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by James Martin

A fair bit of elbow grease goes into making croissants, but the result? C'est magnifique.

Cakes and baking

Buyer's guide

A good freshly-baked croissant should be flaky and crisp on the outside, and tender and moist inside with all the dough aerated and evenly baked. There should be no layers of unbaked dough, and the crust should leave very little buttery oil on the fingers. Packaged croissants tend to lose their crust but when reheated at 180C/350F/gas 4 for 10-12 minutes regain their crisp exterior.

Storage

Store croissants at room temperature in a paper bag, to avoid condensation and retain some crispness. For longer storage, freeze croissants, then bake from frozen at 180C/350F/gas 4 for 12-15 minutes.