This week's Baking with Julia challenge is Croissants. Our host is Amanda of Girl + Food = Love. I had made croissants in September 2011 for The Daring Bakers, using Julia Child's recipe from Mastering The Art of French Cooking, so I was interested to see how this recipe went by comparison.
I will be honest - I liked Julia Child's recipe way better than this one. It was less fussy (although by no means not fussy), and the end result was a lot better. I found the Baking with Julia recipe to take longer (the recipe suggested 8 hours just for resting the dough before laminating), and the resulting croissants were overly buttery somehow - they just weren't as good taste-wise, and certainly appearance-wise, for me.
I filled my croissants with almond filling, and topped them with flaked almonds so that you were not left guessing as to what flavour they were. The paleness results from my oven, which is useless at browning things on top.
I still have half of my croissant dough in the freezer, but I sadly won't be in a hurry to use it.
To see what the other Baking with Julia bakers thought, visit the website.
Awww - sorry this wasn't a hit for you. It's a bummer when you put so much time into a recipe.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the results, but I did find some of the steps unecessarily fussy when compared to my standard croissant recipe.
The almond addition sounds great.
Yup, I agree...this is a lot of time and effort for not terrific results. I want to bake croissants again but will use a different recipe. I had thought about doing the almonds, which sound delicious, but tried chocolate instead. Your croissants actually look quite yummy!
ReplyDeleteHi Kris, the people I shared my croissants with said they enjoyed them - but having made them before, I was disappointed.
ReplyDeleteCroissants are something I think of as difficult to make, so I'm impressed with how professional yours look! I'm sorry they weren't what you wanted, but on appearance I'd say you did well ;)
ReplyDeleteGood to know you found them too buttery, me too. Too bad they didn´t turn out how you expected, because the shape is perfect!
ReplyDeleteAw, way too much time and effort for ho-hum results! I'll have to check back to see if my previous attempt was a Julia or Martha recipe...I know this one took way longer :) On to the cookies...
ReplyDeleteI will make croissants someday, so I appreciate the recipe review. Maybe the dough would be tastier used in another recipe rather than basic croissants.
ReplyDeleteI really liked these, although I can see how you felt they were too buttery. I think I'll make the almond filling again for a coffeecake.
ReplyDeleteAwww, man. Nothing more disappointing that spending so much time on it only to have it not be as great as you thought it would be!
ReplyDeleteI love your touch of almonds on top. Pretty. :)
I bet you can come up with something for the remaining dough....perhaps filled with chocolate! :)
Almond croissants are just fab! I tasted the filling before I baked them and I was not impressed at all...Once the croissants were baked, it was a totally different story :) Thanks for letting us know about the other Julia's recipe.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya about it being time consuming. My first batch went flat after hour two of proofing...and they were looking so good before that. It was so disappointing after spending soooo much time making these. argh!
ReplyDeleteOh--so much work to be disappointed. This recipe was too labor intensive for me. But I do love a fresh baked croissant!
ReplyDeleteI love cooking and baking but have not try my hand on croissants, just yet. THese look so delicious and I love almond fillings. :) I'm inspired to make some soon, real soon!
ReplyDeleteHow disappointing to go to all that work and not love the recipe. What we do in the line of research, right? Love almond in anything...surely that would have saved the day for me.
ReplyDeleteSorry these were not up to your standards - they look good!
ReplyDeleteNow that is a bummer. These things take a ridiculous amount of time. Too much to not be happy with the results. I"m going to have to check out the Julia Child recipe. I agree, these took sooooo long!
ReplyDeleteBummer that you did not love these! I have yet to make them, but wondering if it is worth the effort since I have other recipes that I like already.
ReplyDeleteHmm...I'll have to stick with Julia's recipe then. I like that you used almond paste as your filling!
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