How to make croissants

I've been wanting to make croissants for a while now. Now that exam season is over I have time to tackle them! As such a well known French pastry, they've always seemed quite daunting so I wanted to do them justice. I like to live by the "do it right or don't do it at all" motto.

Yummy croissants warm from the oven!

Ham and Cheese croissants

As a first attempt, I'm quite happy with how they turned out. They had a crunchy, flaky crust and fluffy, buttery layers. They do not keep well as they turned bread like the next day, but it's not something a few minutes in a hot oven can't solve. 

Dough structure after first proofing. Nature really is amazing!

Butter layers after the folds. The butter is not as evenly spread as I would like

Croissants ready for the oven

Reference for future improvements:
- Freeze the butter and then grate to form an even butter slab.
- Refrigerate the butter dough for only 30 minutes so the butter can spread more easily within the dough when rolling out.

- Only leave the shaped croissants to rise for 1-2hrs instead of overnight in the fridge.

Anyhoo, here's the recipe that I followed, but I would include the improvements above.

Ingredients:
1 cup (250 ml) warm milk (I used whole milk)
1/2 cup (125 ml) warm water
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
3 3/4 cup (500 g) all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup + 2tbsp (9 oz/ 250 g) butter, room temperature

Method:
1. Stir the yeast and sugar into the milk and water and leave for 15 minutes until frothy.
2. Add the flour and salt and mix until it is all incorporated.
3. Knead for a 1-2 minutes and leave in an oiled bowl on the counter for 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, cut the butter and create a 8x5" rectangle slab on a piece of clingfilm. Wrap the slab and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Tip the dough out, knock out the air and roll into a 16x10" rectangle.
6. Place the butter slab in the middle third of the dough, then fold one end of the dough over the slab followed by the other end, like a book. Seal the butter inside the dough.
7. Roll the butter dough into a 15x10" rectangle.
8. Flip the dough over and fold into thirds like step 6. Wrap in clingfilm and chill the dough for 1 hour.
9. Repeat step 7 and 8 four times.
10. Cut the dough into quarters. Wrap each quarter individually and place 3 in the fridge whilst you work on one of them.
11. Roll the quartered dough into a 16x6" rectangle, cut into thirds, and cut each thirds into two triangles.
12. At this stage you can add fillings like cinnamon sugar, chocolate, ham & cheese, or just leave them plain.
13. Then shape the croissant by rolling the dough from the base of the triangle.
14. Place on a baking sheet, cover and leave on the counter for 1.5 hours. Then brush with egg to give it a nice shiny finish.
15. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes until brown.

It's a long process, but the outcome is so enjoyable!

Chocolate and Ginger Truffles

Truffles are a simple treat to make and creates the perfect gift. You can add a variety of flavours, such as alcohol, spices and flavoured extracts, or nuts and dried fruit for texture. Just adjust to taste and feel like a real chocolatier!

Truffle making can be a messy process, with all the handling of the chocolate, so as a perfectionist, I decided to use chocolate moulds. This meant coating the moulds with a thin layer of chocolate so that I could release the truffles without damaging their shape. I just poured a little melted chocolate into each mould and spread it around with a spoon, but next time I will use a small brush to avoid air bubbles.

Dark Chocolate and Ginger Truffles (about 30 truffles, depending on size)
Ingredients:
300g good quality dark chocolate, chopped roughly
180g double cream
2tsp ginger powder

100g good quality dark or white chocolate (to coat moulds, optional)
Cocoa powder (to dust, optional)

Method:
If using a chocolate mould, melt 60g of chocolate over a bain-marie, or in 20 second bursts in the microwave. Using a clean brush, coat the moulds with the melted chocolate and allow to cool and harden.
For the truffles, pour the double cream into a bowl over a bain-marie and heat. Then add the chocolate and ginger powder, and stir until it is completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat.
Once it has cooled, but is still in liquid form, spoon the truffle mixture into the coated moulds until it is almost full. Then place into the fridge to harden. If you are not using moulds, place the truffle mixture in the fridge to harden. This should take about 1 hour. Once hardened, you can spoon small amounts into your hand and roll into a ball. Then coat with cocoa powder.
To finish the moulds, melt the other 40g of chocolate and pour over the truffle mixture to cover them completely. Allow to cool and then unmould.
Truffles can be kept for upto 3 days in the fridge or frozen for upto 3 months.

It's been a while...Shiitake Mushroom, Peas Sushi Rice with Poached Egg

It's been a while since I've even thought about blogging! But now that university is over for the year, I have more time to experiment in the kitchen and share it here...I can't wait! For now, I'm going to post a backlog of things that I have done throughout the year.

Firstly, it's a sushi rice dish that I threw together. It was so quick and spontaneous, which makes me wonder why people say they don't have time to cook for themselves. It's so simple to put something quick and nutritious together. I can't remember the exact measurements, so I'm not going to post a recipe. I just used left over sushi rice, dried shiitake mushroom that had been soaked overnight, peas and a poached egg. I added the mushroom water to make it a risotto texture and create more flavour. So here are the pictures to drool over :) Don't you just love the look of the yolk?!