Cooked Apple Filling

This filling is very similar to a filling that you would make for a cooked fruit apple pie. Cooked fruit fillings allow you to control the liquid that is going into the product or that is going to interact with the dough.

Yield: 4#
48.5 oz  Apples, small dice (1/4")
4.75 oz  Water
4.75 oz  Sugar
1 oz       Cornstarch
1 whole Vanilla bean
4.75 oz  Butter

MOP: Cooked Fruit

• Heat sauce pan with a large portion of the butter (4 oz), bring the fruit to a softened white stage
• Dissolve the cornstarch in water. Add the dissolved starch into the fruit, return to a boil and cook until clear and thickened. Stir occasionally but you do not need to baby sit the pan while it cooks
• Add sugar and flavouring, stir until dissolved. Taste to adjust flavour
• Mount with butter
• Cool over a ice bath. Cover and refrigerate when cool, before use.

Danish Dough With Biga

Biga is another kind of pre-fermented dough. It is an Italian preferment with low hydration, and low yeast activity. It adds in elasticity and will aide in more vertical lift in the final product then a regular danish dough or a pat fermente. It does behave very similarly to pat fermente.


This formula is from the Michel Suas Book Advanced Bread and Pastry, A Professional Approach, Pg. 349-350
Formula: yields 30 kg
Biga: 30%

The Biga looks very similar to the
pate fermenté dough, it is just a
little bit more sticky though.

100% Bread Flour, 5.095 kg
55% Milk, 2.804 kg
0.4% Instant Yeast, 2 g

Final Dough:
100% Bread Flour, 11.81 kg
48.01% Milk*, 5.308 kg
11.18% Eggs, 1.889 kg
11.88% Sugar, 2.009 kg
2.10% Salt, 354 g
1.38% Osmotolerant Instant Yeast, 213 g
2.79% Butter, 471 g
Total: 177.39%
*This dough has a tendency to be a little dry so make sure you have extra milk on hand. When we prepared this formula in class we added about 3% of milk into the mix to properly hydrate the dough.


MOP: Improved Mix
DDT: 75° Fahrenheit
Variables: 4 + 1 (so, five)
Biga has an additional variable of water from eggs. Because eggs has water inside of it you have to consider the temperature of the eggs when finding out the water temperature. However since it is a smaller water percentage you dont include it in the regular variables when equating for the water temperature.

Water temperature for Biga Danish = (4 variables x DDT) minus Room Temperature minus Friction Factor minus Flour Temperature minus Biga Temperature. Then, take the water temperature and subtract the egg temperature, find the difference between the two numbers and add this to the water temperature.

For instance:

Water temperature = (4x75) = 300

300 - 73° (RT) - 27 (FF) - 38° (FT) - 72.3° (Biga) = 89.7°

89.7° - 37° (Egg temperature) = 52.7

52.7 ÷ 2 = 26

89.7° + 26 ≈ 114°

• place all ingredients in mixer and mix on low speed until the dough is uniformly hydrated. Increase to a medium speed and mix for 2-3 minutes or until you can pull a window pane with very little gnarls in it. The dough should feel stiffer, so it should be a little harder to make a window pane from this dough.
• Pull off of mixer and place dough in a covered, oiled bin for proofing. Let dough (also called the detrempe) ferment in a proof box or at room temperature for 45 - 60 minutes. The dough should change in smell slightly when it is finished proofing, it should also feel slightly softer to the touch.
• Continue to process dough like you would for croissant dough.

Danish Dough

This is a straight dough danish formula. Danish doughs are going to be a little stiffer then croissants, they should feel more like a cookie dough rather then a bread dough. As with croissant dough the danish dough is mixed to an improved mix to help withstand the pressure of all the folds but not to make rolling out the dough too hard. 

This formula is from the Michel Suas Book Advanced Bread and Pastry, A Professional Approach. Pg. 348

Formula: yields 30 kg

100% Bread Flour, 17.1 kg

46% Milk, 7.866 kg

12% Sugar, 2.052 kg

11% Eggs, 1.881 kg

2% Salt, 0.342 kg

1.3% Osmotolerant Instant Yeast, 0.222 kg

3% Butter, 0.513 kg

Total: 175.30%

Butter for roll-in: 27%, 522 g per 2 kg

MOP: Improved Mix

DDT: 75 degrees Fahrenheit

Variables: 3

• place all ingredients in mixer and mix on low speed until the dough is uniformly hydrated. Increase to a medium speed and mix for 2-3 minutes or until you can pull a window pane with very little gnarls in it. The dough should feel stiffer, so it should be a little harder to make a window pane from this dough.
• Pull off of mixer and place dough in a covered, oiled bin for proofing. Let dough (also called the detrempe) ferment in a proof box or at room temperature for 45 - 60 minutes. The dough should change in smell slightly when it is finished proofing, it should also feel slightly softer to the touch.
• Continue to process dough like you would for croissant dough.

