I'm a bad food blogger I suppose,
seeing how many pictures of recipes I've made are on my computer with
no corresponding blog post. It's one of the things I love about
Sourdough Surprises. Once a month at least, I need to sit down at my
computer and blog. Oh, that and I am challenged to make something
either a). I've never heard of or b). Would never intend to make in a
million years.
This month's Sourdough Surprises falls
into the latter category. While I can't say I've taken completely
after my nothing-from-scratch mother, I'm also not one to put hours
of effort into one project. Still, a challenge is a challenge...and I
am up for that task.
I've made several recipes from
Sourdough Recipes from Richard Packham and can honestly say I've yet
to be disappointment. I chose to start with his croissant recipe
(modified, since despite the recent cold front I inevitably need less
liquid and more flour for any bread recipe). And since I seldom
approach Sourdough Surprises with plain in mind, I found some Wilton
Red Velvet Candy Melts I had bought on clearance after Valentine's
Day that I thought I should use up.
Sourdough Red Velvet Filled
Croissants
Adapted from Sourdough Recipes
Makes 12 croissants
Ingredients:
1/2 cup starter
5 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups flour, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter
36 pieces Wilton Red Velvet Candy Melts
Combine starter, water, 2 tablespoons
sugar and 3/4 cup flour. Let sit, covered, overnight.
Slice butter onto wax paper. Cover with
more wax paper and press into 9x9” square. Chill at least one hour.
Add remaining ingredients to starter
mixture. Chill for about 1/2 hour.
On a well-floured surface, quickly roll
out the cold dough into a
rectangle about 15" x 10".
Cut the cold butter in half and place
one slab of butter across the center
one-third of the dough. Fold
one end of the dough over the butter,
and then place the other half-
slab of butter on it. Then fold the
last third of the dough over
the butter, forming a package of
dough-butter-dough-butter-dough,
about 10" x 5". Pinch the
edges together so that there is no butter
showing.
Quickly roll out this package of dough
and butter into a rectangle
about 10" x 15". Fold it
again into thirds, forming a package about
10" x 5"; roll it out one
more time, fold into thirds, and chill in the
refrigerator at least an hour.
Repeat the previous step once more
(roll out to 10" x 15", fold in thirds,
roll out and fold again, roll out,
fold, chill).
Prepare a large jelly-roll pan by
greasing lightly. (Do not use rimless
cookie sheets.)
Roll out the dough into a rectangle
about 10" x 15". Cut the dough
into six 5" x 5" squares,
then cut each square diagonally forming
twelve triangles, 5" x 5" x
7". Flatten each triangle to about 1/8 thick-
ness, by rolling from the longest side
to the point, stretching it until
the point is about 8" from the
longest side. Place 3 candy melts along long edge. Starting at the
longest side, roll it up tightly. Turn so that the point is
underneath the roll, then bend the two ends so that they curl around
toward the point. Place each croissant on the pans. Let rise in a
warm place about
one hour.
Preheat the oven to 360 degrees. Bake
the croissants 20 minutes,
then turn off the oven and let them sit
in the warm oven an additional
10 minutes.
This ranks as one of the most intensive
and messy recipes I've ever made. Again in spite of the cold front,
the dough was still getting warm by the time I was rolling them,
getting butter all over my kitchen counter and causing them to fall
apart. And in spite of their bad looks...it was worth it. They were
absolutely delicious. Unfortunately the rest of my family thought so
too. They were gone within a day.
So perhaps I will have to do this
again...both to use up the rest of the candy and so I can get more
than two!
Check out our other awesome croissant
creations!
