Croissants France. Real French croissants. Chef's Recipe: Croissant

Delicious homemade baking keeps the aromas of your home, the warmth of your beloved hands and an incomparable feeling of comfort. In order for it to turn out exactly like this, you need to put in a lot of work, patience and care. And it’s worth starting with the right test.

Creation of the dough

As is known, various pastries, whether it is a cake, cookies or croissants, requires an individual approach. The dough for each product is prepared according to a special recipe, observing many subtleties. In this regard, croissants, beloved by many, are one of the most capricious types of baked goods. They are made exclusively from puff pastry. It is its preparation that is the most labor-intensive step. First a piece butter weighing 350 g, wrap it in cling film sprinkled with flour, form a layer measuring 10 × 12 cm and put it in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, dilute 40 g of yeast yeast in 200 ml of milk. Separately mix 500 g of sifted flour, 2 g of baking powder, 30 g of powdered sugar and vegetable oil, a pinch of salt. Then combine the yeast with the resulting mass and knead the dough.

Manual dexterity and endurance

Rolling out the dough requires special patience. We form a layer of dough measuring 12 × 20 cm, wrap it in film and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Then place the layer on a floured surface, place butter on one half of it, cover with the other half and pinch the edges. Carefully roll out the layer from the middle back and forth, strictly in one direction. The result should be a rectangle 1 cm thick. Visually divide it into three identical transverse parts and fold it into three layers. We wrap the layer with film again and put it first in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, and then in the freezer for 15 minutes. We repeat the procedure at least 5 times. At the same time, we roll out the dough perpendicular to the direction it was last time.

Secrets of the masters

To make croissants tender, tasty and crumbly, it is important to take into account several subtleties. French confectioners share their secrets of mastery. Butter should be chosen with a fat content of 82% or higher. Its volume should be approximately a third of the volume of flour. Even better is to take flour and butter in equal proportions. Give preference to “live” yeast and fresh flour from durum varieties wheat. Most importantly, the butter and dough should be the same consistency before rolling. It is recommended to knead croissant dough slowly, otherwise a large amount of oxygen can harm it. The ideal temperature for kneading is 15–16 °C. But proofing croissants requires a temperature of 25–26 °C.

Magic with a recipe

Agree, no matter how much we want to please our loved ones delicious pastries, time is sometimes sorely lacking. This is exactly what they came up with ready dough. But in our case it will be something special, namely a special dough for homemade croissants under the “Eat at Home” brand. This is real butter puff pastry, prepared from high-quality products according to all canons. It is made with the addition of a large amount of butter, which gives the croissants a tempting creamy flavor. In addition, the dough does not require additional rolling at all, which will significantly save your time and effort. In addition, the dough packaging has an unusual format. It is made in the form of a cookbook, on the back of which it is clearly stated step by step recipe making croissants.

Chocolate hit

Connoisseurs French pastries They know: real croissants are made without filling. However, this does not prevent gourmets around the world from choosing a wide variety of fillings for them. Croissants with chocolate are especially popular. So, cut the finished dough 3–5 mm thick into isosceles triangles with a base of 10 cm and sides of 20 cm. Grate a bar of dark chocolate and place a small amount on the base of the triangle. Roll the croissant and give it a crescent shape. We form the remaining triangles in the same way. Let the croissants rest for half an hour. Then we place them on a baking sheet with parchment, coat them with a mixture of yolk and milk with a brush. Bake croissants in an oven preheated to 200°C for 20–25 minutes.

Homemade croissants prepared with care and love will be a wonderful treat for a family tea party. They will give your loved ones a feeling of a real holiday, which will warm you with warmth for a very long time.

Do you want something tasty? We found 5 great recipes airy French croissants that fly away in an instant. It takes a lot of time to implement them, but the result is incomparable. While you select the filling to taste, prepare the necessary equipment and arm yourself with the necessary products, we will tell you how to bake the most delicious croissants

The main difference between any delicious croissant is airy dough, consisting of several thin layers. You can find many options for its preparation on the Internet. We propose to take as a basis the recipe for pâte à croissants from Picasso culinary arts- Pierre Herme - from his book Le LAROUSSE des DESSERTS. The latter was first released in France in 1997 and has become the bible of confectionery.

