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Sourdough Mania

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Grub Street Publishing published her project Sourdough Croissants 10 Feb 09:00

Step 1
SWEET STIFF STARTER:
The preparation takes about a day and a half (at a temperature of 21°C/69°F).

Mix 10 g active starter with 30 g manitoba flour, 10 g water and 8 g soft brown sugar. Leave to rest until the starter has doubled in size. Then feed it again with
another 50 g manitoba flour, 20 g water and 12 g soft brown sugar. When it has
tripled in size, use the starter in the dough.
MAIN DOUGH:
500 g manitoba wheat flour (100%)
210 g cold milk (42%)
80 g water (16%)
20 g soft brown sugar (4%)
9 g salt (1.8%)
300 g butter for folding (60%)
EGG GLAZE:
1 egg
1½ teaspoons fresh cream
Pinch of salt
Step 2
Reserve the butter for the next day. Dissolve the salt, sugar and sweet stiff starter in milk and water, sift the flour into a mixer bowl and then slowly pour in the liquid ingredients. Knead it on the second setting for 7–10 minutes to obtain a dense, smooth dough. Refrigerate in a sealed container for 8 hours or overnight.
Step 3
The next day, bring the dough to room temperature for about 45 minutes (21°C/69°F). Meanwhile, roll out the butter to a 20-cm square. The dough and butter square should be at about the same temperature. The butter should be pliable but not too soft, otherwise put it into the freezer for 5 minutes. Roll the dough into a roughly 30 x 30-cm square so that it is large enough to enclose the butter.
Step 4
Seal the dough well around the butter so that it does not leak. Make three sets of letter folds or one set of book folds. After each fold, wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. After the
last fold, wrap the dough again in cling film and refrigerate until the next day. The next morning, leave the dough to stand at room temperature for 40–50 minutes, then roll it into a 4-mm thick rectangle, cut into triangles and roll into croissants.
Step 5
For the egg glaze mix all the ingredients together to form a runny/smooth glaze. Brush the croissants with the egg glaze and place them on a baking tray, cover them with cling film and leave to rise at room temperature until they have doubled in size (21°C/69°F for 8–10 hours). When sufficiently risen, they will be soft and puffy. Brush them again with the egg glaze and bake in a preheated
oven at 220°C/425°F/gas 7 for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature to 190°C/375°F/gas 5 and bake until they are nicely brown.

TIP
Choose a day when the room temperature is not too high: 20–21°C/68-69°F will be best. Don’t worry if you fail to make croissants on your first attempt – it usually takes at least three or four tries. You can put the rolling pin in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before use.