Croissants are Hard: A Cooking Class Story

The second day Paris, we did a cooking class. This time, everyone was part of it.

From the title, you probably guessed it, we made croissants. They are simultaneously easier and harder than I thought they would be. We did the cooking class at La Cuisine Paris.

The cooking class occurred in the basement because it needed to be cool to prevent the butter from melting. There were 9 people, including Chef Audrey. She was very intelligent and knew everything you would need to know. She was very well educated and worked in many Michelin star restaurants.

Other than the traditional butter croissants, we made Pain au Chocolat (chocolate croissant), a chocolate twist, and a raisin roll.

We started the class off with making pastry cream. This is something I would make again. This recipe is very straight forward. You mix sugar and corn starch and an egg in a mixing bowl and heat up heavy cream in the sauce pan. Once the cream comes to a light boil, then you slowly pour the cream into the egg mixture while mixing vigorously. Once it is all mixed and if the egg didn’t scramble, then you pour the mixture into the pot again and wisk until you get one bubble form and then take it off the heat, taste it, spread it on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and then put in the fridge.

Turns out, if your plastic wrap has a blue hue to it, it is heat safe. If it has a pink/purple hue to it, it is not.

We worked backwards in the class, so we ended with making the dough. When you make croissant dough, you have to let it rest for 24 hours. We did make the dough at the end of class but we did not use it and I’m pretty sure they threw it all out because it sucked.

So to start the class, we used pre made dough to roll out the various shapes. Not everyone did this. We had 6 batches of pre made dough so also everyone got to make/cut a separate shape. We learned how to roll out the dough to the proper shape and thickness. You do not want to over roll your dough. If you make the layers too thin then the butter and the dough may fuse and you get brioche, not croissants.

So the chef and someone else in the class made for the triangles and then we all got one. You cut a 1cm slit in the base of the triangle and then spread the two ends apart so you get an Eiffel Tower, then you roll and get a croissant.

Then, they were covered with some egg wash and left in the oven to proof. The proofing temperature is also important because you do not want the butter to melt.

Apparently, the shape of the croissant tells you something. A straight croissant means it was made with only butter. A curved croissant means it was made with butter and margarine.

Ever wonder why croissants and butter taste better in France? that’s because there is more fat in it. I don’t remember the each percentages but I think French butter is 80-87% fat and the American butter is closer to 70% fat.

Next, Graham and Ty were voluntold to make the next two croissants, chocolate twists and raisin rolls respectively. First, you roll the dough out to the proper rectangle size. Then for Ty’s, he put some egg wash on the top and then both him and Graham cover the surface of the dough with the pastry cream. Then Ty tops his with raisins and Graham topped his with chocolate chips.

Then they rolled them into their respective shapes, brushed with egg wash and left tin the oven to proof.

With all the excess dough, we put into a scrap bowl and them made cinnamon rolls. Take the dough and make a long strip. Dunk the dough in water and then roll in a cinnamon sugar mixture and then tie it and put it into a muffin tin. The water allows the sugar to caramelize and not burn.

While the various rolls were proofing, we tried to make our own dough. I forgot to mention, at the beginning of class, we shaped some butter into a rectangle sheet and it was hardening in the fridge.

So back to the dough. We start with flour, sugar, and salt and you make a big well on the counter. It is important to measure everything with a scale because the ratios are very important. Then, we crumble some fresh yeast into the middle of the well. The take a mixture of water and melted butter and slowly mix the drys and liquids together like pasta.

Once it is all combined, use the bench scrapper to make a shaggy dough. Once it is combined, you will used your hands to make a dough. Once you get a ball and all the flour is combined, then we need to develop the gluten. This means the continue to rip dough over and over again until it becomes elastic and then slap it on the table. Once you can stretch the dough and see the gluten networks in the light, then it is ready.

Net, we shape it into a ball, cut an X into it, and then open the corners so it is a square. Then we roll out the dough into the right shape and this is where it gets hard. The shape is very important because when you start folding the dough, if there is too much excess, then there may be pockets of no butter and the whole thing is a disaster. Everyone in the class, including myself, rolled my dough into a shape that was too big. So you have this rectangle and then you add the butter sheet and then you fold the dough then roll it and then fold it again then roll it and then fold it and boom you have a beautiful croissant dough.

This is not easy and a few things can go wrong. The butter can come out of the dough and it spill and then you cant used it. The dough can stick to the counter, rip, and then butter melts and goes every where can you cant used it. The shape is wrong and the butter melts in the layers so you cant use it… so many things and we all made mistakes.

I am not sure if i will ever do this at home because it is so much work for not a lot of croissants but it was great to learn. We all had a great time. The croissants baked and we enjoyed them with some tea.

My (Camryn’s) favorited was the raisin one. Ty liked the chocolate or the raisin one the best and Graham like the twist.