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While you can totally rock a beret while kneading, creating a perfectly authentic French croissant is difficult in New Mexico. And it’s not just because of the temperature, the humidity and the altitude. There is an unfortunate shortage of French bakers in the state.
Those dry six-pack bags of croissants you buy from Walmart suck, says Aude Laau, a baker in charge of production at the Le French Paris Bakery in town. Laau studied baking in Paris before moving to Albuquerque 15 years ago.
The Daily Lobo caught up with her at the weekly Lobo Growers Market on campus Wednesday, and Laau shared techniques on how to achieve the perfect breakfast pastry with a certain “je ne sais quoi.”
Step 1: Dough
Genius lies in the basics, Laau said, and a croissant dough should only be composed of flour, sugar, water and yeast. She also adds some salt to balance the sweetness. Unlike other pastry doughs, eggs don’t belong in a croissant because it makes it dense. And don’t add the butter just yet.
Knead the ingredients together and let rest for about 2 1/2 hours for a pan of dough. The amount of time the dough needs to rest varies, though. When it’s rainy and more humid, the dough rises faster, Laau said.
Step 2: Folding
Folding the dough is the technical part of the art of croissant making, Laau said. Once rested, flatten the dough with a rolling pin and do a basic wallet fold, she said. Flatten the dough and fold it again for a double wallet fold. Add the butter. Continue doing double folds, which means continuously multiplying the number of layers by four, by flattening and folding repeatedly.
Normally, bakers get content with 32 or 64 layers for their croissants. If you want to be an overachiever like Laau, take it one step further and make 128 layers to make it flakier. Once done, let the dough rest in a cool, dry area for three to six hours.
Step 3: Shaping
Once ready, flatten the dough again into a 5 millimeter sheet.
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Measuring differentiates European from American baking, she said, so make sure your dough is up to French standards. Shape small triangles from the flattened dough. Laau said that in France, the triangles should weigh 65 grams, but she said that because everything is bigger in America, she ensures that triangles weigh 70 grams instead.
Starting from the base, roll the triangles into the shape of a croissant. Patience is key here, Laau said, because you’ll have to let the future croissant pieces rest again for “a couple of hours” so they can rise. A little caveat: “If you over-puff, it fails. It collapses if there’s too much bubble inside,” Laau said.
Step 4: Baking
Laau normally bakes her croissants in a French oven at Le French Paris. But in a normal oven, she said pastry should be baked at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and you just have to watch until they’re golden brown and ready.
Bakers can glaze or ice croissants to their liking after they’re out of the oven. But Laau eats it the French way with just butter. “I like the product natural,” she said. “I don’t like it oversweet.”
Step 5: Storing
To keep croissants fresh, wrap them in saran wrap and store in a warm place, Laau said. If the weather is hot, croissants won’t go stale for around six hours, but if conditions are less harsh, croissants stay fresh for more than 12, she said.
