Croissants, strawberry and ginger jam and a give away!

First things first, don't forget my giveaway....closing 30th June 2011!  So hop along and follow or leave me a comment!

I have been challenged to try out croissants from scratch.....so here goes my attempt.....I'm serving mine with warm strawberry and ginger jam which I made today.....it's warm, aromatic and just perfect with croissants on these frosty mornings in South Africa....

I will show you from scratch...just in case you thought I bought  them at the bakery....

 The Recipe for Easy Croissants.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup warm milk

1 tsp sugar

1 tablespoon yeast

1 cup flour

3/4 cup milk at room temp.

1 1/2 tsps salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg beaten

1/2 cup melted butter that has cooled

4 cups flour

1 cup Cold Butter

1 egg beaten with cold water

PREPARATION:

Stir warm milk and sugar together. Add yeast. Let stand 10 minutes. Stir well. Add flour; beat well. Add milk, sugar and egg. Beat until smooth. Add butter; beat and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, place the 4 cups of flour and the chilled butter. Cut butter into flour until pieces are the size of beans (not too small). Pour the liquid batter into the flour mixture; stir until moistened.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove from refrigerator. Press into a compact ball on a floured board and divide into 4 parts. Roll each into a circle 12" or 16".Cut each circle into 6 or 8 pie-shaped wedges. For each croissant roll a wedge towards the point.Shape into a crescent and place on ungreased baking sheet.

Let rise at room temperature until doubled.(May take 2 hours or more). Brush each with egg beaten with cold water. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Place croissants in oven. Lower temperature to 180 degrees C and bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden.

Recipe yeilds 24 croissants.




    Shel