Sourdough Surprises: Red Velvet Filled Croissants

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!

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