Croissants and Danish
Many of the same procedures and guidelines used for making a puff pastry are used for making croissants and Danish- the main difference is the yeast and in how they are folded and made up into individual pastries.
Guidelines for Laminated Yeast Doughs
- Laminated doughs should not be over mixed. The ingredients should be mixed into a smooth mass of dough without overdeveloping the gluten. Gluten development takes place mainly during the rolling-in process, rather than in mixing. If the dough is mixed too much, gluten is developed, and the dough will be hard to roll out. The final product will be tough and chewy. Laminated doughs can be mixed by hand or by machine on low speed with the paddle or hook. The paddle implement incorporates fats in the dough better. If using a dough hook, the gluten should be allowed to form a little, and then the fat is added.
- Laminated dough should be kept cold during folding and makeup for three important reasons: to keep the yeast activity down (making the dough easier to handle), to help relax the gluten strands, and to keep the roll-in fat in condition and maintained in its appropriate place. If the dough becomes warm, the roll-in fat will melt out from between the layers when laminating.
- As with puff dough, the dough and roll-inn fat should be of the same consistency. The reason for maintaining the same consistency is that when the product is baked, the layers of dough and roll-in fat should move together. If the dough is too stiff, the fat will melt, and the product will lose its flakiness.
- Enough dusting flour must be used to prevent dough from sticking to the table during the roll-in process, but it is important to brush the excess off the dough between each fold. If the flour is not removed, the dough will be tougher and not rise properly in the oven.
- When rolling the dough care must be taken that the structure of the layers is not ruptured with the use of too much force- the dough should be handled very gently during rolling and folding.
- Both croissant and Danish dough will be easier to work with if the dough is allowed to rest for several hours between the roll-in procedure and the actual makeup of the individual pastries.
- Knives and other tools needed to cut croissants and Danish must have sharp edges to cut the dough. A dull knife or cutter will press edges together and result in lower volume and uneven baking. The knife or cutter should be held at a sharp 90 degree angle so the edges of the dough remain perfectly straight for baking.
