SUPREME CROISSANTS WITH CORNFLAKE PASTRY CREAM

 SUPREME CROISSANTS WITH CORNFLAKE PASTRY CREAM

INGREDIENTS 

Makes 12 Supreme Croissants

CORNFLAKES CEREAL PASTRY CREAM

• 11⁄4 cups (300 g) whole milk + additional whole milk
• 1 ½ cups heaped cornflakes
• 3 egg yolks
• 1⁄4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoons (21 g) cornstarch
• 1⁄2 teaspoon (3 g) table salt
• 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

BUTTER BLOCK

• 2 cups + 11⁄2 tablespoons (470 g) cold, unsalted, European-style butter

DANISH BRIOCHE DOUGH

• 6 cups minus 4 teaspoons (720 g) bread flour
• 1⁄3 cup (65 g) granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons (12 g) instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons (12 g) table salt
• 1 cup + 3 tablespoons (280 g) whole milk, room temperature
• 3 eggs
• 5 tablespoons (72 g) European-style butter,melted and cooled
• SUGAR SYRUP
• 1⁄4 cup (60 g) water
• 1⁄4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar

EGG WASH

• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

• Refer to Sally's Baking Addiction Chocolate Ganache Recipe
• FILLINGS AND TOPPINGS
• 1 bar Ghirardelli dark chocolate 70%
• 4 tablespoons freeze-dried strawberries
• 4 tablespoons cornflakes

EQUIPMENT

• Wide rolling pin
• Parchment paper
• 1⁄2 sheet baking sheets
• Bench scraper
• Two-foot stainless steel ruler
• Pastry brush
• Wide-haired brush to brush off excess flour
• Five-wheel stainless steel pastry cutter
• (sharp knife will do)
• 6 4 inch diameter pastry rings
• Piping bag
• Ateco 230 2 7/8" Bismark Metal Piping Tip

Method

DAY 1

To Make the Pastry Cream

1.In a medium bowl, add the milk, and cornflakes. Push it in with a spatula. Soak for about half an hour. Using a sieve, strain the milk, pushing on the cornflakes to release the flavor. Add additional milk to make it 1 ¼ cups.

2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the milk, and let it simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Set aside a medium bowl with a fine-mesh sieve.

4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, add the egg yolks, cornstarch, salt and sugar, and whisk vigorously for 2 minutes until the mixture is frothy and pale yellow. The mixture should have a ribbon-like consistency.

5. Slowly pour half the milk into the mixture, whisking until smooth, making sure there are no lumps.

6. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Turn the heat on medium and continue to whisk, so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan, until the mixture thickens within 5 minutes.

7. Strain the mixture through the sieve into the bowl. Whisk in the butter and vanilla until smooth.

8. Place plastic wrap onto the pastry cream, so that it does not form a skin.

9. Refrigerate overnight.

To Make the Butter Block

1. Cut the chilled butter into rectangular blocks to form an even 7x7 inch square on the center of a sheet of parchment paper. It is like playing Tetris with the butter on the parchment to form a square or a rectangle.

2. Cover with another parchment paper and start pounding the butter block with a rolling pin

until the layer evens out. The goal is to smooth out the butter into an even layer of an 8-by-8- inch butter block.

3. Keep measuring after a few poundings to see if it is reaching an 8-inch square butter block. Use a bench scraper to even out the edges, and smoothen out the top. Flip the parchment paper upside down, and use a rolling pin to smooth the butter. Keep pushing the slides to be straight and form a square.

4. The whole process takes anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. The goal is for the butter to remain chilled during the entire time and not softened. If you feel the butter is too soft, put it in the fridge for 30 minutes and form it into a square again.

5. Once the square is formed, tuck the parchment paper overhang around the butter block and set it in the fridge overnight.

To Make the Danish Brioche Dough

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, add all the dry ingredients—bread flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Whisk to combine.

2. Add the milk, eggs, and butter to the mixture. Start the stand mixer at low speed for a minute so the dough can mix together. Increase to medium speed for 3 minutes until the dough is smooth and the bowl is clean.

3. Mix for another 2 to 3 minutes for the dough to develop gluten and become sturdy.

4. Do the windowpane test: Take a small piece of dough, and, using your first three fingers

and thumb on both hands, gently smooth and stretch the dough until thin. If you can stretch

the dough without breaking it, the dough has been sufficiently kneaded and the gluten is

well developed. If it breaks, knead the dough in the mixer for another 1 to 2 minutes and do

the windowpane test again.

5. Place the dough onto a clean surface. Shape into a rectangle, place it on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet, cover with a plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

DAY 2

To Laminate the Dough

1. Keep the stainless-steel ruler, bench scraper, wide-haired brush, extra flour, and rolling pin handy.

2. Remove the dough from the fridge. Using extra flour sprinkled on a clean surface and extra flour on the rolling pin, roll out the dough to an 8-by-18-inch rectangle. Keep straightening the sides of the rolled-out dough with the bench scraper and rolling pin to ensure that the rectangular shape is maintained at all times, while at the same time maintaining the thickness of the dough throughout as well. Use extra flour as needed to ensure that the dough does not stick to the surface.

3. Remove the butter block from the fridge and place in the middle of the dough. Remove the excess flour from the dough using the wide-haired brush. Wrap the left side over half the butter block, then wrap the right side over the other half of the block. Secure it from the top, bottom, and the middle by pinching the dough together. This is called a classic enclosure. Square out the entire block by using the bench scraper to sort of align all the sides in parallel.

