing. Now that I know a how-to, all I can say is that it's all about the little tips and techniques. Those who want to get start, I suggest you get a recipe here and see useful discussion here

Some observations.

- If you cannot source fresh yeast, use instant dry yeast, just weight up 33% of what required for fresh yeast.

- Coldness is your very best friend. If you live in the tropical, prep this in air-conditioning room. Or if not, use margarine instead of dry butter. I myself don't compromise for margarine as the after taste is not so pleasant. so, margarine is a no-no for me.

- Proofing the dough is tricky. Comfy temperature for yeast to grow is around 25-30 C. I would say 27 C to be precise. Also, at 27 C, butter stays nice and cold and is trapped in croissant layers. If you don't' want a soggy croissant dough, 25-27C is safe zone as butter melts nastily at around 32C.

- Rolling it a little tight. Press down gently as you roll would be a big help in making handsome croissants. I found out stretching the the tail while rolling is not necessary. But may be you can try both ways to see the difference.

I brought these goodies home. My sister and my mom just loved them, they raved about it for days. The crust was crispy and the crumb was soft and chewy. They said these are even better than the ones bought at the Oriental Hotel (one of our favorite bakery shops) and requested me to make this at home. Hey..hey, my arms are still aching from the class. Spare me, please! :-D Actually, I'm flattered, and of course , the school and the my pastry instructor should get the full creditability for this. Salute to them all.

Here are some variation you can make with croissant dough, decorating with pastry creme and fruits (in syrup). Nice, aren't they?