Spotlight: Croissant Class – Take One

I finally took the plunge, and signed up for a croissant class at Mille Feuille‘s Laguardia Place location in Greenwich Village this December. As a huge fan of their croissants for years, this felt like the appropriate place to begin my tutelage.

The participants slowly began trickling into the back of the small storefront. Our instructor introduced himself, provided aprons for everyone and started class. We began by shaping our croissants, as they needed to proof before baking. Typically baking croissants is a three-day process, but this has been condensed considerably for this three-hour course! Our instructor walked us through the basic shapes and techniques, and provided constructive criticism to improve our individual trays of treats. After we had worked our way through the dough provided, rolling as carefully as possible, he popped them into the proofing drawer.

From there, he demonstrated the butter-layering process. I am embarrassed to say I had no idea how much butter was added to these delightful breads. After beating our slabs of butter into rectangular shapes, we slowly began the rolling, folding and re-rolling process. It was quite the lower arm work-out, and I was thankful to be moving around, as the air-conditioning made the room chilly. Our instructor would later inform us that it needed to be relatively cold in the room to ensure the butter did not begin to melt, which would ruin the croissants. They do recommend bringing an extra sweater in the event it is too cold!

After the croissants were done proofing, we slathered them in egg wash, re-arranged them on our trays for optimal baking, and then he placed them into the oven. He used a few of the leftover slivers as “appetizers,” and they were a delicious way to create a natural break for the class. I only wish they had provided the hot drink (described online), but unfortunately one was never offered.

Finally, he showed us how to make the dough and how to test if the gluten has been activated. A pro tip: if the gluten has been activated, croissant dough can be used as pizza dough instead!

All in all, the session was very informative, and I left the bakery with over 15 croissants and my own butter-layered dough for baking my next versions at home.

I would absolutely recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about how croissants are made or to hone their baking skills. Next up will be the macaron class!

Until next time,
SugarSource