Rev 0.10, last revised: 04-Jan-09
WARNING: This recipe is still in process and not completely finished! Use at your own risk!
Makes about one dozen raised, sourdough Croissants
Although the time for preparation from start to finish is quite long, the actual working time required is blissfully short. These croissants are as flaky and tender as any you can buy at the pastry shop.
Combine well:
Let stand three hours or overnight, until expanded to about 3 cups.
Slice 2 sticks of cold butter (no substitutes!) into quarter-inch slices. Place side-by-side on a sheet of waxed paper, forming a square.
Dust with 1 tablespoon flour. Cover with another sheet of waxed paper and roll or press the butter between the papers until the slices are combined into a single slab of butter about 9" x 9". Chill the butter about 1 hour in the refrigerator.
Mix into the starter to form a soft dough:
Knead a few times on a well-floured surface, adding up to 1/4 cup more flour as necessary.
Cover and chill about 1/2 hour in the refrigerator.
On a well-floured surface, quickly roll out the cold dough into a rectangle about 15" x 10". Cut the cold butter in half and place one slab of butter across the center one-third of the dough. Fold one end of the dough over the butter, and then place the other half- slab of butter on it. Then fold the last third of the dough over the butter, forming a package of dough-butter-dough-butter-dough, about 10" x 5". Pinch the edges together so that there is no butter showing.
Quickly roll out this package of dough and butter into a rectangle about 10" x 15". Fold it again into thirds, forming a package about 10" x 5" and chill in the refrigerator at least an hour. Repeat the previous step once more (roll out to 10" x 15", fold in thirds, roll out and fold again, chill).
Prepare two large jelly-roll pans by lining them with waxed paper and grease the paper lightly. (Do not use cookie sheets with no rim.) Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 10" x 15". Cut the dough into six 5" x 5" squares, then cut each square diagonally forming two triangles, 5" x 5" x 7". Roll each triangle from the longest side to the point, stretching it until the point is about 6" from the longest side. Starting at the longest side, roll it up tightly. Turn so that the point is underneath the roll, then bend the two ends so that they curl around toward the point. Place each croissant on the pans.
Let rise in a warm place until doubled.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the croissants 20 minutes, then turn off the oven and let them sit in the warm oven an additional 10 to 20 minutes. (If you bake both batches at the same time, one on an upper shelf and one on a lower shelf, you might want to reverse their positions half-way through the baking time.) (If you wish, you may glaze the croissants, just before baking, with a glaze made of 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of milk.)
Enjoy!