Croissants p.164 / 165

Have patience because the end results definitely justify the means ...
They took, because I left them to prove overnight rather stay up very late, nearly 24 hours but can be made in 18 hours.

So it needs time, patience and of course a lot a love -  make everything with love.

Buttery - a Sunday breakfast or indeed Saturday ... Christmas Day or Boxing Day ... birthday ... any special occasion or just pure indulgence - and we all need some of that don't we ...

This recipe used a dough hook on the mixer and so I did just that mixing the flour, salt & sugar, yeast and cool water - on a slow speed for, as Paul suggests 2 minutes, then for 6 minutes creating a fairly stiff dough.

Will be back but the Bradford City v Swansea City game is calling ... back at 0-3.

The dough hook doing its work :

 

The tight ball of dough -

 

which is then placed into a plastic bag and chilled in the fridge for an hour.

 

After an hour the dough needs to be rolled into a rectangle 60cms X 20cms.

 

The butter needs to be beaten into a rectangle 40cms X 19cms - I did this between two layers of parchment paper.

 

I then positioned the butter onto the bottom two thirds foldinbg over the top and then cutting the butter and placing half of it on the exposed dough of the third I had folded over.

That gave me a good square and I pinched the edges enclosing the butter.

 

I had a sandwich of dough, butter, dough, butter and dough.

I then put it a platic bag and put it back in the fridge for anothet hour to harden the softening butter.

 

After the hour take out the dough and with the short edge facing you roll out a rectangle 60cms X 20cms.  Next fold up one third and then the top third down, forming a neat square. Paul Hollywood refers to this as a single turn.

 

Put the doughback into the plastic bad and return to the fridge to chill for another hour.

 

Repeat that stage two more times, remembering to return it to the fridge for an hour after each 'turn'.

 

You now have to leave the dough in the frige for 8 hours or indeed as I did overnight so that it can rest and rise slightly.

 

Once you are ready to staft the shaping of the croiussants line 2 - 3baking trays with baking parchment or silicone paper - this is so the dough does not stick.

 

Put the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a rectangle so that it measures just a little over 42cms X 30cms - and about 7mm in thickness.  Using a pizza cutter or very sharp knife trim the edges.

 

Cut the rectangle into 2 strips lengthways.

Next cut triangles measuring 12cms at their base and 15cms high :



 

 

Before you roll up each trainagle hold onto the wide base and gently pull ... tug the opposite end so that you create a little tension in the dough.  Now roll up starting at the wide end  ... you should end up with 12 croissants .... I used the little over pieces and rolled them up too.

 



(Swansea just won 0-5 !  Hooray !!)

 

Place them onto the lined baking traces, spacing them becasue they will rise. 



 

 

With the croissant shaped dough on the lined trays put the trays into clean plastic bags and leave them at cool room temperature for 2 hours until they have doubled in size. The book suggests a temperature between 18 -24 C.

Heat your oven to 220C / gas mark 7.

Lightly brush them with a mix of beaten egg and a pinch of salt on the tops and sides.
Bake them for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Voila !
Now at this point I just couldn't resist so tried one as it came out of the oven ...OMG ... WOW !
Then I resisted the temptation in front of me ( and the rugby international calling at the local rugby club !!!) put them onto the cooling rack and left them.

I returned a little later and took two up to Sarah & Wyn Jenkins - stalwart members of my tasting panel.  I had another as did my daughter - gave three to my sister, had another two for Sunday morning breakfast which I first heated up in the oven - as did my daughter ... too good to keep - they went .... so yummishly good.

 

 

So go on .... take a bite ... don't resist the temptation - give into it ... and savour every mouthful :)

 

My next venture will be sourdough bread ...p.130 -132 & 142/143

Wholemeal loaf p.40 / 41

Made this sooner than I planned since the bread in our  bread had gone mouldy :( but the result was why don't I always bake my own bread ?

So wholesome.

I also found out today you can use sweet chestnuts (not horse chestnuts - conkers) to make a flour ...wow, and the seeds of the sedge plant can also be used to make flour.

So I made the dough first thing this morning before going out using a combination of strong wholemeal and stron white - added to crerate a lightness and athe recipe also states more white flour / less wholemal can be added to make the trexture more delicate.

