Kneading to Try Something New
Somehow we have made it into September in the year 2020. This year hasn’t gone as anyone had planned and I can’t believe that it’s halfway through September at this point either. This year has been a lot of sticking around the house and doing similar things day in and day out. It has been a year filled with having feelings of missing out on some of the things that we used to be able to do - traveling, attending sporting events, going concerts, working out at a gym, and so much more - but also trying to find new things to do to pass the time while at home under these new circumstances. Though I would rather do some of my favorite activities that I usually write about here on this blog, I did challenge myself and tried something brand new that was fun and different and rewarding for me. I made homemade croissants (with help from one of my favorite bake shops).
I enjoy baking, but something like a croissant always seemed like something out of reach for me to make at home. It is one of my go-to pastries when I’m having a “treat yo’self” morning, but was not something I ever thought to try to make at home. That changed when one of my favorite spots to pick up a croissant, Coyle’s Bakeshop, introduced an online croissant class earlier this year.
Coyle’s Bakeshop introduced the online croissant class back in May and it had an option to do it live along with the owner of the bakeshop showing you the step-by-step the process of how to make croissants, followed-up with a Q&A session over Instagram Live to help out with those baking from home. I had the intention to do this class live but a couple of things held me back. At that point I hadn’t had access to all the ingredients (importantly - yeast) or tools (also importantly, a rolling pin). I bought a rolling pin and eventually found some active dry yeast (remember how that was completely obsolete for months on end? It’s still not the easiest to find, but it is at least somewhat available these days) and told myself that I was going to come back and eventually try to do the class and make the croissants. Fast forward to September and I finally got myself to attempt to make some croissants.
Making croissants was a process. A multiple day long process, but an enjoyable one. I had the lovely written guide from Coyle’s Bakeshop and the videos of the process to follow along to, which gave me the confidence to go on this endeavor of baking something that seemed so out of reach. And when I say this endeavor took days, I mean it. The first day was the easiest, just making the dough and taking it through its first “turn”. The second day was a bit longer with working, shaping, turning, and chilling the dough multiple times in order to achieve those layers that you have in a croissant. Finally, the third day was the longest but most rewarding. On this final day, the dough went through some more work before I could finally cut it into to form the croissants and take them through the proofing and baking steps. This final day ended with the absolute most important part - taking a bite of a croissant that I made with my own two hands.
In the end, having a batch of homemade croissants and making my place smell like a bakery from all of the flour and butter that I used was extremely rewarding. It also gave me a greater appreciation for what it takes to make a croissant, which will definitely be kept in mind the next time I go to order one.
Making mornings better with homemade croissants.
Well I’m off to work on the continued taste testing of my batch of croissants and take a bit of a rest before I make my next batch (maybe chocolate ones next time?).