I wasn’t fan of this pastry until some time ago that I tasted it at this bakery. Since then I wanted to try so last weekend was finally the time. I used this video as inspiration (recipe) I used my typical croissant dough, pastry cream and soaked the raising as the bakery mentions.
Pain aux Raisins Ingredints:
- 1 or 2 bags of your favourite tea
- 200g or raisins, sultanas and mixed fruit
- Bloody orange marmelade
- Splash of spirit (scotch, rum, etc) – optional
- 1 egg for egg wash.
Process:
- Boil 500ml of water. Put the tea bags and dry fruit on it. Optional add the spirit.
- Remove tea bag after a couple of minutes.
- Let it soak for 1h.
- ** Do this when doing the croissant folds
- Filter the liquid (you can drink it) and let the fruit to dry at room temperature
Pastry Cream Ingredients:
- 500ml milk
- 2 eggs
- 4 yolks
- 125g sugar
- 75g plain flour
- 50g butter
- 1 ts vanilla paste
- pinch of salt
- glass sugar to cover the cream
Process:
- In a pan, put the milk to boil. Add a bit of sugar and dont stir it!
- In a bowl, mix eggs, yolks, sugar and vanilla. Then Add flour. Mix all well. Add a pinch of salt.
- Just when the milk starts boiling, remove from the heat, and pour it bit a bit in the egg mix.
- Return the mix to the pan, and dont stop stirring, this is the key for cooking the flour!
- Keep stirring until the mix thickes up. You should see bubbles forming up.
- Remove from the heat and add the butter. Mix until all combined.
- Spread the cream in a clean tray, spread sugar on top so a crust doesnt form.
- Cover with cling film and put into the fridge.
- ** you can do this the day before or while doing the croissant folds.
Croissant Dough Ingredients:
- 500g strong white flour
- 12g fine sea salt
- 55g sugar
- 40g soft butter
- 15g dried yeast
- 140ml cold water
- 140mg milk
- 250g butter block – unsalted if possible.
Croissant Dough Process:
- Put flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Mix all together
- Add the butter and crumb it with your fingers until all is mixed.
- In a another bowl, mix water, milk and dried yeast.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mix and add the liquid. Mix all until all is combined. Dont over do it.
- Cover the bowl and put in the bridge for 8-12 hours.
- Make an envelope of 20x20cm aprox with baking paper. Put the butter block inside and pounce the butter until it fills the paper with a rolling pin. You should have a nice thin flat block of butter. Put the envelope back in the fridge
- Take the dough out of the bridge and place it on a lightly floured surface.
- Roll it out to for a rectangle double of your butter blocker.
- Place the butter in the center and then cover it with the rest of the dough.
- Tap the dough gently with the rolling pin to help to seal the sides.
- With the seam running top to bottom, roll the dough out into a rectangular shape, roughly 1/2 rolling wide, 1 1/4 rolling pin long (rolling pin aprox 50cm).
- Brush any flour and fold the dough in thirds. Tap the dough with the rolling pin. Repeat the same process: roll the dough 1/2 rolling wide, 1 1/4 long and fold. This is a full fold.
- Wrap the dough in baking paper and cling film. Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Take the dough and give it half fold, so only roll and fold once instead of twice. Rest for another 30 minutes in the fridge wrapped in baking paper and cling film.
- Apply the last half fold and put back in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Take the cream pastry cream from the fridge and give it a whisk until becomes manageable, like a cream and not solid as we will have to spread it over the dough.
- Take the dough out of the fridge. In a lightly floured surface, roll it 3/4 pin wide and 1 1/4 long.
- Spread the pastry cream with a spatula evenly on top of the dough.
- Spread the raisins, sultanas, etc on top.
- Roll the dough as like making a giant cigar or pipe line.
- Get ready two trays with baking paper.
- Slide the dough roll with a sharp knife. Clean it after each cut. Put each slide into the trays. I managed 16 slides plus two leftovers.
- Seal putting the seam underneath each slide.
- Egg wash all slides.
- Turn the lights from the oven, put the two trays on it and add a small bowl of boiling water. We want to create a proving room.
- Let it raise for 1h, check it and be sure they dont over proof
- Pre-heat the oven at 180C-190C.
- Egg wash again all slides.
- Put one tray in the oven and add some splash of water to create steam.
- Bake for 20m aprox or until all golden on top
- Remove and add second tray.
- In a small bowl, add 3-4 tsp of bloody orange mermelade and boiling water so it gets thinner and more liquid.
- Brush the pastries with the mermelade as soon as you take them from the oven.
This is the result!
To be honest, for being the first time, I was quite happy with the outcome.
Room for improvement:
1- I think I put too much pastry cream
2- I think I over proof them (2h in the oven!) as the pastry wasn’t really crunchy.
3- A bit mor fruit?
4- Pastry cream had only 3 egg yolks. I should try 4 and use full fat milk.