Products needed to prepare 500 g of dough: 15 g butter with a fat content of 82% or higher, 5 g baker's yeast, 5-6 tbsp. l. cool water, 210 g flour (type 45), 1 tsp. salt without a slide, 2 tbsp. l. granulated sugar, 1 tbsp. l. milk powder and 125 g butter at room temperature.

Process for preparing puff pastry:

• 1. In a small saucepan or saucepan over low heat, melt 15 g of butter. Sift the flour into a separate bowl, add salt, sugar and powdered milk(may not be used). Add melted butter and yeast dissolved in water to the dry mixture. Knead the dough by hand (from the outside in) until smooth and form into a ball. If the dough is too tight, you can add a little water.
• 2. Cover the bowl with the dough cling film and leave in a warm place for about 1-1.5 hours until it doubles in size. When the dough has risen, knead it thoroughly to remove any accumulated air. Then place the dough back into the bowl, cover with film and refrigerate for 1 hour. After the specified time has passed, it should “grow” again. Punch down the dough again and send to freezer for half an hour.
• 3. Remove the frozen dough from the freezer and roll it into a thin rectangular layer. It is desirable that the length of the sheet be at least three times its width. Knead well-softened butter (but it should not flow!) in a separate bowl, and then using a silicone spatula or spatula, apply half of it to 2/3 of the surface of the dough and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Then fold the sheet from the edges to the center (first fold the “dry” side, and then the oiled one) and place the resulting piece in the freezer for 30 minutes, and then in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• 4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and repeat the procedure: roll the dough into a rectangle, grease 2/3 of the sheet with oil, etc.

As a result of simple manipulations, you will have light and airy dough in your hands, from which you can bake amazing croissants. No worse than in the best pastry houses in Paris. The main thing is to try hard.

How to form croissants from dough?

Let us again use the precious advice of Pierre Hermé. Prepared puff pastry yeast dough, which spent a total of 5.5 hours in the cold, roll out into a layer 6 mm thick. Cut triangles from the dough with sides approximately 14 * 16 * 16 cm.

Make a small cut at the base of each triangle, place the filling (if using) and roll the dough from the base to the top, carefully forming a crescent shape from the dough.

Secrets to successful baking of croissants

Before going into the oven, the croissants must rise well and increase in volume. This will take about an hour. In order for the dough to acquire an appetizing golden crust during baking, before proofing the croissants should be brushed with egg yolk, beaten with a small amount of water (water may not be added).

Bake croissants in an oven preheated to 220 degrees. After 5 minutes, the temperature in the oven should be reduced to 190 degrees. In 10 minutes, the fluffy bagels will be ready!

We've sorted out the dough, now it's time to talk about the fillings. They can be very different: salty or sweet. Or you can cook croissants “empty” and come up with a filling for them afterwards. It will also be very tasty.

Alsatian croissants from Pierre Hermé

Required Products: 90 g sugar, 500 ml water, 70 g each almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts+ for glaze 150 g of powdered sugar, 60 ml of water.

Preparation: Prepare a syrup from 70 g of granulated sugar and 500 ml of water, and then add pre-chopped nuts mixed with 20 g of sugar. The filling is ready. All that remains is to simply apply it to the prepared dough triangles.

After baking, decorate the croissants with glaze if desired. Its preparation does not take much time and effort: just whisk powdered sugar with water.

Croissants with pistachios

Necessary products for 30 pcs.: 300 g ground almonds, 100 g powdered sugar, 4-5 egg whites, for flavoring Eau de fleur d'orange or vanilla extract + for decoration 1 egg white and chopped pistachios.

Preparation: Mix almonds and powdered sugar, add orange blossom or vanilla extract to the mixture and add in small portions egg whites(no need to beat). The result should be a soft and pliable nut dough that will be an excellent filling for croissants.

Once you have formed the crescents, brush the tops with egg yolk and then gently roll in the pistachio flakes.

Croissants with Nutella

1 small jar of Nutella, 1 egg yolk.