The poured the flours into a large bowl :

 

 Then added softened unsalted butter :

 

to which I also added the easy bakle yeast and salt keeping them separate.  Then I added some of the luke warm water ... about 3/4 then added the rest as I mixed it, again with my hands.  You may not need to add all of the water though may need to add more - depends on the flour and how absorbant it it.  Don't let the mix get soggy and sloppy.

This is the dough once all ingredients have been incorporated but before kneading. :

You need to lightly oil a deep bowl - I used the same one :

 



Put the keaded ball of dough into the bowl - cover it with a clean teatowel and leave it for at least 1 hour maybe 2-3  ... I left for 4 :)

Et volia !

 

Before tipping it our of the bowl I lined a baking tray with parchment paper :

 

 

 

I then rolled the dough into a sausage shape to approx. 30 cms long.  Next I tied into a knot  and placed onto the baking tray and then placed it into a plastic bag.  I then left it to prove for 1 hour.

 

With 20 minutes to go I  pre-heated the oven to 220 degree / gas mark 7.

 

The tray was then placed into the pre-heated oven.

 

It needs to be cooked for 30 minutes  - you can tell it is done by its crispy outer and if it sounds hollow when tapped at the base.

 

The cut loaf :

 

Making your own bread - there's nothing quite like it - go on try it ...

 

 

Gorgonzola, Pear and Walnut Bakes p.94/95

Over dinner tonight ... home made chicken & ham pasty, Tracy picked this one and as a result have recruited a new member to my tasting panel.

It will be good to see if these could be added to the menu for her 50th birthdsay celebrations in the summer. I now have Mondays project - it's good to have tasty delights to look forward to .... see you then :)

Well chosen Tracy Anstee !  

I made the bread dough first thing this morning using the same technique as the dried cherries & roquefort bread : use your hands because your sense of  touch is far more accurate  rather than sight when using a mixer.  Once your have formed your ball of dough and all the mix has been been included - sides of the clean - tip it out onto a lightly floured board :

 Knead it for 5-10 minutes until you have a ball of dough which has a smooth outer "skin".
Place it into a lightly oiled deep bowl and place a clean tea towel over it and,let it prove over 1 - 3 hours until it has at least doubled in size.  I, infact, left it longer since I was doing other thiongs including the sourcing of gorgonzola .... maybe 5 hours ...

Of course having sourced  gorgonzola ... Sainsbury's ... there were two types : dolce and piccante - hmmmm - which one ? Well the Silver Fox didn't state which one so a combo ! Soft, creamy and light : dolce, mixed with a harder - though a soft edge to it, more intense or deeper taste : piccante.

 

As you can see the dough rose well but you must not knock the air out of it in the next stage.
To remove I was going to use this "paddle" :

but didn't need to since the bowl had been lightly oiled and it tipped out easily onto my slab of marble on my work top.

I then lined two baking trays with baking parchment.



 

Pre-heat the oven at 220 or gas mark 7.

 

 



 

I then rolled the dough into a rectangle approx. 2.5 cms thick with the long edge infront of me - making the egde near me was tacked to the work surface.

 

 

I chopped up the gorgonzola into smallish pices and smashed (whacked them in a plastic food bvad witha rolling pin - a very therapeutic action for those who have a had a bad day at the office - better a split food bag of walnuts than a day in the office !) the walnuts into small pieces.  I peeled, cored and cut up te pears too into think small slices :



I then scattered the cheese over the rectangle and thern added the smashed walnut pieces.

Next I rolled the dough and contents into a sausage shape ensuring the edge was firmly attached to the long roll :

 

I rolled the sausage shape to ensure the dough stuck together.
Using a sharp knife I then cut out 3cms pieces - I got 10 good size pieces , the book says 15 ...  ooops :/ I placed them onto the two lined baking trays.

 

 

 I then placed the two baking trays into a plastic beg and let it prove for 30 minutes.  Last of all before placing them into the oven I placed two pieces of pear into each 'bak'e, sprinkled them lightly with flour and put them into the pre-heated oven.

