Thursday, September 29, 2011

THE DARING BAKERS’ SEPTEMBER, 2011 CHALLENGE: FRESH, FLUFFY, FRENCH

Yes I know I'm late for the Daring Bakers challenge this month...but as they say--better late than never! I actually finished them about a week ago but I went on a backpacking trip and then I came home to a fierce storm which meant my internet connection wasn't so good...etc...etc...but enough of that.

The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!

I've long admired Julia Child and more so after watching the movie Julie & Julia. So I was really excited when I read this month's DB challenge. I won't be shy and admit that it wasn't easy, first of all croissants take a LOT of time to make, as in 12 hours. And then there was the issue of butter which we had to incorporate and fold into the dough, hey this is the Philippines where the average humidity is in the 80's!

I wanted to put off doing it as long as I can but I had to tackle it before I left for my backpacking trip, so I made one recipe but it didn't produce the honeycomb effect that was one of the characteristics of a good croissant. Hmmm I wonder what I could've done wrong.

But I have to tell you Julia's recipe produced delicious tasting croissants! I couldn't resist eating one croissant slathered with organic berry jam...yum! It made my day!
I wasn't going to give up easily, so I made another batch the next day. It looked a little better when sliced crosswise but it's still wasn't very honeycomb-like. It still tasted consistently good though.

Thank you Sarah for this month's challenge! Please visit the other Daring Bakers for more of these delicious croissants.







9 comments:

Audax said...

WOw you made two batches well done and the colour is great, though the crumb needs a little work I think. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

Renata said...

Delicious looking croissants. They are delicious indeed, I also enjoyed it a lot!!

Pavithra Elangovan said...

You have made it beautifully. Well done on the challenge.

juliana alonso dorola said...

wonderfull! you made them twice! OMG! i had enought trouble with the first batch! jajaja

shelley c. said...

Glad they were delicious - that is the most important thing! And I think they look great. Awesome job. And I hope your backpacking trip was fun :)

Kitchen Belleicious said...

Oh you did an amazing job. I can't even roll out the correct shape of a croissant when I use the store bought version much less make my own! These look fantastic and so buttery and flaky. Wishing I had some right now- hint hint:)

Anonymous said...

Great job on finishing two patches on such short time..
I agree with you, those croissants are really delicious and hard to resist

Anonymous said...

You made two batches! Great work on the challenge! They look delicious! Loved the recipe for the croissants!

Lisa said...

I'm so glad you got your post up. I was hoping you took part in this challenge because I love seeing what you rurn out in every challenge! As always, beautifully done..and from someone who also made two batches, 24 to 28 hours of flour, butter and dough is killer, but so worth it. I'm sorry your crumb didn't turn out the way you wanted, but they look delicious and beautiful!