Preparation: Croissants with Nutella are a great solution when all your energy is spent on preparing the dough or you don’t have time left to prepare the filling. Or maybe you just adore chocolate spread. So, all that is required is to apply a small amount of Nutella to the prepared dough triangles and brush the croissants with egg yolk before baking. That's all!

P.S. If desired, you can add chopped nuts to the filling.

Croissants with smoked salmon

Ingredients needed for 6 servings: 180 g smoked salmon (strips), 200 g cream cheese, 1 egg yolk, green onions, salt and pepper to taste + sesame or poppy seeds for decoration.

Preparation: Place the cream cheese in a bowl, add salt, pepper and chopped green onions. Using a spoon or spatula, apply the resulting mixture onto each dough piece, place a slice of smoked salmon on top and form croissants. Before baking, brush the tops of the bagels with egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds (or poppy seeds).

If you reduce the size of the triangles, you can bake cute and very tasty mini-croissants.

Croissants with Roquefort and raisins

Ingredients needed for 4 servings: 100 g Roquefort, 40 g raisins, 1 egg yolk.

Preparation: Everything is as simple and fast as possible. Place a large piece of Roquefort on each piece of dough. Walnut and a few highlights. The raisins can be pre-steamed to make them softer. Before placing in the oven, brush the tops of the croissants with beaten egg yolk.

Bon appetit!

Do you like Roquefort? We suggest you cook!

I was somehow carried away by Switzerland (how can you not be carried away by it, right?) and completely forgot to tell about our meeting with pastry chef Laurent Boursier, quality director of the Volkonsky bakery chain.

Just a week before my trip, the Volkonsky cafe-bakery on Sretenka organized an incredible thing: Laurent Boursier himself personally shared with us the secrets of delicious croissants. Of course, anyone who has tried to make croissants themselves at least once in their life will understand that it is not enough to know the subtleties and secrets; a lot depends, of course, on experience. The perfect croissant is not easy. A real croissant is akin to art. And it turns out that this art was not invented by the French at all. Surely many of you are surprised now, right?

So, let’s ask questions and listen to the master. And at the end, we get the dough recipe from the maestro himself.

It was not the French who first produced the croissant; they did not invent it. But they brought it to perfection!
Then who? Who is the creator of this insanely airy, crispy, fragile, porous, melt-in-your-mouth work of art?
The main culprits of our... (sorry, I couldn’t resist, it just so happens that if we have something extra here and there, the croissant is to blame) are actually the Austrians. There are several official origin stories. But in both cases, the Austrians are to blame. One version says that even during the period of the Ottoman Empire, baking in the shape of a month was known; allegedly, during the siege of Vienna by the Turks, as a result, as a sign of victory, Austrian bakers baked a product in the shape of a crescent. This is the ancestor of the modern croissant. According to another version, the croissant came to France from Austria: a certain Monsieur Zang moved to live in Paris in the 19th century and opened his first bakery there, where they sold puff pastries, bagels and croissants prepared by his bakers using technology with the addition of sugar and butter to the dough. By the way, brioche, another symbol French cuisine, also originally from Austria. What new did the French bring? They began making croissants using yeast. The Austrians did not add them. A large amount of butter and yeast is what distinguishes a real croissant from its bagel ancestor.

Monsieur Laurent first cuts a bagel and then a croissant and uses examples to explain how they differ. And then he carefully unrolls the croissant into a ribbon. For what? Only the right croissant can open up like that, this is the pinnacle of skill!

Laurent also showed us a raspberry croissant, which uses raspberries, egg whites, almond cream and sugar for the filling - they say it’s very tasty, but I haven’t tried it yet. The authorship belongs to Laurent, and it seems that this croissant even appeared first in Volkonsky, and only then in France! That's how it happens;) Next year they promise something new, but so far they haven't given away the secret.

