No flaking on the croissant!

This crescent moon king of pastries is light and buttery and is a perfect cross between bread and pastry, writes Avin Thaliath

Nothing can beat waking up to the smell of freshly cooked food! Fresh bakes make your mornings so much better and go perfectly well with your morning coffee. Yes, I know, you’ve already started to imagine an assorted bunch of almond and chocolate croissants, their rich and buttery flavour filling up your senses, plated alongside your morning drink...a lovely morning indeed! Croissants are very much native to Danish pastry but much lighter and flakier in nature because they are made from yeasted dough and are then laminated with butter. Known for their rich buttery flavour and flaky texture, croissants are an all-time favourite among all age groups. It is in fact, considered the ‘king of pastries’.

Somehow, the world thinks that the French have given us croissants. Maybe because, just like the name of the dessert, French cuisine is so sophisticated and modern that it’s termed to be an ‘intangible cultural heritage’ by UNESCO. However, not many know that croissants were adopted by the French but originated in the region of Vienna, Austria. Croissants, Danish pastries and the like are referred to as Viennoiserie which in French means “from the region of Vienna”. Incidentally, Kipferl is considered to be the ancestor of croissants and originated in the 13th century. Both these desserts share the same shape but differ in texture and taste. Kipferl is more on the denser side and has a less flaky texture compared to that of croissants. As history goes, the croissant was invented during the period of 1683, when war broke out between the Ottoman Turks and the people of Vienna. The Turks attempted to tunnel underneath the great walls of Vienna for an attack. Luckily, bakers who were working late at night, heard the sound of the enemy digging the ground and at once alerted the city army. Help also came immediately from Poland along with King John III and together, both armies defeated the Turks. To celebrate this victory over the Turks, bakers from Vienna created a pastry that symbolised the crescent moon that was marked on the Turkish flag. The Kipferl, meaning ‘crescent shape’ in German became the shape of the product. Eating a croissant was and still is an act of pride for the Austrians; a culinary re-enactment of their victory over the Turks, as literal as eating up their enemy.

The Croissant-French crossover happened in the year 1770 when the princess of Austria, Marie Antoinette was asked for her hand in marriage by Louis XVI from France. The princess accepted the proposal and got married to the king at the age of 14. After a few months of marriage and staying in France, the princess fell homesick and missed her Austrian cuisine. The royal bakers curated a version of the Kipferl that was much lighter and flakier than usual in honour of their queen which was later named a croissant. When it comes to the making of a croissant, it is again a cross between bread and pastry. Just as the making of bread includes proofing, this dough is made with activated yeast and proofed with the help of a proofer, post which the dough’s temperature is brought down and chilled fat is laminated over the dough. It is then rolled into various folds, cut into a long triangle then shaped and baked. This might sound simple but the devil is in the details. So, here’s bringing you the science behind the making! There are three main factors that support the making of a good croissant: the proofing, the lamination of the dough and the steam released while baking it. If soft dough is used to make the croissant, it should contain a soft roll of fat that has less and a smaller structure of fatty acid. This will make the product light, airy and flaky. If the fat is too hard, the rolling of the dough becomes very difficult and if it is too soft, there will be a lot of moisture that the dough will absorb, making it sticky. Butter is ideally used for making the best croissant. An ideal temperature of 15-18 degrees Celsius is maintained in order to avoid the abuse of fat. After kneading, the dough is kept to rest in the chiller to help the glutens relax, making it easier for anyone to roll it out again, easily. The desired gluten content in the dough should be between 11.5-12.5%. A larger content of gluten would make the product hard and dense, while lesser could make the dough lose its elasticity and trap air when the pastry rises. This will lead to the formation of no definite layers while baking.

(The author is India’s leading pastry chef based in Bengaluru who exudes the vibe of a guru — calm, peaceful and funny. A pandora of knowledge, he is Master Shifu in disguise — a modern teacher who imbibes the art & science of baking. He’s an avid reader and a tabla player who loves to sway to his own tunes!)