Patisserie L'Amour Logo, QFS, Quality Foods Southland, New Zealand

CROISSANTS

GETTING THE BEST FROM OUR CROISSANTS

 

CROISSANT DOUGH – BLOCK AND SHEET

 

HANDLING AND CARE

Ensure the croissant dough  is properly thawed. This is best achieved by leaving it to thaw quietly, preferably in cold storage overnight or as long as required to reach an optimum 4°C.

 

Thaw only what is required and return remaining product back to freezer.

 

We recommend rolling out your Pâtisserie L’Amour croissant block in steps of 4 - 5mm to a thickness of 10 or 12mm. Turn the dough a few times so the shrinkage in the dough is distributed evenly. Continue to roll out in steps of 0.5 to 1 mm until dough is approximately  3mm thick.

 

Alternatively try our Pâtisserie L’Amour croissant sheet as it is pre-rolled to 3mm.

 

Cut and shape the croissant dough to create the desired product, working quickly and neatly for the best results.

 

BAKING

If direct baking, allow to rest, chilled for 30 minutes to prevent shrinkage.

 

Place the products in the proving cabinet for at least 60 minutes, at a temperature of 28 - 31°C with a humidity of about 75%. Bake in the oven at 230°C, for an average of 17 minutes and adding steam. The baking time, temperature and steam depend on the type of oven and product. This processing will give you the best results and the dough will retain its full volume.

 

NOT BAKING OFF TODAY?

Properly pack product prior to freezing to prevent drying. The colour and quality will then be guaranteed. This special croissant dough can be frozen one more time after processing, without any loss of quality.

 

When baking from the freezer, let the products thaw properly to about 4°C.

 

CROISSANTS - UN-PROVED

 

Un-proved croissants, also referred to as nuggets, have the appearance of a pastry sheet rolled into a narrow tube, with stepping . The dough contains live yeast, or improver which is activated by warm temperature and humidity  which are applied during the proving process.

 

The fact that the yeast is live dictates a shorter shelf life of around 6 months, if kept frozen at -18°C.

 

Proving is the most important step to produce quality croissants. This stage must be closely monitored. The prove  temperature must not exceed melting point of the rolled in butter  and ambient relative humidity must be in the range of 75–85%.

 

It is generally agreed that croissants need to expand to two-and-a-half times their original volume and, depending on temperature, this may take 1–3 hours. Under proving causes collapse of internal crumb structure.

 

CROISSANTS - Ready-to-bake PRE-PROVED

 

Pre-proved croissants have been proved at QFS, and frozen. As the yeast has already been activated pre-prove products have a longer frozen shelf life of 10-12 months.

Baking is very easy.

 

Preheat oven to 175-195°C.  Place product on lined baking tray, and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown with even pastry lift.

 

Jumbo croissants will take at least 25 minutes, with the smaller (e.g 25g) sizes 15-18 minutes, allowing for variation between ovens.

 

For best results, cook with steam.

DID YOU KNOW?

Croissants are thought to have originated in Austria. In 1683 when the Turks were secretly digging tunnels under Vienna to make a surprise attack on the city they were heard by bakers working early in the morning. The bakers who raised the alarm and saved Vienna from being defeated by the Turks then baked a special commemorative roll in the shape of the crescent, as seen on the Turkish flag.

Marie Antoinette introduced the roll to France where it became known as the croissant, the French word for crescent.