Breaking off the tip of a croissant, a member of the Academy of Culinary Arts of France, the National Academy of Culinary Arts, the international club White Cap, the Eurocap and Eurogastronomy Associations, and many other high-profile international associations (you can’t remember them all) recalled how he once “observed something terrible”: a visitor to “Volkonsky” I ate a croissant with a knife and fork. Who is this "savage"? All in all, it's even worse than drinking a cappuccino in Italy at lunchtime. God forbid you do this somewhere in Paris, but it’s okay, it’s not every day that Laurent walks around Volkonsky. Still, he is a busy man: he manages four dozen bakeries in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny and Kyiv.

Now we get to the secrets.
Are you listening? Are you recording? Are you ready to join the art?

1. Kneading. Oxygen in the dough is very important. But in this situation, the main thing is not to overdo it; you shouldn’t use a lot of oxygen. Knead thoroughly, but do not overdo it.
2. Sourdough, there should be a little yeast, the principle is that the dough should rise slowly.
3. It makes no difference what kind of yeast you use - dry or pressed. It's important that they work.
4. The ideal temperature for kneading dough is 24 degrees, for rolling out - 16, and for proofing - 25-26.
5. When rolling, it is important to change the direction of the dough (rotate 90 degrees). This will make it more plastic, it will be easier to give in to each subsequent rolling (you only need to fold the dough 3 times and put it in the cold).
6. At the stage of combining dough with oil, the ratio of dough to oil should be 250-300 g per 1 kg of dough.
7. The dough and butter should be close in consistency: if the dough is too dense and the butter is soft, it’s a disaster. If the dough is soft and the butter is dense, this is not a disaster, but it is also bad.
8. The oil should have at least 82.5% fat content (we simply haven’t seen higher fat content, although someone said that it happens), and ideally 84% or more.
9. The thickness of the dough at the time of cutting the triangles should be 2.5-3 mm. When folding, they need to be slightly stretched.
10. The longer the proofing process, the better the taste.

And, of course, I wouldn’t be a food blogger if I hadn’t asked for the dough recipe.

Strong flour 1000g
Biological yeast 30 - 40g
Salt 20g
Sugar 90-110g
Eggs (optional) 1 pc.
Milk or milk+water about 6 dl
Folding oil 450-600g

KNEADING
Weigh and sift the flour.
Add salt, sugar and almost all the milk or a mixture of milk and water (you should use a little less water if the dough will be rolled out on a dough sheeter).
Next, add yeast diluted in a small amount of water.
Knead the dough properly until it becomes elastic and elastic. The dough should easily come away from the sides of the container in which it is kneaded.
FIRST RISE OF THE DOUGH
Depending on the time of year, start your first batch at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Note: Cover the dough with a towel to prevent a crust from forming.
Then put the dough in the refrigerator (+5 °C) and leave it there until the next day.
If you want to use the dough the same day, leave it to rise for 1 hour, then place it in the refrigerator for a few minutes to make folding easier.
FOLDING
Roll out the dough into a rectangle approximately 1cm thick.
Spread the butter over half of the dough, rolled out into a rectangle.
Cover the half of the rectangle on which the butter lies with the other half. Align and “seal” the edges using a rolling pin.
Fold in three layers or in half twice.
SHAPING
After proofing for a few minutes, roll out the dough into a rectangle 32 cm long and approximately 3 mm thick.
Note: Sometimes it is necessary to cut the dough into two parts.
Cut the rectangle into two strips 16 cm wide.
Place one strip on top of the other, first sprinkling them with flour.
Cut triangles with a 12cm base, weighing approximately 40-50g.
Roll up the triangle, starting from the base, without pressing too hard. Work with both palms, stretching the dough slightly in opposite directions.
7. You can use a knife to cut the base of the triangle to make rolling easier.
Place crescent-shaped croissants on a dampened baking sheet: 20 on a 60x40 baking sheet. Try to place the croissants with the tips facing down.
Lightly coat the croissants with melange.
SECOND RISE OF DOUGH
Place the baking sheets in a proofing cabinet (35 - 40 °C).
Before the croissants finally rise, remove them from the proofing to give them the opportunity to “gain strength”.
Brush the croissants with melange again.
BAKERY
Set the oven temperature to 250 °C. Bake for approximately 12 minutes. Open the oven doors at the end of baking.

Wow! Serious work ahead!
Have you changed your mind about trying it?

