The croissant has a long, and
divergent history, much of which is
shrouded in myth. The most widely
spread story behind the origins dates
back to the siege of Vienna. In
1683, the Viennese celebrated
triumph over the Ottoman Empire’s
attempts to take over Vienna. They
created the ‘viennoiserie’ to resemble
the crescent-moon shape on the
Ottoman’s flag. The French adopted
the viennoiserie recipe and renamed
it the ‘croissant’ at the beginning of
the 20th century, popularising the
croissant, due to its luxurious quality.
A croissant is a sweet and buttery
puf f p as tr y w hich is made from layer s
of yeast-leavened dough to add the
air inside it, creating layers and the
crisp texture. The dough is laminated
by rolling and folding it into a sheet
several times. There are different
styles of croissants: the croissant
‘ordinaire’, which uses a vegetable fat
(usually margarine); the croissant
‘pâtissier’, based on a variable
mixture of butter and margarine. The
third kind of croissant is ‘pur beurre’
and contains only butter without the
addition of any other fat.
L e C or don Bleu’s Diplôme de
Boulangerie specialises in teaching
students the practical techniques of
making the perfect viennoiseries,
bread doughs and other baked goods.
The course takes seven-and-a-half
months to complete, offered to
baking-amateurs and baking-lovers.
L e C or don Bleu also of fer a shor t
course in Breakfast Baking, a 6-hour
day course, teaching students how to
make Pain au Chocolat, Danish
Pastries and Sweet Brioche. For
more information, please visit the
Le Cordon Bleu London
website: http://lcbl.eu/gl9aWWW.FOODHEAVENMAG.COM JUNE baking heaven 97
ESSENTIALSGetting a bake just right comes dow n to the little details and it’s our mission to
make all your bakes perfect with these essential tips, ideas and tools.
BAKING ESSENTIALS
Slicing warm
bread is tricky!
Allow it to cool
fully (or at the very
least lukewarm!)
to achieve
neat slices.Thick cake batter?
Drop the filled cake
tin a few inches
above the kitchen
counter before
popping it in the
oven; it’ll get rid of
any large air
bubbles and will
make sure it’s
evenly distributed!MAKE YOUR OWN...Add 1 tbsp (15ml) lemon juice or white
v inegar to 250ml (9f l oz) f ull fat milk and
leave to stand for 5 minutes before using.
Buttermilk
Discover the
history of traditional
bakes with
Le Cordon Bleu...
It may be tempting but try not to open
the oven, at least during the first half of
your bake, unless you absolutely have to
because the change in temperature can
af fec t t he qua lit y of your ba ke.