Matcha danish loaf and croissants


Warning : Lots of photos ahead !

Looking for a croissant loaf recipe ?! This matcha danish loaf is made from croissant dough  and just like a croissant .....

Croissant is a flaky , buttery pastry made from yeast-leavened dough and butter . The butter is enclosed inside the dough , rolled and folded several times then rolled into a thin sheet , this technique is called laminating . This process results in a layered , flaky texture ( wiki )






The danish loaf is made the same way as croissant in this recipe except of course  , when shaping .




The recipe is pretty straighforward well , after I figured it out by reading other croissant recipes .

The problem with some bilingual books is that some of the instructions are a bit spotty and this book is no exception . If not for the photo of the danish loaf in the book , very pretty ( but the photo of the croissants doesn't impress me much ) and the reasonable amount of butter ( only 115 grams  ) , I wouldn't be so tempted to try the recipe . Hey , aren't you glad that I did ? lol




If you want to make this recipe and it's as hot as Hades in your side of the world , turn on the aircon , trust me , it'll make your life easier .

Buy the best butter you can find because you'll be the one who's gonna eat most of it . I used Beurre d'Isigny in almost all of the loaves and croissants that I made except in matcha loaf , in which I used Paysan Breton .


The photos in this post are the combination of my several baked danish loaf and the 3rd attempt at croissant making . Photos of the step by step instructions are mostly from matcha loaf and croissant .

I used 2 grams of yeast in baking both danish loaf ( original and matcha flavor ) and the croissant . Final dough may vary depending on how much extra flour I've added while kneading the dough .

My step by step instructions below are mostly based from what I've read at Joanne Chang's Flour , too and from Bouchon Bakery's croissant recipe . The original instructions from the book is at the bottom .




Recipe adapted from Homemade professional bakery-style bread by Charles Ho

Makes 1 8 x 4-inch loaf or 8 pieces 6-inch croissants plus 1 and 1/2 small croissants from scraps

Final dough in matcha danish loaf is 311 grams and 317 grams in matcha croissant

My slight substitutions in red

7 grams fresh yeast 2 grams instant yeast
15 grams caster sugar
2 grams salt
8 grams milk powder
8 grams Uji matcha powder
115 grams bread flour
45 grams cake flour 40 grams cake flour
40 grams ( beaten ) egg
20 grams fresh milk
45 grams water ( 50 grams water in croissant ) 
20 grams unsalted butter , cut into small cubes , at room temperature

115 grams butter block 4'' x 4' square

egg wash

* Combine all ingredients except the butter and knead until gluten starts to form . Add in butter and continue to knead until dough is smooth and elastic , about 20 - 25 minutes . Shape dough into a ball then flatten into a rough rectangle . Place dough into the baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap . Chill in the fridge overnight , 8-10 hours ( figure 1 )

* Roll out dough into a 6 inch square , draw a 4 inch square as a guide ( for the butter ) and roll the 4 flaps at the sides . The middle of the dough should be thicker ( figure 2 )

* Place butter into the center ( figure 3 ) and close all 4 sides ( figure 4 and 5 ) Use the palms of both hands , firmly press down  the dough to create a 6-inch square (figure 6 )

*  Roll out dough to 12'' x 8'' rectangle ( figure 7 )  and do a 3 fold , just like folding a letter ( figures 8 and 9 ) . Rotate dough ( you'll have a 4 x 8-inch rectangle  after each turn ) at 90 degrees so that the opening is on the right ( figure 10 ) . The process of folding and rotating is called '' turning the dough '' .

* Place dough into a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap . Put in the freezer for 20 minutes .

* Remember to lift or fluff the dough often and dust the work surface and the dough with flour to prevent sticking . Brush off any excess flour off the dough .

* Do the 3 folds 3 times and freeze dough for 20 minutes after each turn .

* As you complete each turn , you'll have 3 layers of evenly stacked dough . Rather than immediately rolling out these layers with back and forth motion , use the rolling pin and press it down firmly onto the length of the dough , creating ridges in the dough as you compact it ( figure 11 ) Once the dough is press down all over , roll the pin back and forth , smoothing out the the ridges as you flatten and roll .

* After the final turn with 4'' x  8'' rectangle  ( figure 12 ) . Freeze for the last time .


