Baking Challenges

For a long time I have been wanting to try baking croissants at home. Every time I've watched a cooking show on food network or PBS that featured enriched breads, specifically croissants, I watch very carefully to see what exactly makes these dainty treats so difficult to make. Luckily, after reading many recipes and blogs, I realized there are 2 things you need to be careful with when making croissants:

• Keep the dough cold! Your croissants will have a flakier crust as a result.
• Be careful with your measurements. I have a ruler in the kitchen so that I could roll the butter and dough out in specific square and rectangular shapes.

Normally I am not too picky on measurement because I like to have fun in the kitchen and not worry to much about the little things. But  it made a big different in terms of timing how long I needed to keep the dough chilled when I was trying to roll it out and fold it back up. To make it easy, I used a pencil, ruler, and parchment paper to know the exact shape I wanted to dough to be when I rolled, folded, and cut the dough to make the croissant shapes. It made my life a lot easier, and I cannot wait to try this again during the holidays.

If you want to tackle croissants or other bread items, below are cookbooks I would recommend, and you can find them in the Cooking Neighborhood here at the library.

• The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook: 2000 recipes from 20 years of America's most trusted food magazine
• Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson
• The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The all purpose baking handbook
• Bread: a baker's book of techniques and recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman
• The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum