When New York Metropolis restaurant Lafayette despatched me a field of their viral Supreme pastries final 12 months, I felt like I had cheated. These had been the pastries folks had waited on line hours for (one thing I, having lived by way of the Cronut, refuse to do), clamoring for the admittedly lovely rounds of pastry swirls topped with an evocative drip of ganache. The pastry has been featured on tv, swept TikTok, and mainly launched a croissant craze. However fortunate me, I had 4 displaying up on to my residence. These are the perks of being a meals author, I beamed to myself.
However upon first chew, one thing felt off. The Fibonacci fantastic thing about the laminated eddy gave solution to what tasted like pure butter streaked with moist paper. There was crispiness actually, however the croissant was additionally heavy and dense, such that I gave up a few third of the best way by way of. Style is subjective in fact, however I discovered myself getting angrier and angrier on the design of the pastry, and at each subsequent croissant pattern I’ve seen. There’s the triangular onigiri croissant (the onioissant, which I don’t need to say out loud), the dice croissant, and the croissant with cookie dough smashed on prime. In every iteration, I ask myself, why use croissant dough in case you’re not going to let it shine? It seems to be cool, however at what price?
I’m no pastry chef, however after taking one (1) croissant making class with my mother this winter, right here is my understanding of how laminated dough works. The signature texture of croissants is created by layering butter in between the dough, and folding it again and again till you’ve gotten lots of of tiny layers. When baked, the water within the butter steams out, forcing aside the dough and creating these ethereal, flaky sheets.
However completely cylindrical and dice croissants are made in tight molds, which at a sure level forestall these layers from increasing the best way they might if left unencumbered on a sheet pan. This incessantly has just a few detrimental results. Whereas the layers look cool pressed into neat sides and edges, the dearth of area between them means the steam coming off the butter has nowhere to go. Usually, this methodology leads to a denser, greasier pastry, the alternative of what croissants needs to be at their finest — buttery however nonetheless mild, with plenty of area between the layers. The identical factor occurs when bakers attempt to do an excessive amount of to croissants by piling, say, heavy cookie dough on prime — the layers are prevented from increasing.
The entire level of those developments is enjoying with texture and visuals. (And there are in fact variations of laminated pastry that require molds, just like the kouign amann, however crucially, the mould is simply across the sides, permitting the layered pastry to burst from the highest as a substitute of being trapped like they’re carrying pants two sizes too small.) Executed nicely, these pastries do have the power to supply mild layers and a satisfying buttery crunch. And even when they don’t meet that temporary, in case you just like the denser, slicker pastry that outcomes from a variety of these molds, there are clearly many individuals who agree with you.
However I’m prepared for the day when style and texture take priority over visuals. Or on the very least, the day when individuals who need a dense pastry don’t flip to croissant dough. Danishes are proper there!
