Off the Map

Innovating croissants to have more Asian elements again after sesame croissant last time. This time, I included Japanese elements: matcha, red bean and mochi. These ingredients have been use either individually or as combo for boba, mochi fillings, ice cream, crepe, etc. This time after upgrading from last time, fillings did not escape, and the aesthetics has improved! There is definitely a large room for improvement especially the lamination of dough with matcha powder.

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QUICK TAKEAWAYS

• texture: croissants’ inner lamination/layers turned out to be more moist, even baked at 400F for 8min, 375F for 7mins and 355F for 7mins. Could consider bake longer or have less dry dough next time.
• sweetness: could be sweeter next time! Either in croissant dough add more sugar, or have more fillings, or dust more sugar powder!
• red bean: the soft, liquid one with whole bean as inner fillings texture better than the paste one as exterior coat of the fillings
• butter: new butter is not as fragrant as KerryGold, and lamination might not be as good?
• lamination: rolling dough into big rectangle for final shaping should NOT take long, if dough sheet warms up, put back in fridge!!
• shaping: roll out the base, slightly roll down or press down to ensure no opening between the filling and the dough sheet. Last time sesame mochi croissant’s mochi almost all escaped out.

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RECIPE

Portion: 6

• 4g yeast
• 49g water
• 57g milk
• 170 AP flour
• 18g sugar
• 16g butter
• 4g salt
• 5g matcha powder
• lamination butter estimate: 93-94g
  • adjusted to 100g, 31% of final dough weight of 322g

mochi fillings (5-6g/croissant):

• 12g mochiko/glutinous rice flour
• 2g corn starch
• 3g sugar
• 23g milk
• add after steam: 2g butter

red bean fillings (6-8g/croissant):

• 48-60g for 6 croissants

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DAY 1: 20-30mins

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

Step 2: mix 4g yeast with 49g water, 4g sugar, set for 10-15mins (foam appearing = yeast activating).

Step 3: Mix 5g matcha powder, 167g AP flour, 57g milk, 16g soft butter, 14g sugar and 4g salt, yeast water. Form dough and knead for 10-15 mins.

• adjust water/milk amount if dough too dry, matcha has very high water absorption ability

Step 4: wrap dough tightly with plastic wrap try to prevent fermentation before lamination), first chill in freezer for 1 hour (according to this recipe, attached below) then move to fridge and store overnight.

• ended up resting in freezer for 1.5 hours…I forgot it was in the fridge.. set an alarm!!!

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DAY 2: ~1.5-2 hours

Dough weight: 322g

Butter weight (31%) = 322 * 31% = 100g

Step 1: slice 100g European butter (>80% fat), place in a 15cm x 15cm square-shape parchment paper. Put back in fridge if too soft.

• used a new brand of butter this time!

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Step 2: bring out the croissant dough, roll out large enough so that it can completely seal the butter sheet like an envelop. If they are not the same texture, put both back in fridge to harden them.

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Step 3: wrap butter sheet with croissant dough. Then roll it into a rectangle shape long enough to fold as blanket. If there are 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.

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Fillings:

Step 1: mix these ingredients for mochi:

• 12g mochiko/glutinous rice flour
• 2g corn starch
• 3g sugar
• 23g milk

Step 2: sieve mochi mixture twice, then pour into steaming container brushed with oil; wrap container with plastic wrap, poke some holes and steam for 20-30mins over medium-high heat

Step 3: remove from heat, add 2g butter, quick stir with chopstick/fork for 1-2mins; rest till cool down (put in freezer for 5-10mins to speed up) and knead till smooth with gloves

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Step 4: divide into 6 portions (37g/6 = 6g), they could be sticky so put on non-stick sheet like plastic wrap or parchment paper

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Step 5: form red bean fillings, each portions has 6-7g

Step 6: wrap 3 mochi fillings inside 3 red bean fillings, wrap another 3 red bean fillings in 3 mochi fillings! Experiment time!

• inner: whole red bean, very wet and hard to handle
• outer: red bean paste, usually used for mooncake, very malleable

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DAY 3: ~3 hours

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

Step 2: roll out carefully for the final croissant sheet for shaping (base of 40cm, height of 25cm, thickness of 4-5mm). Make sure each croissant triangle has base of 10cm, height of 25cm, thickness of 4-5mm.

• put back in fridge when roll for too long

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Step 3: 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 4: slice croissant dough sheet into triangles, cut a 1-2cm opening at triangle base’s midpoint. place filling at the base and roll up tightly. Stretch out the base, roll and press down slightly to make sure no opening between the filling and the dough like the right figure.

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Step 5: brush with egg, proof in closed oven with hot water beneath (26-28C) for 2 hours or when size doubles.

• OBSERVATION: I could barely see lamination.. 🙁

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We can see that after proofing, these two fillings with red bean inside mochi had been squeezed out

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Step 6: brush with egg again before baking. Bake at 400F for 10mins, 375F for 10-12mins.

• browned easier this time, so the baking is adjusted:
  • 400F, 8mins
  • 375F, 7mins
  • 355F, 7min

Wobbly test before baking:

Baking in oven:

Step 7: remove from oven, brush with diluted honey in water and cool for 15mins

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Step 8: cover one half of croissant, dust the open side with matcha powder; cover the matcha part, dust the other side with sugar powder. Since matcha powder is slightly bitter, sugar powder can balance out the bitterness

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READY TO SERVE!! Enjoy!

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OBSERVATION:

• the dough lamination was wetter, either dough more moist than usual, or could have bake even longer