Presenting ze “Coffee Croissant”
Reader Aaron of Hewn Bakery in Evanston, Illinois (a near-north suburb of Chicago) writes to say that he and his team have invented a new coffee croissant, created by infusing the détrempte with concentrated coffee. He was kind enough to invite me up to try one if I was still in Chicago and I certainly would if I wasn’t already sick with flu in Louisville. They’ll be debuting the new croissants this Wednesday. They were planning on tomorrow, but from what I understand Evanston, like Chicago, is presently encased in a single solid block of ice.
Another way to do it would be to infuse the butter with coffee, like in this recipe http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/coffee-butter
Cool!
Thanks Matt!
– Joe
Actually Matt, it occurred to me that either one of those techniques used in a kouign amann might produce a lovely laminated café au lait sort of dealio…no?
http://joepastry.com/category/pastry/kouign-amann/
Might be worth a try!
– Joe
The next cronut?
Who knows?
coughinut or coffinut?
I’m the cough-nut. At least this week. I need to drink more fluids.
Keep going Brian, I’m not yet ready to hire you for a naming project but you’re getting there.
– Joe
if you’re unaware of her, there’s an engineer/obsessive compulsive home baker who has a blog on thefreshloaf.com. she has cracked the code for producing in a home kitchen croissants whose open, alveolar interior rivals that of the best croissants anywhere. it’s the sort of structure you find from lenotre and herme. and she even does it in the most adverse of conditions–in a small kitchen in the middle of a hot, humid Texas summer.
all of her tips on flour, butter, laminating techniques, shaping, rising and baking are well worth studying.
the cross-sectional photos of the finished products are really quite amazing for a home baker (and even most pros).
her recipes really do work. and you can easily adapt the them for dry yeast only instead of the sourdough starter she often uses.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/23342/croissant-sourdough-starter-txfarmer-vs-tx-summer
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/24772/whole-wheat-croissant-sourdough-starter-add-savory-fillings-case-it039s-not-rich-enough
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/22677/poolish-croissant-pursuit-perfection
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/31316/pumpkin-croissant-two-kinds-fillings
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/25291/julia-child039s-croissant-major-overhaul
Hey Ascanius! I’m well aware of The Fresh Loaf and read it regularly. I don’t think I’ve read these croissant bits but I will with interest. Thanks!
– Joe
Yes, totally agree with the txfarmer recommendation, not least because we are both nutty enough to do laminates in hot kitchens…
No question, that’s not easy. I learned to laminate that way, in a very warm production kitchen. I remember almost coming to blows with another employee there who kept putting hot pans of filling underneath my dough on a rack in the walk-in. My fists clench just thinking about it. 😉
– Joe
I’m big coffee addict, and I really love to try this one or perhaps you could post a recipe of “Coffee Croissant” in your next article. Will you? I would appreciate that. 😉
Hey Perry! I’m afraid I’d be doing Hewn bakery something of a disservice if I did that. But I think they accomplished their goal by replacing liquid with coffee extract wherever they could. There are other comment ideas in the comment fields…of working it into the butter as well. Give it a try and see what you come up with!
Cheers,
– Joe