Croissant

As tradition built it

Makes 8. About 2 days, mostly resting.

Ingredients

• 500 g strong white flour (T55 or equivalent)
• 10 g salt
• 55 g sugar
• 10 g fresh yeast
• 300 ml cold water or milk
• 50 g soft butter, for the dough
• 250 g cold, high-fat butter (84%+), for laminating

Method

1. Make a simple enriched dough with the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, cold water or milk and soft butter. Chill overnight.
2. Roll the dough into a rectangle. Place the cold laminating butter, beaten into a flat block, over two thirds of it, then fold to encase it completely.
3. Roll out and fold in thirds (a single turn), then chill 30 minutes. Repeat this three times in total, always chilling between turns, working in a cold kitchen throughout so the butter never softens enough to smear into the dough rather than staying in distinct sheets.
4. Roll out thin, cut into triangles, and roll each into a crescent. Prove in a warm place until visibly puffed, 1 to 2 hours.
5. Bake at 200°C for 15 to 18 minutes, until deeply golden.

What a modern chef changes

Temperature control held far more precisely at every stage

Rung 6

Method

1. Laminate on a chilled marble or steel surface, rather than a standard worktop, which stays cold far longer under the rolling pin's friction and buys real extra working time before the butter starts to soften.
2. Prove in a dedicated warm cabinet held at a controlled temperature (around 27°C) rather than "a warm place", for a far more consistent, repeatable rise than an ambient kitchen corner can offer.
3. Use a genuinely high-fat Charentes-Poitou pastry butter (84%+ fat) rather than a standard block, for cleaner, more distinct lamination layers and a noticeably better rise and shatter in the finished bake.