From talking to other people that also love to be in the kitchen, I feel we generally fall into two categories: those who love to cook and those who love to bake. For whatever reason, it seems to be rare that someone is interested in both. My theory is that cooking attracts those who enjoy more free-form expression, adding a little of this and a dash of that. Conversely, bakers are those who love structure and appreciate a recipe, treating the entire process as a scientific process where each and every ingredient is carefully measured. I mean, you can’t just throw in a bit of yeast or water when baking bread.
Realizing how little I knew about baking, I decided to venture into this more structured universe, away from my comfort zone of cooking. Starting with simple things, such as a basic yeast bread, buttermilk biscuits (see my Beef Stew and Buttermilk Biscuits entry), and pizza dough, I began to appreciate the art of baking. Of course I made mistakes, and I continue to learn a lot about baking.
For example, when making biscuits, it’s critical to not over-mix the dough. Otherwise the biscuits become dense and lose their delicious flakiness. With pie crust, there is a careful balance between lard, water, and flour. The perfect angel food cake is all about whipping the egg whites just enough to form the proper peaks.
Seeking a challenge, I decided to bake homemade croissants and pain au chocolat (bread with chocolate). This was one of the most difficult dishes I’ve ever attempted. Croissant dough requires careful folding, rolling, and refolding layers of dough and butter, always keeping it at a cool enough temperature to prevent the butter from liquefying. More than once I had to place the dough in the fridge when the butter oozed out.
All the work was totally worth it. The croissants were flaky and absolutely decadent. The pain au chocolat was superb, with bittersweet chocolate cradled within a roll of croissant dough. Yum. If you want to make the pain au chocolat, simply make the croissant dough (see recipe below), and roll the dough into a large square. Then cut individual 4" squares, drop in a dozen bittersweet chocolate chips, and roll them up (see picture above).
Make sure you have plenty of counter space, a good rolling pin, and a bit of patience. Also remember to use unsalted butter. The recipe is challenging, and very intricate. It's helpful to read through the entire thing before starting out.
Bon appétit!
Recipe (from Joy of Cooking, 75th Anniversary edition)
