Croissant

Baking the perfect croissant--golden and astonishingly light for its size, with crisply defined layers of flaky pastry--may seem beyond the reach of home bakers,

But success is at hand when you borrow secrets from professional baker Jean Lapuyade and associates at the Fabrique Delices Bakery, San Mateo, California.

For distinctive, crisp layers and high, light croissants, you need to fortify bread flour with a touch of glutten flour (both flours are available in supermarkets); this gives the dough just a little more stretch and strength. The pros also careful to keep the dough relatively moist, adding as little flour as possible when handling it; they also prefer to mis by machine rather than knead by hand to develop elasticity.

The croissant recipe given here is one of more than 190 excellent recipes for the home baker in Sunset's newly revised 128-page Breads (lane Publishing Co., 1984; $5.95). Many of the 24 color pages are devoted to clearly presented how-to-do-it instructions. Five of the seven chapters deal with yeast breads, including sourdough; one is devoted to griddle and fried breads, and one to quick breads. Special features include a troubleshooting guide, a discussion of flours and grains, and a section on baking in quantity. Croissants

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (about 110[deg.]) 3/4 cup warm milk (about 110[deg.])

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup gluten flour

2-1/4 cups bread flour

1 cup (1/2 lb.) unsalted butter

1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon milk

Almond or fruit filling (optional)

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in milk, sugar, salt, and gluten flour . Gradually add 2 cups of the bread flour; beat with a heavy-duty mixer for 5 minutes on high speed (or beat vogorously by hand for 15 minutes) until dough is elastic and pulls away sides of bowl in stretchy strands. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1-2 hours.

Srape dough out onto a lightly floured baking sheet; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate untol very cold, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cut butter into 1/8-inch-thich slices and place in a single layer on a baking sheet covered with waxed paper. Chill until very cold.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon flour on a cool surface (a board or smooth counter). Roll out dough to form a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle. Arrange butter slices, slight Roll out dough to form a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle. Arrange butter slices, slightly overlapping, in center third of dough rectangle (step 1). Fold each extending side over butter and roll out again (step 2) until rectangle is about 3/8 inch thick. If necessary while rolling, turn dough over occasionally, flouring the surface lightly to prevent sticking; use as little flour as possible.

Fold dough in thirds again to make a squarish rectangle (step 3). Roll and fold dough again the same way. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes.

Two more times, roll and fold dough as directed above, then wrap and refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes.

Roll dough into a rectangle 1/8 inch thick. Cut into triangles about 6 inches at base and 8 inches at sides (step 4). If filling (recipes follow) is desired, center a 3-inch log of almond filling or 1 tablespoon fruit filling along base of eacg triangle. Roll triangles up from base to point (step 5) and place, point down, on 2 ungreased 14-by 17-inch baking sheets; croissants should be about 1-1/2 inches apart all around. Curve ends inward to form a crescent shape. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise in az warm place until doubled and very puffy, about 2 hours.

Brush each croissant gently with egg yolk mixture. Bake in a 400[deg.] oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot, or transfer to racks and let cool. Makes about 16 croissants.

Almond filling. In a blender or food processor whirl 1/3 cup unblanched whole almonds until finely ground. Stir in 1/3 cup each all-purpose flour and powdered sugar. Using food processor or a fork, work in 1/3 cup firm unslated butter and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.

Fill each croissant with 1 tablespoon filling rolled into a 3-inch log. After brushing croissant with egg yolk mixture, sprinkle with slice almonds.

Fruit filling. Fill each croissant with 1 tablespoon canned fruit pie filling (such as apple, cherry, blueberry, or peach). Bake as directed; if desired, sift powdered sugar over tops while still hot.

The Ultimate Croissant

To make larger, more dramatic-looking croissants, follow preceding directions, but cut 8 triangles instead of 16. Make the triangles 8 inches at the base and 10 inches on the other two sides (you'll need to piece together 2 of the croissants).

Continue as directed.

To fill with almond filling, prepare half the filling as directed, using 2-1/2 tablespoon each whole almonds, all-purpose flour, powdered sugar, and unsalted butter. Use 1/8 teaspoon almond extract.

Serve croissant hot or cool. To reheat, place them on a ungreased baking sheet (11 by 14 in.) bake, uncovered, in a 325[deg.] oven until warm, about 10 minutes.