Savory Croissants

The basic shape for savory croissants are similar to the traditional shape for a chocolate croissant. This box style makes it easy to roll up all sorts of fillings inside. But because you are rolling it up you still dont get as much of a filling to dough ratio as you would if you filled a plain croissant after baking. This shape does not only have to be used for savory croissants, as you see you can fill it with a sweet filling as well. Common variations in American bakeries now a day are spinach and feta, goat cheese and herbs, ham and cheese, chocolate, almond. Two methods of making these croissants will be described below.


Spinach and Feta Croissant

Formula*: if you are making a small batch or a one time batch this can easily be done without a formula and based on taste.
70% Spinach
100% Feta Cheese
40% Sun-dried Tomato
70% Sauté Onions
10% Butter, for sautéing
Salt and Pepper to taste
*In class we prepared this batch without a formula so my percentages are approximate



MOP: Prepare croissant as described in the straight dough method. A whole wheat croissant dough works very well to accompany the tastes in a savory croissants.

To prepare the filling:

• Sauté onions in butter until translucent, do not brown the onions. Remove from heat and cool.
• Wash and strain all the liquid out of spinach. Any remaining liquid will over hydrate the croissant dough and will make your croissant soggy not flakey.
• Add the crumbled feta, spinach, onions, and half of the sun-dried tomatoes into a bowl. Mix well. 
• Taste and season the mixture. Sun-dried tomatoes have acidity and salt in them so while you season the mixture you can also adjust the salt by adding more tomatoes if you want.

MOP:

• Roll out the croissant dough to 1/8" thick, 12" wide, and lengthened
• Score and cut 3 x 5" rectangles from the dough.
• Put about an oz (soup spoonful) of spinach and feta filling about 1/2" from the top of the croissant. Flatten out tightly.
• Egg wash the bottom of the rectangle.
• Fold up, make sure that the seem is in the middle of the croissant.
• Transfer the rolled up croissant to a parchment lined sheet pan and press down to make sure the seem is in the center.
• Egg wash croissants before proofing for 60 min - 90 min.
• Egg wash before baking at 385 degrees Fahrenheit in a convection oven.

This method for preparing this croissant shape is popular in production because it is a little bit faster. However you do not get as clean of an edge or a cut on the croissants.

Cream Cheese and Cherry Filled Croissants

Formula*: if you are making a small batch or a one time batch this can easily be done without a formula and based on taste.

100% Cream Cheese, 8 oz.

100% Confectioners Sugar, 8 oz.

20% Eggs, 2 each

140% Cherries, with liquid

20% Confectioners Sugar

*In class we prepared this batch without a formula so my percentages are approximate

MOP:

• Cook cherries and confectioners sugar to a boil, essentially creating a cooked fruit filling similar to the filling used for a pie. Let cool completely, put into piping bag when cooled for easy application. An alternative to this method is to just place cherries, fresh or canned, on the croissant without cooking but you will have more excess liquid in this method which will give your baked croissant less height.
• Using your mixer and a paddle attachment mix the cream cheese until soft. Add the confectioners sugar until cream cheese is soft and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. You should end up with a sweet and solid consistency that is slightly more hydrated and softer then a butter cream. Place this in your piping bag for easy application.
• Roll out dough to be 5" wide, 1/8" thick, and lengthened.
• Pipe a line of cream cheese filling about 1/2" from the top of the block. Pipe all the way across.
• Below this line, pipe a line of the cherry filling across.
• Egg wash a line across the bottom of the dough.
• Roll up the dough like you would for an individual croissant. Make sure to keep the filling in the dough, and rolling as tightly as you can.
• Cut a 3" piece from the strip, rock your sharpened chefs knife as you cut. Use this piece as a guide to cut the rest of the strip into 3" portions. 
• Transfer these pieces to a parchment lined sheet tray. Press down each piece and press down to make sure the seem is in the center.
• Egg wash croissants before proofing for 60 min - 90 min.
• Egg wash before baking at 385 degrees Fahrenheit in a convection oven.

Whole Wheat Croissant with Pate Fermente

This dough has a white pat fermente in it but the pate fermente can also be made with a whole wheat flour instead of a white, bread flour.