I brought croissants home. I really like them with greens and Parma ham for lunch or late breakfast. It makes a nutritious and tasty snack.
They also treated us and told us a little about baguettes.

A croissant is a baked product made from puff pastry dough in the shape of a crescent with various fillings inside.

Croissants are the invention of Viennese bakers of the 17th century; the shape of the croissant symbolizes the Islamic crescent. Viennese bakers made the first croissants to celebrate the victory over the Turkish Empire in 1863.

Baking croissants is a special science.

Real high-quality croissants should be prepared using only natural butter 82% fat

Who invented the croissant?

Modern croissant (fr. croissant) from puff pastry became the progenitor of a whole family of buns made from yeast dough.

It is his “children” who are now called snail bun, puff pastry “chasson” with applesauce or chocolate.

History has not preserved the name of the first inventor of the puff crescent for posterity.

The unusual bagel was initially perceived by customers as a newfangled phenomenon, a smart marketing ploy. However, over time, it was the croissant that was entrusted with the great mission of symbolism of the country, the birthplace of Dumas and Hugo.
The beautiful legend of the origin of croissants - “Viennese dough”, is rather an invented story by some romantic gourmet, but it also has a right to exist.

There is a story connected with the appearance of croissants, according to which the first croissants were baked by a certain baker who lived in Vienna in the 17th century (according to another version, in Budapest). During the siege of the city by the Turks in 1683, the baker was doing his usual night work when suddenly he thought he heard a dull noise coming from somewhere below. Instead of crossing himself and continuing to knead the dough, the smart baker turned to where he needed to be. The suspicions turned out to be justified - the noise was made by the Turks who were trying to dig a tunnel into besieged Vienna. The attempt was successfully stopped, and the baker chose a reward for his vigilance - the exclusive right to produce bagels in the shape of a crescent (a symbol of Islam).

How to bake a croissant?

Most recipes suggest making a croissant from yeast dough, which, after rising several times, is layered with butter, then folded several times and carefully rolled out. This is how puff pastry is formed. Real croissants may not turn out right the first time, since the secret of successful baking lies in exact adherence to the proportions of the recipe and proven technology, which comes only with experience.

Croissant dough, according to professional bakers, is alive, sensitive to the mood, weather, temperature and humidity in the kitchen. All ingredients for this baking are selected only of the highest quality: flour is sifted twice to saturate with oxygen, butter can only be of the highest fat content - at least 82%.

Ingredients for Viennese croissant

for test:

Butter - 50g
fresh yeast - 3 tbsp.
cold water - 100ml
flour - 650g
salt - 2 tsp.
sugar - 70g
milk - 100ml

for layering dough:

Butter - 250g

for coating:

Egg - 1 pc.
milk

Melt 3 tbsp over low heat. oils Dissolve the yeast in cold water. Place the sifted flour, salt, sugar, milk and melted butter into the bowl of a mixer and turn it on at medium speed. Knead for about 5 seconds until smooth. Add the yeast and knead for about 1 minute until the dough comes away from the sides. Remove the dough from the bowl and roll into a ball. Place on a floured board, cover with cling film and leave for 30 minutes. at room temperature.

Roll out the dough into a 20x30 cm rectangle, 6 mm thick, cover with film, and put in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Consistent quality of croissants is not achieved immediately.

The main rule in obtaining the desired “layeriness” of finished products is that the dough and butter should be the same consistency, that is, the butter should not spread and should hold its shape.

The finished yeast dough is rolled out into a thin layer and the first layer of butter is applied, while the edges of the dough remain ungreased.

The layer is folded in three, while the edges are pinched. Roll out the dough again into a rectangle and repeat the process with buttering and folding, put in the refrigerator for an hour, wrapped in film

Then divide the dough into two equal parts, each part is rolled into a circle and cut into six identical triangle parts.

Place a small piece of dark chocolate on each, a spoonful of jam, jam or sweet cottage cheese and wrap the croissants with a tube, giving it a crescent shape.

Place the finished bagels on a greased baking sheet at a distance of a centimeter from each other, cover them with foil or a clean towel and leave in a warm place until the volume doubles.

