"Tartine"

[jamesglu]

So I bought Tartine several months ago and have been enjoying baking with it, particularly the sourdough bread recipe so I decided to try out the croissant recipe. Having now made two batches, I think the recipe has the potential to be a winner, but I have a few questions. For one, does anyone know what you can do to make pounding the butter a bit less messy? (The way I've done it, the cubes of butter fly all over the kitchen.) Also, I find that the baking time is WAY too long. I don't mind 'bien cuit', but if I bake them at 425F for 30 minutes they come out more like 'brûlée'.

Finally, does anyone have any recommendations regarding freezing the croissants after shaping them? I don't really often have need of as many croissants as the recipe makes (especially since I tend to make them smaller than the recipe instructs).

[Mjx]

I've been gearing up to try CI's croissant recipe, although I haven't done it yet.

RE:butter, they instruct to beat the cold block flat with a rolling pin until it is pliable, then roll it out in a parchment paper envelope, to make an easy-to work with shape.

RE:freezing, the CI recipe says to form them, put them, 1"/2.5cm apart on a parchment covered baking sheet, cover with plastic, freeze for about 2 hours, then transfer to a zip-lock plastic bag; they may be kept frozen for up to 2 months.

The instructions for the rising and baking of the frozen croissants are, proceed as you normally would with your formed croissants, but increase the rising time by an hour or two.

[jamesglu]

Thanks for the reply! I think that keeping the butter in a single block would be a lot better than cutting it up into bits, so I may try that next time. And re the freezing, that is actually pretty much what I did--I froze them on trays, put them in bags and stored, and then the night before I want to use them I place them in the refrigerator, taking them out as soon as I'm up (which is usually ridiculously early) so that they have a bit of time in a room-temp environment before baking them. How long does CI say to bake them for, and at what temperature?

[Mjx]

You're welcome CI (January & February 2012, pp. 19–21) says to preheat the oven to 425 F° (218 C°), put the croissants in the oven, and reduce the temperature to 400 F° (204 C°), and bake them for 12 minutes, then rotate and switch the positions of the two baking sheets, and bake for a further 8 to 12 minutes.

The time given in the Tartine recipe is a bit longer, but the real issue may be your oven temperature, which may be higher than that indicated by the temperature knob/button array (from what I've both read and personally observed, this is extremely common, far more common than these accurately indicating of the oven temperature). The only way to determine/resolve this is to get an accurate oven thermometer, and use that as your guideline, instead of the temperature knob/button array.

[jamesglu]

Mjx, I do not rely on the knob of my oven for anything other than a very vague estimate of what the internal temp will eventually be. For one thing, I have two ovens--one is a gas oven that (since I'm in New Zealand) only has gas-mark numbers anyway, so I have to check my oven thermometer inside the oven to determine what temperature I have set, and the other is a professional electric fan oven with steam injection. The latter is the one I use for baking most things, and I used it for the croissants, setting it at 165C and baking for around 12-14 minutes with an occasional injection of steam. This, I found, was the 'sweet spot' for baking my croissants, and it's what I'd use in the future. For one batch I did use the gas oven, set at 180C, and found that after as little as 20 minutes the croissants were nearly burnt.

[flourgirl]

Lovely croissants! I have the book too. I can highly recommend the Banana-Date Teacake.

[FrogPrincesse]

I haven't made the bread from Tartine yet, but I made a couple of recipes so far.

The white gazpacho is wonderful. It is made from bread and almonds, flavored with garlic, and topped with a red gazpacho garnish (red grapes, cucumber, cherry tomatoes). It is very elegant and absolutely delicious.

Last night I was looking for a way to use a bunch of vegetables from my CSA which included collard greens, carrots and onions. I made the Tourin, a rustic soup with torn pieces of stale bread, served with an egg, fried or poached (I opted for a poached egg Arzack-style).

It was very comforting and the egg was a nice touch as it thickened the soup. I used homemade chicken broth and I blanched the collard greens before adding them to the rest of the vegetables.

[jamesglu]

So here's another question. I have been baking the basic country sourdough for a long time now, and on a regular basis the loaves sort of "explode" in the oven, producing an unsightly bulge on one side (occasionally on top) and resulting in a big gaping hole on the inside. Clearly there is too much rising going on too quickly, but I'm not sure what to do to prevent it. If it's of any relevance, I am baking the breads in a commercial Turbofan oven with steam injection, starting off at 260C and reducing the temp to 220C when the loaves go in, and putting a lot of steam into the oven at regular intervals for the first 10-14 minutes of baking.

[runwestierun]

So here's another question. I have been baking the basic country sourdough for a long time now, and on a regular basis the loaves sort of "explode" in the oven, producing an unsightly bulge on one side (occasionally on top) and resulting in a big gaping hole on the inside. Clearly there is too much rising going on too quickly, but I'm not sure what to do to prevent it. If it's of any relevance, I am baking the breads in a commercial Turbofan oven with steam injection, starting off at 260C and reducing the temp to 220C when the loaves go in, and putting a lot of steam into the oven at regular intervals for the first 10-14 minutes of baking.

Do you slash the loaves before baking?

[jamesglu]

Yes, I do! Should have mentioned that before.

[minas6907]

Are you confident your shaping your loaves properly?

[jamesglu]

Yes, since I follow the same technique each time, and the "bread tumours" only appear occasionally.

[minas6907]

Are you starting the baking from a cold loaf? Can you give us more details about your process?

[jamesglu]

Here's my process: I keep the dough in a plastic box until it has increased in volume by around 30% or so (estimating; it's usually around 4 hours, unless my kitchen is especially cold). Then I follow the instructions and fold it into a boule shape (more or less) and place in bannetons until it has again risen a bit (usually 3+ hours; the ones most recently rose at very cold room temperature overnight while covered with a plastic bag). Then it goes into a very hot oven (260C), which gets infused with steam and then the temperature is reduced to 220C (this is in a professional oven) and it bakes for 24 minutes, during the first 14 minutes of which time I infuse steam every few minutes.

[flourgirl]

I haven't made the bread from Tartine yet, but I made a couple of recipes so far.

The white gazpacho is wonderful. It is made from bread and almonds, flavored with garlic, and topped with a red gazpacho garnish (red grapes, cucumber, cherry tomatoes). It is very elegant and absolutely delicious.

Last night I was looking for a way to use a bunch of vegetables from my CSA which included collard greens, carrots and onions. I made the Tourin, a rustic soup with torn pieces of stale bread, served with an egg, fried or poached (I opted for a poached egg Arzack-style).

It was very comforting and the egg was a nice touch as it thickened the soup. I used homemade chicken broth and I blanched the collard greens before adding them to the rest of the vegetables.

It looks fabulous!