* For Danish loaf :  Roll out dough into 16 x 4-inch rectangle , the length of the dough should be twice the size of the loaf tin  , I used a 8 x 4-inch pullman tin . Cut into 3 or 4 strips and braid the strips of dough .


* Place both ends of the braid on the middle then put it into the tin up side down . Cover with plastic wrap , place tin onto the baking sheet and let proof until it fill up 80 or 90 % of the tin , about 4 to 5 hours .

* Preheat oven at 200°C . Brush top of the loaf with egg wash . Place the baking sheet at the lowest rack ( I use a table top oven ) and immediately lower the temperature to 180°C .

* Bake for 33 minutes or until loaf is golden . If the  top of the loaf starts to turn brown  , cover top with foil .


For the croissant : 

* Roll out dough to 15 x 8-inch rectangle . Starting at the bottom left corner of the rectangle , make a mark every 3-inches , you'll have 8 pieces 3 x 8-inch rectangle plus 2 scraps . 

* Pick one triangle and hold the base with one hand and gently stretch the length with your other hand to elongate it to about 10-inches in length . Place the lengthened triangle on the work surface and roll starting from the base , place in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper . 

* Let proof for about 2 hours or until doubled in size .

* Preheat oven to 200°C . Brush each croissants with egg wash . Place baking sheet in the middle rack and immediately lower temperature to 180°C . Bake croissants for 20 minutes . 






Original instructions :

Makes 10 to 12 croissants

* Put fresh yeast , caster sugar , salt , milk powder , egg  , fresh milk  , water  , bread flour and cake flour in a mixing bowl

* Use the spiral hook of a handheld electric mixer to combine ingredients at low speed . Add butter and mix until dough becomes shiny and smooth and can be stretch to thin membrane . Flatten dough with palm to rectangle shape . Chill in fridge and let ferment for 20 minutes .

* Roll out croissant butter with rolling pin until thin and soft .

* Remove dough from the fridge and roll out thinly . Wrap the entire piece of croissant butter with dough  .

* Roll out thinly with rolling pin to form a rectangle . Fold it into thirds 3x3x3 . Do it three times .

* Chill in fridge until dough hardens . Remove from fridge and roll out thinly for shaping .

For croissant , you'll need 5 pieces 15 cm even triangle pastry with 4 mm thickness . Preheat oven at 150°C . Adjust to 180°C  . Bake pastry until surface changes color . Adjust to 150°C and use only surface heating and bake until done . The entire baking process takes about 20 minutes .

For danish loaf , you'll need 220 grams of rectangular dough ( 7cm x 30 cm ) with 8mm thickness . You also need an 8 x 15cm loaf pan for baking the loaf . Preheat oven at 150°C . Adjust to 180°C and put tin into the middle of the oven . Bake until surface changes color , adjust to 150°C . Bake until done . The entire baking process takes about 35 minutes . 

Comments

  1. Hi Anne,

    Oh man! Your Danish loaves and croissants are so beautiful!!! I'm happy to admire all the beautiful photo in your post!

    Zoe

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  2. Love all the gorgeous flaky layers! Haven't baked or had a croissant in ages..I bet these taste heavenly!

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  3. OMG...OMG.... Anne, your croissants bread look amazing. Love love love it so much. Wish I can have some now. Salivating !
    You're actually tempted me to make some.
    Blessings, Kristy

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  4. I've already bookmarked the recipe. Definitely will try it out soon. Thanks for sharing it, Anne. ((hugs))

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  5. Thanks for sharing such a unique recipe - I hope you don't mind I have featured your recipe in a selection on my blog, all about matcha. These look beautiful and I will definitely be making them soon!

    Grace | www.eatwriteexplore.com

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  6. I'm sorry, what is cake flour? I have all purpose flour at home and bread flour at the store. Can I use all purpose flour?
    Thank you in advance for the answer!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Li , cake flour has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour but I think it'll be okay . Try to check this site first for DIY cake flour --->>>> http://www.thekitchn.com/the-easy-way-to-make-cake-flour-substitute-baking-tips-from-the-kitchn-44521

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  7. Hi - what a great recipe and perfect instructions. can't wait to try it!
    Do you do the final proof in the fridge or outside?

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    Replies
    1. Hi, Sis, at room temp. It was September (too hot at that time) when I made those so I proof somewhere cooler. Ideally, below 28°C ambient temp so that butter wont leak out....

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