Firstly I hope you are enjoying the book, if you are taking part, don’t worry if your are not reading it, you can still enjoy this delicious recipe.
Now the first thing that probably comes to mind when you think of Breakfast at Tiffany’s is of course having breakfast at Tiffany’s. Ironically enough, in the book version, Holly Golightly doesn’t have breakfast at the luxurious store she just mentions it as something she would like to do. In fact it wasn’t until 2017 that you could even have breakfast there, now at their flagship store in New York they serve up the “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” breakfast, which includes coffee or tea, croissants, fresh seasonal fruit and ending in bagels, toast or waffles. Which is what I’m basing this recipe on, the French classic, although its technically Austrian, the croissant.
Ingredients
- 500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 10g salt, plus an extra pinch
- 80g caster sugar
- 10g instant yeast
- 300ml cool water
- 300g chilled unsalted butter
- 1 medium egg
Now croissants do take quite a while to make as the dough needs to rest overnight so make sure you make these in advance. Also they don’t have to be perfect, mine certainly aren’t, but they do taste delicious, so don’t worry about mistakes as baking is not an exact science; things can and do go wrong.
1. If you have a mixer with a dough hook then you will find it easier to use it, I however do not and I mix it by hand, which is tiring but it is all worth it in the end. Add the flour to your mixing bowl, on one side add the sugar and the salt, on the other side of the bowl add the yeast – it’s important to keep them separate as salt can kill the yeast. Add the water and mix for 8 minutes, it takes a bit longer by hand but keep at it. You might find it easier to take it out the bowl.
2. Lightly flour your work surface and tip your dough onto it, then proceed to shape it into a ball, dust the dough with some flour and put it into a clean bowl, cover the top using either cling film or a tea towel. The dough now needs to chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
3. Take out your dough and place it back on the floured surface, it is time for the first of many rolling. Roll it to the shape of a rectangle, about 60 X 20cm and about 1cm thick. When you are rolling, make sure you rotate the dough after every roll to stop it from sticking.
4. Time for the fun bit, bashing the butter. I find it easier to do it inside cling film, less messier. Take your rolling-pin and bash the butter into a rectangle, about 40 X 20cm. You can chill the butter in the fridge if it is getting to warm.
Once you have a thin rectangle of butter, put it on top of the dough, starting at the bottom, it should nearly reach the edges.
5. Now for the turning, take the part without butter and fold it halfway over the butter side, do the same with the butter side so that the two edges meet. Fold the dough in half, the two edges that met in the middle now become the seam. Pinch the edges lightly to stop the butter leaking. wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
6. Repeat that step 2 more times, rolling and folding and chilling – do not add more butter.
7. The dough now needs to rest overnight in the fridge.
8. Line your baking trays with greaseproof paper.
9. Take your dough and place it onto a lightly floured work surface, roll it into a rectangle about 60 long and 30cm wide. Using a sharp knife or I like to use a pizza cutter, cut the dough lengthways in half. Trim the edges to neaten it up.
Out of each strip, cut 6 triangles with 2 equal sides.
10. Taking one triangle, hold the wide base and the thin top and gently pull. 
Starting at the thick end, gently roll into a croissant, at the end tuck the little triangle over.
Repeat the process until you have rolled them all.
11. Put your croissant onto your baking trays, leaving room between each one. Take your trays and place them inside a plastic bag. Leave them at room temperature for around 2 hours or until they have doubled in size – this part is crucial so try not to rush.
12. Heat your oven to 200C/180C fan. Make the egg wash by lightly whisking 1 egg and a pinch of salt. Brush the croissants well in the egg wash. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown, leave to cool on wire racks.
All that’s left to do is tuck in, little black dress optional.
I hope you enjoyed making croissants, it is very time-consuming but the smell and the taste is, in my opinion, worth it.
I would love to see if you made some, so please leave a comment to let me know.
The Novel Cook 