Chocolate Croissant (2020/01/05-07)

January 8, 2021

After 6 trials on baking original croissants, I want to get my hands on the “prettier” and slightly “fancier” croissants — colored and flavored ones. This time I am making the chocolate croissants. The chocolate sheet was drier than planned, resulting in some croissant not fully covered in chocolate sheet, and the chocolate layer was a bit too crispy. As usual, as my lab notebook, I have recorded mistakes and takeaway in details here.

QUICK TAKEAWAYS

chocolate/cocoa sheet was too dried:
- making it hard to roll out and cover the full croissant dough sheet before shaping;
- cocoa sheet will be too thick, making it weigh heavy on croissant dough like a shackle; croissant dough will escape sideway and deform when baking.
- it also fail to completely blend in croissant dough, falling off as croissant rose.
- More water will be needed to dilute cocoa powder before blending in with croissant dough.
wider base (at least 10cm) for each triangle for shaping croissant is needed.
- Too narrow the triangle will made croissant shape short and not able to stand up “straight”, tipping to one side.
- a few of my croissants stood on one feet after rising in oven, pressing that one side and it’s not able to increase in size.
base = 10cm, height = 25cm
roll out croissant dough even more flatter, so they are not too tall after shaping
baking at 400F for 10mins then at 375F for another 10-11mins worked well this time! Can try rising up to 410F for the first 10mins next time.

RECIPE

Following WeekendBakery’s recipe, changing measurement for 5-6 croissants.

4g yeast
47g water
47g milk
167 AP flour
18g sugar
13g butter
4g salt
lamination butter: 93-94g
2-3tbsp cocoa powder

DAY 1: 15-20mins

Step 1: bring out yeast and butter from fridge, warming out to room temperature (butter becomes soft and yeast activates)

Step 2: mix 4g yeast, 47g water, 47g milk, 167g AP flour, 18g sugar and 4g salt. Form dough and knead for 3-4 mins.

Step 3: add 13g soft butter, knead till butter completely blends in and dough is smooth.

Step 4: separate 1/4 dough, set aside. Shape the rest 3/4 dough into a round disc, wrap well with plastic wrap and store in fridge overnight.

Step 5: mix 2-3tbsp of cocoa powder and 1-2tbsp of water or MORE, till it becomes cocoa paste.

Step 6: mix chocolate paste with the separated 1/4 dough, mix well. If too dry, add more water or butter till soft. Also wrap well and store in fridge overnight.

DAY 2: ~1.5-2 hours

Step 1: slice 93-94g European butter (>80% fat), place in square shape parchment paper. Roll butter into a butter sheet

Step 2: bring out the croissant dough (not the chocolate sheet), roll out large enough so that croissant dough can completely wrap, seal the butter sheet. If they are not the same softness, put both back in fridge to make them hard and have the same softness.

if butter is too soft, might not be easy for rolling out; butter might blend in with dough before baking, leading to lack of the honeycomb structure inside.

Step 3: wrap butter sheet with croissant dough, like wrapping mail with envelop. Then roll it into a rectangle shape long enough to fold as blanket. If there is air bubbles in croissant dough, poke it with a knife.

Step 4: Fold into blanket shape, rest in fridge for 30mins.

Step 5: repeat step 3 and 4 twice, so there are three rolling and folding in total. Rest in fridge overnight.

DAY 3: ~3 hours

Step 1: slightly press down croissant dough to get rid of air inside. Slightly rolling out to a small rectangle.

Step 2: (for the first time) bring out the chocolate sheet dough, roll into the same shape as croissant dough.

this was the step that I realized my chocolate sheet was too dried and broke apart on the edge when rolling out.

Step 3: brush croissant dough with water, place chocolate sheet on top of the croissant dough. Press down on the four edges.

Step 4: roll out carefully for the final croissant sheet for shaping. Make sure each croissant triangle has base of 10cm, height of 25cm.

Step 5: put croissant dough sheet back in fridge for 15-30mins. All the rolling before might warm up croissant dough especially in summer, making croissant dough sticky and “skin” break.

Step 6: slice croissant dough sheet into triangles, cut a 1-2cm opening at triangle base’s midpoint. For the ones with chocolate fillings, put chocolate chips or bar at the bottom; roll up tightly.