Brush with beaten egg after proofing and bake in the oven at 200 degrees until golden brown.

For croissants, they use both sweet fillings (cottage cheese, fruit, poppy seeds, cream, preserves, jam, nuts or honey), as well as cheese and vegetable fillings. Served fragrant pastries on plates or in wicker baskets with a clean linen napkin along with a cup of hot coffee or cocoa.

This is interesting

Professional bakers have a conditional division of croissants into “confectionery” and “from the bakery”. The confectioneries are baked in a combi oven, a special oven with ventilation, and are tender and crumbly. They should crumble, but within reason. If the croissant crumbles in your hands, this is considered a deviation from the norm. Bakery croissants are more elastic because they are made using a bread oven. The croissant, which looks like a piece of rubber that is not chewable, betrays the thrifty baker - cheaper margarine was added to the dough instead of butter.

Croissants belong to the so-called “Viennese pastries”, however, each European country has developed a special culture of preparing and serving fresh morning puff pastries in the shape of a crescent. Thus, in Italy, in numerous small cafes and restaurants after 11 o’clock in the morning you may not find flavored bagels: they are sold out instantly.

tell friends

I am writing the real ones because, out of curiosity, I looked for a recipe on google.ru, but all the recipes found in Russian do not match the original, either because of the proportions or because of the cooking technique.

For croissants and pan chocolate, yeast puff pastry is used.

Croissants and pan chocolate are a long process, but to be honest, they are worth it.

The convenient thing is that while the dough is proofing you can do something else. You won't believe the smell in the house. I think you should try it at least once.

I’m sharing the recipe, I hope it’s mine step by step description It will be useful for you to make your baking a success.

Start with half a portion: this makes it easier to roll out the dough, and when you get enough, move on to a whole portion (18 croissants or pan chocolate or 9 croissants + 9 pan chocolate).

Organization and timing

You can do everything on the same day, but I usually do all the steps before making the croissants on Saturday (steps 1 to 7 inclusive) and on Sunday morning I prepare the croissants and bake them (steps 8 to 10)

1. Kneading: 10-15 minutes

2. Proofing in a warm place at 30-35 degrees maximum: 30 minutes

3. First proofing in the refrigerator: 1 hour

4. The first phase of lamination of the dough: 15 - 20 minutes (at first it may be longer, but once you get the hang of it it will be 5 minutes)

5. Second proofing in the refrigerator: 30 minutes

6. Second phase of dough lamination: 15 minutes

7. Last (third) proofing in the refrigerator: 2 hours or better all night

8. Cooking croissants 15-20 minutes

9. Proof croissants in a warm place for 30 minutes

10. Baking croissants 15 minutes

2 important points:

1. Butter: at least 82% fat, preferably 84%

2. Flour of the highest grade and with a high % protein content in Italy is called farina manitoba in France farine di gruau in other countries I don’t know, in France they also advise mixing T45 flour with T55 flour in half and half. But in my opinion the best option Manitoba flour remains* with T45 flour (50% -50%)

Quantity of products for 18 croissants

500 grams of premium flour (if Manitoba flour is available*)

60 g granulated sugar

10 g salt

20 g fresh yeast

200 g lukewarm milk

60 g butter at room temperature

300 g butter 82% -84% fat,

1. Kneading the dough

I give 3 ways to knead the dough, depending on whether or not you have a mixer

With a kitchen aid type mixer or any other pastry mixer with a hook attachment

Using Worvek thermomics

By hand

Sift the flour into a large bowl (or the bowl of a mixer if making in a mixer). Gather it into a mound and make a depression in the center.

Mix salt and sugar in a large bowl on the side, so that when adding yeast there is no contact with either salt or sugar, as these 2 elements reduce the effect of yeast.

Crumble the yeast in a glass and dilute it with 200 grams of lukewarm milk. Gradually pour the yeast solution into the hole in the flour, mixing the dough (if in a mixer, then at low speed).

While kneading, add an egg and 60 grams of butter at room temperature to the dough. If you are making half a portion, beat the egg with a fork and whisk in 25 grams for the dough, and at the end you can brush the croissants with the remaining egg.