Cook for 15 -20 minutes - mine took 25 ... until golden brown and of course cookred through - the botton when tapped should sound hollow - that's what I was told by Mrs. Morris - my Domestic Science teacher at Olchfa Comprehensive School '73-'75.

Voila !

Yet another one you'll have to make unless you're on my tasting panel - always looking for new members - indeed I recruited today.

So next will be wholemeal bread and croissants - Normandy butter ready and waiting :)
.

Puff pastry p.283/283 & Pithivier p.285/285

Puff pastry followed by pithivier using the prepared puff pastry.

So I will be learning the basics of making puff pastry ... which will have to wait until Friday ... you should always have something to look forward to ...

Mmmmm - Friday came and I was up to eye balls in cake batter making last minute cakes for friends - so it is postponed until Sunday / Monday - and that is a definite date - an early Valentine get together for me and my readers :)  I live such a romantic lifestyle X

It's Sunday evening and I finally get the flour into the fridge to chill as instructed in the method ... so we wait for the chilling to complete which is reminding me to chill a little too and so I will once dinner has been dished up ... the day needs more hours to it - but it's all relative to age - will be back with photos too :)

Flour chilled - I used as stated in the recipe strong plain flour - I do believe Paul Hollywood uses Allinsons and he's right because quality goods do make a difference - and plain flour :

 

 

I mixed it, by hand, with a pinch of salt, two large eggs and 100mls of cold water to form a ball of dough.  This is a lovely relaxing way of mixing ingredients - turning from a wet gloopy mix to a ball of dough which initially is sticky and does stick to your fingers.  I then took it out of the bowl and  I then kneaded for 5-10 minutes which resulted in quite a tight ball :

I then put the dough into a plastic bag :

 and have just placed it into the fridge to really rest and chill overnight ( or at least 7 hours ).
Tomorrow awaits ... Monday arrived and so did other cooking commitments so the chilling took longer than anticipated  however puff pastry on its way :)

So I took my chilled unsalted butter and placed between two sheets of cling film - but be aware the cling film may tear, so makes sure there are no stray pieces of cling film sticking to the butter.

Flatten in with a rolling pin to approx. 40 cms X 19 cms.  Then place it covered with cling film back into the fridge to chill for an hour.

After that time get out your pastry dough and on a lightly floured surface roll it out to approx 60 cms X 20 cms.  The place your flattened butter onto the top two thirds ensuring it is placed just inside the edges :

 Fold the bottom third up and then the top third down - you have a sandwich of thre layers of pastry and two of butter.  Ensure the edges are sealed. Place back into the bag and then into the fridge for 1 hour.

After the hour remove the pastry dough from the fridge and roll it out into a rectangle keeping the edges as even as possible. 

 

 This time fold the bottom quarter up and top quarter down :

 

then fold along the middle line so top and bottom meet - this is known as a book turn :



 

Place it back into a plastic bag and once place it the fridge for another hour.

Once more take the pastry dough out of the fridge :

 Again, with the short edge facing you, roll into a rectangle and fold up the bottom third and top third down.  This a single turn - place it back into the bag and then into the fridge overnight.

 

Tomorrow - the Pithivier.

So we get to Tuesday and the Pithivier.

Grease and line your baking tray with parchment or greaseproof paper.

 



Now cream the butter and caster sugar. then add the eggs and orange zest - then fold in the ground almonds and flour.

 

 

Roll out half of the pastry until it is 3mm in thickness ... maybe I should say thinness ...

then using a large dinner plate as your template cut a disc 28 cms in diameter.

Place it on your baking tray and then put the filling you made onto the disc or pastry but leaving a 2cm border which you must brush with egg wash.



 

 

 

Now roll out thre top exactly as you did the bottom circle and place it over the top - press the edges so they are set firmly together.

 

Place it in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

 

 Heat your oven in the meantime to 220 - gas mark 6/7.  Brush the pastry with the remaining egg wash and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

You may find that some of the butter leeches out (reduced fat pastry!) but maybe this shouldn't happen - I'll continue to work on this.

Let the pithivier cool then dust it with icing sugar (confectioner's sugar in the USA).

Then cut yourself a slice for QC (Quality Control).

 

 It is, as I say sooooo moreish .. maybe another slice :)