HOME-MADE CROISSANTS with PAUL HOLLYWOOD RECIPE

A labour of love but worth it. 

Fortunately, Will has the patience and the time for this one.

We love croissants, especially on a sunny Sunday morning and although the shop bought ones are okay,

there's no comparison to a home baked one, just out of the oven and if your lucky enough to have some of granny's homemade jam in the cupboard, then even better.    

We've used Paul Hollywood's recipe, having been suitably impressed with last summers British Bake Off

Ingredients

625 g strong bread flour

12 g salt

75 g sugar

20 g dried yeast

water, for mixing

500 g butter, chilled

1 egg, beaten

Place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, slowly mix in a little water until the mixture forms into a pliable dough.

(We used our trusty Kenwood)

Place the dough on a floured surface and knead well until it feels elastic.

Return the dough to the bowl, cover and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Return the chilled dough to your floured work surface and roll it into a rectangular shape,

around 60cm by 30cm.

Roll out the chilled butter into a rectangle about 1cm thick, around 20cm by 30cm.

(This was not easier as it kept getting stuck to the rolling pin and breaking. 

We ended up doing it in sections and spreading it out with a pallet knife)

Place the butter rectangle in the centre of the dough rectangle, so it covers around two thirds of the dough.

Fold the remaining dough third over the butter layer, so that the dough is now in 3 layers.

Return the dough to the refrigerator to chill for a further hour.

Scatter some more flour over your table and roll out the dough to a rectangular shape,

around 60cm by 30 cm.

Repeat the folding process, then return the dough to the refrigerator for a further hour.

Repeat this process of folding and chilling two more times, then wrap the dough in cling film and set it aside to rest overnight.

Using a rolling pin, roll out the rested dough to 3mm thickness.

Cut the rolled out dough into squares, each square 20cm by 20cm.

Cut each square diagonally, making 2 triangles from each dough square.

Place the dough triangles on a lightly floured surface with the narrow point facing away from you.

Roll each dough triangle up over itself and curl the dough roll around into a traditional crescent shape.

Place the shaped croissants on baking trays lined with silicone baking parchment

and leave to rise for 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6.

Once nicely risen, lightly egg-wash the croissants

and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Not bad for a first attempt.

We made 24 croissants from this mixture

Baking six for now and the rest for another day - yum.

And there you have it!  A step by step guide to making and baking your own croissants.

Go on, have a go.  

NATIONAL PIE WEEK 5th-11th MARCH 2012

I made this pie just after Christmas using leftover turkey and ham but thought I'd share the recipe with you in celebration of National Pie Week.   I'll be making a similiar one this week using chicken. 

Soften the leeks in some butter, add the chopped turkey and ham and plenty of it as you need a nice big filling. Heat through for a couple of minutes. Take off the heat and add two tablespoons of flour and stir in around 600 ml of turkey stock (or any other stock).  Add a teaspoon of dijon mustard and 125 ml double cream and then pop back on the heat for a few mins more.  Season if required but I found the ham and dijon were enough. 

Line your pie dish with the rough puff or flaky pastry. I made ours fresh but you can use ready rolled for quickness.  Add the filling and then cover with the pastry top.  Crimp the edges, decorate and glaze with egg. 

Into the over for 35-40 mins at 180 degrees.  And wait......

We served ours with home-made fat oven chips and peas. 

There was enough for seconds and and next days lunch!

Now that's what I call a deep filled pie!

PECAN & BOURBON TART

Nutty tart with just a subtle taste of Bourbon coming through.  We served ours with double cream but creme fraiche, clotted cream or ice cream would taste just as good.

Recipe taken from the Popina Book of Baking

Date Sponge                                                              Pecan Bourbon Filling
60g dates, stoned                                                       1 tbsp Bourbon whiskey
30ml double cream                                                     40gm light brown soft sugar
1 tbsp water                                                                 55ml golden syrup
30g unsalted butter, melted                                       1 egg, beaten
30g light brown soft sugar                                          20g unsalted butter, melted
1 egg                                                                            60g shelled pecan nuts, rough chopped
a few drops of vanilla extract                                      
55g plain flour                                                              Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
1 tsp baking powder                                                   250g plain flour
                                                                                      125g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
18 pecan halves to decorate                                      85g golden caster sugar
Serves 8                                                                      1 egg

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas 4.

Make the sweet shortcrust pastry and line the tart tin.  Trim the excess dough from around the edges and refrigerate while you make the filling.

To make date sponge, blitz the dates to a paste in a food processor or simply chop them very finely.  Mix with the cream and water and set aside.  Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and mix well, then add the egg, vanilla, flour and baking powder.  Finally, add date mixture and fold in well.

Remove the pastry tin from the fridge and spoon in the date sponge mixture.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven. 

In the meantime, make the pecan Bourbon filling.  Put the Bourbon, sugar and syrup in a mixing bowl and mix well.  Add the egg, mix well, then stir in the melted butter and chopped pecan nuts. Spoon the pecan Bourbon filling on top of the tart and spread evenly.  Decorate with the pecan halves and return to the oven for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before serving.