If you are making the dough in a kitchen mixer (Kitcheaid) with a hook, knead the dough for 8-10 minutes on medium speed (5 minutes for half a batch)

In the thermomix for 3-5 minutes if you make half a portion and up to 7 minutes if you make a whole portion.

If you do it by hand, then you need to knead the dough in a bowl in the beginning for 2-3 minutes, using your fingertips, until the oil is absorbed into the dough.

After this, place the dough on a clean table sprinkled with a little flour, take the dough in your hand and forcefully throw it on the table, then take it in the other hand and throw it on the table again, as if you wanted to hit it. And so on for 10-15 minutes.

This technique was used by all French bakers before machines appeared. The fact is that when classically kneading by hand, the dough heats up from contact with your hands and the yeast begins to ferment from the heat earlier than it should. At this stage we need to activate the gluten and not the yeast, so contact with hands is limited.

Continue beating the dough on the counter until it becomes smooth and elastic. You will feel with your hand how its consistency changes; it will become smoother and more tender.

Attention, regardless of whether you knead the dough by hand or in a machine, it is very important not to overwork it because if you knead it too long, it will become tough.

In order to check whether the dough is ready, you need to stretch it slightly with your fingers until it becomes thin to such an extent that it can be seen through, but it should not tear. If it breaks, you need to work on it some more. I check regularly so as not to overdo it.

2. Warm proofing

When the dough is ready, transfer it to a baking sheet lined with kitchen paper, cover with kitchen film and place in a warm place (25-30 degrees no more) to rise for 30 - 40 minutes. I put it in the oven, but since I have it at least 35 degrees, I leave it open.

3. First proofing in the refrigerator

When the volume of the dough has approximately doubled, press it lightly with your palm to release the air that was formed during the fermentation of the yeast.

Shape the dough into a rectangular shape, cover again with film and leave to proof in the refrigerator for about 45 - 60 minutes.

Now let's prepare the oil.

Place 300 grams of butter from the refrigerator in a plastic bag (or in kitchen film) and roll it out with a rolling pin, giving it the shape of a rectangle 1.5 - 2 centimeters thick.

Place the oil in film in the refrigerator. During subsequent layering, the dough and butter should be at the same temperature.

Let's start layering the dough

Place the dough on a floured table and roll out to a thickness of 1.5-2 centimeters, twice as long and slightly wider than the rolled out butter.

Place a rectangle of butter in the center of the dough and fold the dough over

Roll out to a thickness of 8 mm - 1 cm, all the time sprinkling flour on the table so that the dough does not stick, sweeping away excess flour with a brush before starting to roll.

The rectangle of dough should be approximately 15 cm wide and 45 cm long, in any case the length should be 3 times greater than the width, and the thickness should be 6-8 millimeters.

If you feel that your dough is losing its elasticity from the heat or is starting to tear and the butter is escaping, put the rolled out layer in the refrigerator for 20 minutes and then continue rolling it.

You will see that with experience it will take you less and less time to layer.

Fold the bottom end of the dough for 2/3 of its length and the top for the remaining third, solder the seam (tap it lightly with a rolling pin) and then fold it in half (book) This is called a double layer.

Lightly smooth the dough with your palm to release air and tap the side and center seams lightly with a rolling pin to ensure they stick.

Wrap the dough in film and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

After half an hour, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Place it on the table as it lay before the refrigerator, turn the dough 90 degrees (the central seam should be on the right for you, if you are left-handed, then on the left) and roll it out into a layer 6-8 mm thick.

Sweep off the excess flour and fold the dough into thirds (with a wallet). This is called a simple layer.

Wrap the dough in film and put it in the refrigerator for at least an hour, I leave it overnight

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it into a rectangular layer 8-6 mm thick. Trim the edges.

Cut the dough into triangles with a base of 12 cm and a height of 20 cm. Make a small cut of 1-2 cm in the middle of the base (6 cm), bend the triangle inward and put a small piece of dough cut from the edges into the middle. This piece will turn into an airy crumb when baked.

Starting from the wide end, roll the triangles into a bagel. Place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and place in a warm place to proof (30 - 45 minutes depending on temperature.