Croissant

Recipe Croissant #1 -- Basic 1 cup milk 1 tbsp butter (first amount) 1 tbsp sugar 1 tsp salt 1 pkg dry yeast 1/4 cup warm water 2 1/2 cup unbleached flour 1 cup cold butter (second amount) Combine milk, first amount of butter, sugar and salt in a small pot and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. While mixture is cooling, dissolve the yeast in the water and add it to the milk. Place the liquid in a mixer and add the flour. Using the dough hook, mix until the dough is elastic and sticky. Place in a bowl, cover and let rise until double in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Place in refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes. While recipe croissant dough is chilling, soften the remaining cold butter by pounding with a rolling pin. Roll the dough on a floured board to form a 1/4-inch thick rectangle. Spread the butter over 2/3 of the rectangle closest to you. Fold the unbuttered third over the center third. Then fold the bottom 1/3 over the doubled portion. Swing the dough around a quarter turn. Roll it again into a 1/4-inch thick oblong. Fold again in thirds. Cover the dough and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours or more. When the dough is chilled, remove from the refrigerator and repeat the folding and turning twice more. Then roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness once more. Cut the dough into 3-inch squares then cut the squares on the bias to form two triangles. Roll each triangle beginning with the wide side, then shape the rolls into crescents. Place on baking sheets such as the Cuisinart Chef's Classic Nonstick Baking Sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave enough room for each croissant to triple in size. Chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator before baking. Preheat oven to 400F. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F and continue to bake another 15 minutes. Remove recipe croissant from the oven. Cool and enjoy.

Recipe Croissant #2 -- an Easy Recipe

1 cup warm milk
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp yeast
1 cup flour
3/4 cup milk at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar (second amount)
1 beaten egg
1/2 cups melted and cooled butter
4 cups flour
1 cup cold butter (second amount)
1 egg beaten with cold water for wash

Stir warm milk and sugar together. Add yeast then let stand 10 minutes. Stir well. Add flour; beat well. Add milk, sugar and egg. Beat until smooth. Add butter; beat and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, place the 4 cups of flour and the chilled butter. Cut butter into flour until pieces are the size of beans (not too small). Pour the liquid batter into the flour mixture; stir until moistened. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Remove from refrigerator. Press into a compact ball on a floured board and divide into 4 parts. Roll each into a circle 12" or 16". Cut each circle into 6 or 8 pie-shaped wedges. For each croissant, roll a wedge towards the point. Shape into a crescent and place on ungreased baking sheet. Let rise at room temperature until doubled. This could take in excess of two hours.

Brush each with egg beaten with cold water. Preheat oven to 400 F. Place croissants in oven. Lower temperature to 350 F and bake recipe croissant for 15 - 20 minutes until golden.

Recipe Croissant #3 -- Whole Wheat

2 tbsp yeast
1 1/2 tbsp honey
3/4 cup warm water (first amount)
2 cup butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 egg
1/2 cup water (second amount)
1 tbsp water

Combine yeast and warm water, stirring to dissolve yeast. Let sit about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 of flour; add water and honey; whisk until smooth. Cover bowl and let stand 1 1/2 hours.

Combine remaining flour with butter, and flatten butter pieces. Pour yeast batter into flour mixture; fold together with spatula; just moisten flour without breaking butter pieces.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Pat dough down and roll into a 18" x 12" rectangle; if too sticky, sprinkle with flour. Use a metal spatula to fold 1/3 of dough toward center; then fold from other side, 1/3 of dough over first 1/3. Lift folded dough off work surface, and scrape surface clean. Sprinkle work area with flour and repeat, rolling and folding 3 more times. Dough must be hard; if not, freeze for 45 minutes.

Pat dough into rectangle. Cut into 6 equal parts. Each part will make 4 croissants. You will work with one piece at a time, and hold others in refrigerator until ready to use. Roll each piece individually into 5 1/2" x 14" rectangles. Cut into two 5 1/2" x 7" pieces. Cut each piece diagonally to form 4 triangles; roll from wide end to point. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Curve ends to crescent shape.

Beat egg with water to form a wash; brush croissants with this and set them aside 1 hour. Wash again with the egg/water mixture. Bake at 375 degrees until puffed and brown. Let cool and serve.