Being a croissant is hard
Conversation & Croissants
I was talking to my friend Ranee recently and we got to talking about croissants, because that’s just what happens sometimes.
You start talking about love and then voila! You are now speaking on the virtues of Parisian pastry — it happens, more than you realize.
I was explaining to her how in my baking class, croissants are hands down the most laborious recipe we had to make, mainly because of all of the steps you can’t skip.
There are no short cuts to croissant making.
And, do you know what the key ingredient is that makes them so delicious?
Butter. And patience. But, mainly butter.
You actually make something called a butter block, which is exactly what it sounds like, a brick of butter that you turn into a perfect 5 x5 square of butter, which you then fold into dough, and begin rolling it out.
Roll, flip, roll, flip … on and on it goes.
For those lucky enough to have a lamination machine, this can help, but you are still responsible for placing the dough in the machine and running it through about 50 times.
Like I said, there are no short cuts to croissant making.
Once you finish with the rolling. The croissant needs to sit and chill, for at least four hours, but overnight is best.
In the morning, when you arrive back in the kitchen, guess what?
It’s time for more rolling.
Once the dough is cut into squares, carefully shaped into its croissant form, it is then placed in a proofing oven where it can rest and rise properly before baking.
It’s in the proofing where the yeast in the croissant dough activates and turns it into what we all know as the light, airy and fluffy croissant. They look so simple to make, their beautiful curves, and shiny crust that crumbles in your hands once you bite into it. No one, but bakers, know the labor of love that comes with loving a croissant.
It was in the middle of this croissant conversation, after explaining the steps, that I turned to my friend and told her, “You know what? I’m a croissant.”
Let me explain.
Much like a croissant, it turns out that I also require a lot of rolling, turning, flipping, chilling and rest and relaxation — so, I can rise properly.
And like a croissant, once done there are all of these beautiful layers inside that came from hours (years) and hours (decades) of work (therapy) that are going to make me just as fluffy, airy and buttery as a croissant.
We laughed, cried a little and then realized that in the midst of conversation about croissants, we began to feel better about who we are. We are croissants.
And I have a feeling a lot of people relate to this, sure they may be some easy-going oatmeal cookies out there, dependable apple pies and a hearty coffee cake, but I think a lot of us can relate to the multilayered fragility of a croissant.
And maybe, just maybe some of us need extra time to proof in the oven, to become the people we need to be, and that’s a-ok.
I’d rather be a laborious croissant, then anything else in the pastry case, except for maybe a crumb doughnut, but that’s another existential conversation to have on a Saturday morning.
But for now, viva le croissant.