Page 55 - FoodFocusThailand No.201 December 2022

SCOOP

The modern croissant was developed in the early 20
th
century when French bakers replaced the brioche dough of
the Kipferl with a yeast-leavened laminated dough. In the
late 1970s, the development of factory-made, frozen,
preformed but unbaked dough made them into a fast food
that could be freshly baked by unskilled labor. As of 2008,
30 - 40% of the croissants sold in French bakeries and
patisseries were baked from frozen dough.
Croissants are pure emotion. To make a croissant,
everything must be matched perfectly: crumbs, leafing, and
high-quality ingredients. The shape, filling, and size are
parameters that can be perfected on a machine that is gentle
on the dough – whether making a 20-gram mini croissant or
a 120-gram giant. Chocolate, fruit, chicken, or ham and
cheese are all suitable fillings. The wealth of possible shapes
and variants enriches every product range.
The First Step of manufacturing croissants is the time can range from 10 to 20 minutes and the oven temperature
“predough” formation. To prepare predough, flour, water, can be set anywhere from 165 °C to 205 °C.
in-dough fat, yeast, salt, and sugar are mixed together in a The Final Steps are the cooling and storage of the
single step. Typically, croissant predough is mixed in a croissant. Croissants are generally not stored for very long and
relatively cool environment for a longer time than other are typically consumed soon after baking.
pastries. The ideal temperature of the dough should be Take a delightfully fragrant croissant, put it with fresh butter
around 19 °C to best hydrate the ingredients. and jam, and voilà – you’ve got the archetype of French delicacy.
The Second Step is the lamination process. Lamination Although, the croissant is not as French as it seems. Croissants
is necessary to produce multilayered dough with alternating can be spicy, classically buttery, or filled with a special filling.
layers of predough and fat. Croissant dough is typically Thanks to their versatility and the multitude of different creations
laminated until 16–50 fat layers are obtained. The optimal possible, there is a croissant to suit every pastry lover’s personal
number of layers can be determined by balancing certain taste. But in all their variety, they have one thing in common:
crumb properties with specific volumes. On one hand, a low their production is almost identical.
number of layers yields large specific heights as well as
irregular crumb structures with large voids. On the other
hand, a large number of relatively thin layers leads to
interconnection between different dough layers as well as
less dough lift. More Information Service Info C008
After lamination, the dough is formed into its famous
crescent shape. First, the laminated dough is cut into triangles
of the desired size. The triangles are then rolled with three-
and-a-half to four full turns, and finally, the ends of the roll
are curved inwards to form a crescent.
The Third Step is the fermentation process. Croissants
are different from other puff pastries in that they include yeast,
which, during proofing, increases the dough volume. Ideally,
the optimum croissant quality is achieved at a yeast level of
7.5%, with a proof time of 60 minutes at 31 °C. The
croissants are finished proofing when the dough has
expanded two-and-a-half times its original volume.
The Fourth Step is the baking process. Also known as
“pastry lift” or “dough lift”, the dough expands as water is
converted to steam, thus increasing the pressure between
each dough layer. As a result, the croissant dough rises up
to yield its characteristic flaky texture. Depending on the type
of oven used and specific size of the croissant, the baking

DEC 2022 FOOD FOCUS THAILAND 55

22/11/2565 BE 17:03
53-55_Scoop_Multivac.indd 55 22/11/2565 BE 17:03
53-55_Scoop_Multivac.indd 55