Melted Brie And Apricot Petite Croissants Recipes

LEMON MERINGUE CROISSANTS

Steps:

• Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface into a 12-by-16-inch rectangle. Cut in half crosswise to make two 8-by-12-inch rectangles, then cut each piece crosswise into thirds to make six 4-by-8-inch rectangles. Cut each rectangle in half diagonally to make 12 triangles.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Starting from the short side, loosely roll up each pastry triangle; place seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk the egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water; brush on the pastry. Bake until puffed and golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F and continue baking until the croissants are cooked through, 35 to 40 more minutes. Let cool completely.
• Make the meringue: Whisk the egg whites, sugar, lemon juice and salt in a large heatproof bowl until smooth. Place the bowl over a saucepan with 1 inch of simmering water (do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water); cook, whisking, until the mixture is warm and the sugar is dissolved, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pan and beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until the meringue is cool and stiff glossy peaks form, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Poke a hole in the bottom of each croissant with a thick skewer or chopstick, wiggling it around to create a small pocket. Fill a resealable plastic bag with the lemon curd; snip a corner. Pipe about 1 tablespoon curd into each croissant. Swirl the meringue on top of each croissant using the back of a spoon. Lightly toast the meringue with a kitchen torch.

CROISSANTS

Steps:

• In a mixer with a dough hook, place the yeast, flour, sugar, salt and the milk and mix for 2 minutes until a soft moist dough forms on the hook. If most of the flour isn't moistened with this quantity of milk, add more, a tablespoon at a time until it is moistened and smooth, using up to 4 tablespoons. Turn mixer on high and mix for another 4 minutes until very smooth and elastic.
• Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured board, cover with a damp tea towel and allow it to rest for 15 minutes to relax the gluten. Remove the towel and, using a French rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10 by 9-inch rectangle 5/8-inch thick. Wrap in plastic then chill for 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Ten minutes before the dough is done resting in the refrigerator, prepare the butter. Beat it with your rolling pin on a floured surface to soften it and form a rectangle 6 by 8 1/2 inches. Place it between parchment paper or plastic wrap and set aside.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it on a floured work surface into a 10 by 15-inch and 1/4-inch thick rectangle. Brush any excess flour off the dough. Place the shorter side of the dough parallel to the front of your body on the work surface. Place the butter in the middle, long-ways. Fold the bottom up over the butter and brush off any excess flour and then fold the top down over the butter to overlap and encase the butter. Press down lightly with the rolling pin to push all the layers together and make sure they have contact.
• Continue rolling the laminated (layered) dough to form a new 10 by15-inch rectangle, patching any holes with a dusting of flour where butter may have popped through. Fold into thirds, like a letter, brush off any excess flour and mark it with an indentation made by poking your finger once at the corner of the dough meaning you have completed the first "turn".
• Wrap well in plastic and chill 1 hour and up to overnight. Do this again three more times (some people only do 3 turns total, some do 6, some do 3 plus what's called a "wallet" turn for the last one which is a 4 fold turn that's folded into itself like a book jacket) marking it accordingly each time and chilling in between each turn.
• After the fourth turn, you can let the dough chill overnight, or, for 1 hour, or, roll it out to a 13 by 24-inch square that is a little less than 1/4-inch thick and cut out your croissants and shape them.
• I roll out my dough and cut it with a sharp large knife into 6-inch strips then cut them into triangles, 4 inches wide at the base of the triangle (or for a more curved croissant cut the triangles 6 inches wide). Stretch these triangles again 9 inches long, then place on the work surface and put a piece of scrap dough in the center of the wide end to enclose, which will plump up the center. Roll the triangles up towards you starting at the wide end and place them 2 inches apart on a parchment lined sheet pan with the tip tucked under and the ends slightly curved in to make a crescent shape. You may freeze the croissants at this point, or, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk and brush the croissants with this egg wash.
• To proof the croissants, place them in an oven that is warm but not turned on, with a pan of hot water in the bottom to create a moist environment like a proof box. Set aside to proof for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours until puffed up and spongy to the touch. Remove from the oven.
• Spritz a preheated 425 degree F oven with water, close the door, and get the croissants. Place the croissants in the oven and spritz again, close the door and turn the oven down to 400 degrees F. After 10 minutes, rotate your pan if they are cooking unevenly and turn the oven down to 375 degrees F. Bake another 5 to 8 minutes until golden brown.

