A First Croissant is like a First Kiss

A long-time bucket list item finally gets crossed off

Good morning,

Yesterday I started on something I’ve meant to do for the past year: I made croissants from scratch!

For a first time I was very, very pleased with this.

This wasn’t about cost savings or lack of access to good pastries. I would say the average cost of a croissant in Seattle or San Francisco is about $5. I know the difference between a bad croissant (like a soft deflated balloon), an average croissant (it’s tasty but not exciting), and an amazing one (crispy outside, pillowy inside, buttery and ecstasy in every bite). I do admit I like not having to drive more than I need to, and it’s actually fun to talk on the phone with a friend while laminating dough.

How was making my first croissant like a first kiss? There was anticipation, a feeling of knowing this is what I want. Not knowing exactly what will happen, if there will be good vibes or bad but definitely wanting to find out. Now that I’ve had this first croissant, I want to kiss bake them again! There will be improvements, but overall this was a treat halfway between average and amazing which means it’s worth it for me to get the kinks out.

If you also want to bake croissants from scratch with a recipe from one of the best bakeries in San Francisco, get it from this book: Tartine: A Classic Revisited.

I couldn’t help but do a little research on the best croissants out there, and I found out that earlier this year there was a contest for best croissant sponsored by the Consulat Général de France à San Francisco. Here was the list of contenders:

• Fournée Bakery

• The Midwife and the Baker

• Jane the Bakery

• Kahnfections

• Le Marais Bakery

• Maison Nico

• One House Bakery

• Thorough Bread and Pastry

From this list I have only tried Le Marais back when they were in Cow Hollow, but now I have a nice list to work from and explore over the next few months with the family.

Now on to the lessons learned. I only made two croissants up front yesterday, mainly with the thought that if something didn’t work out I’d have more material to work with; the rest of the batch is split between the fridge and the freezer.

I had a good deal of the butter melt out of the pastry. I mopped up the excess and popped the girls back into the over. Apparently this melted butter issue is a pretty common beginner’s issue and due to either something wrong during the the lamination process or not letting the dough proof long enough. I think my mistake was that the apartment was too cold; this morning as I’m typing this out I have a pan of hot water under two croissants proofing in the oven. Based on yesterday’s tasty result I’m pretty excited about having a hot croissant with my coffee.