4. We will do 3 single turns on the dough to laminate it and to get it ready for making our

Danishes.

First Turn

5. Sprinkle flour on the work surface. With the open side of the dough-enclosed butter block toward you and the other side facing outward, roll lengthwise, up and down, to lengthen the dough. Make sure that the sides and tops are straightened by using the bench scraper and rolling pin and keeping the thickness the same throughout the length of the dough.

6. Make sure that you use flour to sprinkle beneath the dough by lifting it with one hand and sprinkling flour with the other. There should always be enough flour sprinkled on the top as well. You want to ensure that your dough does not stick underneath or onto your rolling pin.

7. The desired size is 8-by-18 inches. Make sure that the corners are stretched so that they are square as well. You want an even rectangle. You can roll out to 8-by-19 inches and, using a pastry cutter, cut off half an inch from the width of the rectangle to even out the sides. Use the wide-haired brush, to gently remove any excess flour.

8. With the length of the rectangle parallel to you, wrap the dough, by folding the left side of the dough two-thirds of the way. Brush off the excess flour using the wide brush and then wrap the right side of the dough over the left side. Again, brush off the excess flour. Straighten out the dough with a bench scraper and the rolling pin to an exact 8-by-18- inch rectangle. Place it on the baking sheet, wrap it with plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge for an hour.

Second Turn

9. With the open edge of the dough toward you and the other open edge facing away from you, roll lengthwise, up and down, to lengthen the dough. Make sure that the sides and tops are straightened by using the bench scraper and rolling pin to maintain an even thickness throughout the length of the dough.

10. Repeat Steps 6, 7, and 8.

Third Turn

11. With the open edge of the dough towards you and the other open edge facing away from you,roll lengthwise, up and down, to lengthen the dough. Make sure that the sides and tops are straightened, by using the bench scraper and rolling pin to maintain an even thickness throughout the length of the dough.

12. Repeat Steps 6, 7, and 8.

To Cut the Laminated Dough to make Croissants

13. Cut the dough horizontally into half. Keep one half on the work surface, and the other half on the baking tray, covered in the fridge. With the open edge of the dough toward you and the other open edge facing away from you, roll lengthwise, up and down, to lengthen the dough. Make sure that the sides and tops are straightened, by using the bench scraper and rolling pin to maintain an even thickness throughout the length of the dough.

14. Make sure that you use flour to sprinkle beneath the dough, by lifting it with one hand and sprinkling flour with the other. You want to make sure that there is enough flour sprinkled on the top so that your dough does not stick underneath or on the rolling pin, and that the corners are stretched square as well.

15. The desired size is 13 x 13 inches, and about 1⁄4 inch (5 mm) thick. You want an even square. Cut off half an inch from the width and the length of the rectangle to even out the sides, using a sharp knife and the stainless-steel ruler. Use the wide-haired brush to brush off the excess flour.

16. Using the stainless-steel pastry cutter, and setting it to 1 inch wide, cut strips from the rolled-out dough, lengthwise. Take two strips, place them lengthwise, pinch the open ends in the middle to form one long strip. Start rolling from the end towards you, slowly and tight, keeping it aligned till you reach the top.

17. Take the end and tuck it underneath.

18. Place it 2 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap. Repeat for the remaining strips. Place the 4 inch rings centered around each croissant. You will get 6 croissants from one half of the dough. Bake 6 croissants at a time.

19. Repeat the process for the remaining half of the dough to get 6 more croissants.

Proof, Bake and Fill the Croissant

1. To proof the croissants: To proof, put a large plastic bag or an unscented garbage bag over the baking sheet, sealing the tray. Make sure that the bag does not touch the danish by putting inverted glasses on the tray inside the bag on the four corners of the tray to hold it up. Leave the tray in a warm place (temperature of 75oF) for about 2 to 3 hours, until d

2. To make the simple syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar. On medium heat, let the sugar dissolve for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the syrup cool.

3. To make the egg wash: Combine the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk for 2 minutes

until the mixture is smooth.

4. To bake the croissants: Preheat the oven to 415oF. Remove the ring, dip the pastry brush into the

egg wash, removing excess, and lightly brush on the border and sides of each croissant. Spray baking spray on the bottom of the baking sheet. This will prevent the croissants sticking to the bottom of the sheet. Place the baking sheet on top of the croissants. Place the baking sheet in the center rack of the oven. Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375oF and bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown. Remove the top baking sheet after 10 minutes. Rotate the sheets after about 15 minutes for an even bake.

5. To decorate the danishes: When the croissants come out of the oven, use the baking sheet, and cover the croissants with it, by putting something heavy on the sheet, for 5 minutes. This will compress the croissant. Next remove the rings, and use a pastry brush to apply the simple syrup all over to give them a nice shine and crunch after cooling.

6. Place pastry cream in a piping bag, fitted with the icing piping tip.

7. Once cooled, using the tip, insert into the croissant from the side into the middle and gently fill the pastry cream. Repeat from the opposite corner.

8. Melt the chocolate in a microwave in 30 second increments for upto 2 minutes. Place the melted chocolate in a squeeze bottle and pipe on top of each croissant, with small drips coming down. Sprinkle generously with the dried raspberry and cornflakes that has been lightly crushed between your fingers. Enjoy the same day or upto two days.

9. Store in an airtight container in a cool place. If eating the next day, warm in a toaster oven before eating.