PROSCIUTTO, BRIE AND APRICOT CROSTINI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven broiler. Put the baguette slices on a baking sheet lined with foil. Cut the Brie into 1/4-inch-thick slices and top each piece of bread with a slice. Broil until the cheese melts, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Top each cheese toast with some prosciutto and a dollop of apricot jam and a sprinkle of chives.

CROISSANTS

Steps:

• Make the dough: In a small bowl combine the water and yeast and let proof for 5 minutes. In a food processor combine the flour, sugar and salt and process to combine -- about 30 seconds. Add the butter and process until mixture resembles fine meal. With the motor running add the yeast mixture and the milk, in a stream, and continue to process until a dough is formed. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and gently knead for 1 minute. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
• On a lightly floured surface pat the rested dough into a 10 by 4-inch rectangle. Roll the dough into a 14 by 9-inch rectangle.
• In a bowl with an electric mixer beat the butter with remaining 2 tablespoons flour until it is pliable but still cold and firm. Between sheets of parchment or waxed paper roll the butter into a rectangle large enough to cover two-thirds of the dough with a one-inch border all around.
• Using parchment paper, invert butter onto the bottom two-thirds of the dough, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Fold the top-third of the dough down over the top half of the butter. Fold the bottom third up over the top (like a letter) and pinch edges to seal.
• Turn dough over, seam side down, give it one quarter turn and roll lengthwise into a 20 by 10-inch rectangle. Turn the dough over, seam side up, and fold like a letter. This is one turn. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic, for 30 minutes, or until firm.
• Arrange dough on lightly floured surface, with folded edge to your left, and roll lengthwise into a 20 by 10-inch rectangle. Fold and chill as before. Repeat process two more times, giving the dough four turns in all. After the fourth turn chill dough for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Form the croissants: On a lightly floured surface roll the dough into a 25 by 14 by 1/4-inch rectangle. Halve the dough lengthwise into two 7-inch strips. Using a pastry wheel or a long chef's knife, cut the strips into triangles, each with a base of 4 to 5 inches. Beginning with the base of each triangle, fold 1/4-inch of the dough over onto itself and begin rolling the triangle up to the point. Gently stretch the dough by pulling on the tip as you roll it. Repeat with the remaining triangles. If dough becomes soft, chill. Transfer the croissants to the baking sheets as they are formed spacing them 2 inches apart.
• Make the glaze: in a bowl whisk together the egg and milk. Brush the croissants with the glaze and let rise, uncovered, in a cool place (about 65 to 75 degrees) for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Let croissants rise in a warmer place (about 75 to 80 degrees) for 1 1/2 hours more, or until almost doubled in size. Brush once more with the glaze and place on the center rack of a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 to 17 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to racks to cool.

MINI HAM CROISSANTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the 10 by 12-inch rectangle puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface with the short side in front of you and cut it into four 3-inch wide strips from left to right. Next cut each strip into 6 triangles. Arrange the triangles on the work surface with the tips facing you. Gently pull each tip toward you; this light stretch adds layers to the finished croissant without adding density. Place a small amount of chopped ham on the wide side of each triangle, about 1/2-inch from the edge. Use the tips of your fingers to roll the triangle from the base to the tip. Place the croissants seam side down on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. Combine egg wash ingredients and brush the tops of the croissants. Bake until well risen and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before serving. All of these puff pastry items are best eaten the day they are made.

MELTED BRIE AND APRICOT PETITE CROISSANTS

Steps:

• Slice and lay the croissants open. Cover each croissant bottom with slices of brie to cover. Spread with 1/2 tablespoon preserves, sprinkle with 1/2 tablespoon chopped glazed pecans and 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar. Cover with top of croissant.
• Heat large skillet over medium heat. Spray sandwiches with no-stick cooking spray. Place sandwiches, sprayed side down, in heated skillet. Cover skillet and brown sandwiches 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown. Spray tops of sandwiches before turning to brown second side.
• Remove sandwiches from skillet. Allow to rest covered, about 3 minutes. Cut diagonally, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, if desired, and serve warm.