No. 3414

Crescents with Butter—Fine

Croissants Fins au Beurre

Make a rather firm leaven with half an ounce of yeast and six ounces of flour; let it rise in a mild temperature. Arrange twelve ounces of flour in a circle, lay a little salt in the center and moisten with a small quantity of milk, adding four ounces of butter; dilute the paste, keeping it rather firm, then add the leaven; when this is well mingled lay the paste in a vessel, cover over and leave to rise slowly, without any heat; after it is well risen cut it up on a floured table and divide it in parts the size of an inch and three-quarters diameter ball; mold each one in a round form and flatten with a roller; spread to a thin oval an eighth of an inch in thickness. With the left hand take hold of the nearest end and with the right roll the opposite end, then bring the two ends quickly together at the same time, being careful to draw the paste lightly with the left hand so as to keep the cake quite thin; this operation should be deftly and speedily performed. As soon as a band is rolled lay it on a baking sheet, ranging it in the shape of a crescent. Leave the paste to rise slowly once more, then wet with a brush dipped in water and push into a hot oven; after removing dampen the tops with fecula cooked in water to the consistency of a light syrup, applying it with a brush; this helps to give gloss to the cakes.

← No. 3413 Bread with Butter, Varsovian Bakery & Breads No. 3415 Crowns →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer's croissant predates the laminated, book-folded pastry of the twentieth century: the butter goes into the dough rather than between layers, so the result is closer to a rich enriched roll than to today's flaky crescent. The hinge is the shaping — the oval must be stretched thin and rolled fast, before the warm dough slackens.

Total flour and scalingSix ounces in the leaven plus twelve in the dough is 18 oz, roughly 4 cups of all-purpose or a little over 500 g. The milk is left unmeasured; expect 200-240 ml to bring it to a firm, slightly stiff dough.
YeastHalf an ounce means fresh compressed yeast, about 14 g. Substitute roughly 1 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast, all of it in the leaven as written.
The leavenSix ounces of flour and 14 g yeast with just enough liquid to make a firm ball is a stiff yeasted pre-ferment, not a sourdough. Let it double at room temperature, an hour or so; "mild temperature" appears to mean no more than a comfortable room, not a proofing box.
ButterFour ounces (115 g) is worked into the dough with the milk. Have it soft but not melting, and do not attempt to laminate it in — the recipe does not fold, and the texture is meant to be close-crumbed and rich.
Piece sizeA ball an inch and three-quarters across is about 45-50 g of dough, giving roughly 17 or 18 crescents from this batch. Roll each to a thin oval an eighth of an inch thick before the final stretch-and-roll.
Slow rise, no heatBoth the bulk rise and the shaped proof are specified as slow and unheated. A cool room, or an hour in the refrigerator for the bulk, keeps the butter firm and makes the thin ovals far easier to handle.
"A hot oven"Around 425-450F. Bake 12-15 minutes for pieces this size, until deep gold; the water brushed on before baking wets the surface rather than colouring it.
Fecula glazeFecula is starch, potato starch in Ranhofer's kitchen; cornstarch will serve for a glaze of this kind. Cook a teaspoon or so in a few tablespoons of water to a light syrup and brush the crescents while hot for the shine. This is a starch glaze, not an egg wash, and it does not darken.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's in New York, published The Epicurean in 1894. The crescent shape is generally traced to the Viennese kipferl, said to have reached Paris with Austrian bakers in the nineteenth century; the laminated, butter-in-layers croissant that the word now describes is a later development, and this recipe enriches the dough directly with butter and shapes it by stretching and rolling a thin oval. The starch glaze gives gloss without egg, and does not scorch in a hot oven.