This Surprisingly Easy Recipe Will Transport You to a French Bakery (2024)

FAQs

What country is the croissant from? ›

Through its many evolutions, food experts and historians agree that the croissant has become a uniquely French pastry. The French government even named it as the national French product in 1920. Many other countries also have their own spin-offs of the croissant.

Based on various laws on making bread over the last century, the 1993 le Décret Pain French decree states that traditional French bread must be made only from four main ingredients - good quality water, salt, a rising agent and wheat flour containing no more than 2.8% (in total weight) of bean, soya or malted wheat ...

Egg wash: Whisk an egg with some water, then brush it over the rolled croissants, which helps to add a lovely golden and shiny look to the baked croissants.

I wouldn't describe making homemade croissants as easy since there are multiple steps, and it does take at least half a day. But it's really not that hard either; and certainly simpler than flying to Paris, which is the only other way to enjoy these amazing pastries.

Originally a Viennese pastry!

Contrary to popular belief, the croissant is not a French invention (although France has adopted it as an icon of its gastronomy), but the result of a sequence of events in History. Its origins date from 1683. At the time, the Austrian town of Vienna was under siege by the Ottomans.

Croissants, a staple of French cuisine, are flaky, buttery pastries made from laminated dough.

In France, bakers pay careful attention to where their flour is made and which grains are used in the milling process. The result is usually softer, heartier, and tastier bread than can be found in other parts of the world. French flour tends to be made with a lower ash content than the flour from other countries.

Something that hits all five senses needs protecting, and that's exactly what the French government did back in 1993 with the Décret Pain. The law states that traditional baguettes have to be made on the premises they're sold and can only be made with four ingredients: wheat flour, water, salt and yeast.

The traditional baguette is the perennial favourite, but do try some rustic bread types. Remember in France bread is bought fresh every morning to be eaten that day, so no storing up for 3 or 4 days, this is a fresh crispy product for immediate consumption.

An egg wash is simply a whole egg, egg yolk, or egg white mixed with a small amount of water, milk, or cream. Often, a single beaten egg is also used; though it might be a bit trickier to brush on evenly, it will provide a luscious, dark sheen nonetheless.

What is the egg wash after baking? ›

Egg wash is beaten egg used to glaze or seal baked goods or to adhere breading to foods like cutlets. Whole egg is beaten alone or with another liquid like water, milk or cream. The wash is brushed over the surface of goods like breads, pastries and pies to give them a shiny browned appearance after baking.

And remember egg wash isn't just for pie crust; use it on any dough you'd like to give high shine, including dinner rolls, hand pies, brioche buns, and puff pastry or croissants.

Consuming too much saturated fat can raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in the blood. Croissants can raise these LDL cholesterol levels due to their high amount of butter, and therefore, saturated fat found in croissants.

If the layers are too thin, the steam generated during baking may not be adequately trapped within the dough, resulting in a less pronounced honeycomb structure.

A croissant (UK: /ˈkrwʌsɒ̃, ˈkrwæsɒ̃/, US: /krəˈsɒnt, krwɑːˈsɒ̃/; French: [kʁwasɑ̃]) is a French pastry made from puff pastry in a crescent shape. It is a buttery, flaky, viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl, but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough.

“The croissant began as the Austrian kipferl but became French the moment people began to make it with puffed pastry, which is a French innovation.”

It is widely understood that the croissant of today is a descendent of the 'kipferl' (or kipfel) - an Austrian, crescent-shaped pastry that resembles a thinner, denser croissant made with a generous amount of butter and often served topped with sugar and almonds.

The croissant as we know it today is a French adaptation of an Austrian pastry. In 1839, August Zang introduced Viennese baking, including the Austrian kipfel, to Paris. Soon the crescent-shaped kipfel became popular enough that Parisian bakers made it and simply named it “crescent” in French: croissant.