 This formula is from the Michel Suas Book Advanced Bread and Pastry, A Professional Approach. Pg. 343

Formula: yields 30 kg
Pre fermente: 20% pre ferment
100% Bread Flour, 3.293 kg
65% Water, 2.140 kg
2% Salt, 66 g
0.6% Yeast, 19 g

Final Dough:
80% Bread Flour, 10.080 kg
20% Whole Wheat Flour, 3.360 kg
51% Water, 6.485 kg
8% Egg Yolks*, 1.349 kg
10% Sugar, 1.756 kg
2% Salt, 270 g
0.6% Osmotolerant Yeast, 215 g
0.16% Malt, 27 g
5% Butter, 809 g

*Egg yolks tenderize the product which aides the whole wheat flour in being softer. It will however interfere with the lamination, you will not get as much of a rise but you will get more colour from the fats in the eggs.

MOP: Improved Mix

DDT: 75 degrees Fahrenheit

Variables: 4

• Add all the ingredients except the preferment and 10% water into the mixer. 
• Mix on low speed, slowly adding more water and adjusting liquid until the dough is fully hydrated.
• Add the preferment in small chunks into the mixer. If you do not break up the chunks it will not fully distribute, especially important here since the preferment is a white dough.
• Put mixer into second speed and mix for 4-6 minutes until you can get an improved window pane. 
• Take the dough off the mixer and transfer to an oiled proof box. Let the dough proof for 45 min - 1 hour. 
• Continue to process the dough like in the Straight Dough Method.

Croissant Amand

This Almond Croissant is an example of how to fill a croissant as an added value product. This can be made with day old or with plain croissants.


Take plain croissants and place them on a lined sheet pan. Split the croissants horizontally most of the way. Soak the inside of the croissant in simply syrup** (you need roughly 8 oz. for 6 croissants). This should make the croissant as soaked as bread pudding.


Open up the croissant and fill with room temperature almond cream*. Fill the inside of the croissant with a thick layer, roughly 1/8" thick.

Close up the croissant and garnish generally with sliced almonds.

Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit on the deck oven with rack. Bakes roughly 20 minutes, or until the pastry cream turns colours; browns.



* Cream D'Amande
100% Butter
100% Sugar
100% Eggs
100% Pastry Flour
200% Almond Flour
1% Salt
Options: Vanilla (2-5%), Zest (1-2%), etc.




** Simple Syrup: equal parts water and sugar, bring to a boil, then cool.

Traditional Shaping and Twisted "S" Shaping, by hand

For learning how to do a traditional shaping technique we used a poolish croissant formula. We also learned how to do another form called a Twisted "S" (with the option of also rolling up this dough like a cinnamon bun). The addition of the high in hydration preferment lent to a dough that had more leavening, and also was more extensible and easier to work with. The dough responded to being rolled out better.

The procedure for making up the dough is the same as for the straight dough croissant. After you've locked in your butter and given it three turns of lamination you want to rest your dough before sheeting.

• Roll out your dough to a large sheet, about 16" wide and 1/8" thick. It should be a little larger then the dimensions of a full sheet pan.
• Barely dust your work bench, mark and cut a 8" vertical strip. If the dough is shrinking back on you use your roller to lengthen the dough slightly.
• On the top of this strip measure 4" across, do not make your marks too deep/long.
• On the bottom measure 4" across staggering them in between the top's measurements. These notches should fall in the middle of the top's measurements.
• Use your chefs knife to cut on a diagonal from the bottom notches to the top notches. You should get about 12 triangles.
• In the middle of the wide bottom of the triangle, make a slit about 1/2" long.
• Roll up these croissants like a traditional croissant. (pull the large side out, press down lapels, lengthen tip, rolls up so you have seven sections, crescent slightly).
• Egg wash croissants before proofing for 60 min - 90 min.
• Egg wash before baking at 385 degrees Fahrenheit in a convection oven.

Twisted "S"

If using the poolish formula from before then you'll have plenty of leftover dough to shape the twisted "S" shape from the sheet. You should refrigerate this portion while you prepare the traditional croissants though so that the dough does not ferment or get soft while it is out. 

• Roll the dough out to 12" wide, lengthen out.
• Spread a thin layer of pastry cream to the edges of the dough, leave a 1" horizontal strip in the middle of the dough.
• Sprinkle currents (or any other filling or flavouring of your choice) sparingly on top of the pastry cream.
• Roll up both sides the the empty horizontal strip.
• Cut into 1" strips, transfer the spirals to a parchment paper. Twist the two curls when you place the dough on the parchment.
• Egg wash and proof dough for 60-90 minutes in a 75-80 degree proof box (80% humidity)
• Egg wash before baking at 385 degrees Fahrenheit convection

Variations:

Roll it up like a cinnamon roll. Make sure you tuck the outside flap under the roll otherwise the roll will unravel when baked. For filling pistachios, chocolate chips, dried fruits, cinnamon are other good filling choices.