Ganache Elf's patisserie.:)

When I think of France...one of the first things that automatically springs to my mind has to be the boulangeries or patisseries which are likely to be found in almost every single town city or little village throughout that fascinating country itself. I picture...perhaps a dainty little shop tucked away on perhaps a side street near the town centre, with big glass windows which give the passer-by full opportunity to view for himself what this particular little business has to offer. Through the open door drifts the most enticing and mouth-watering of smells; combined with the clatter of hot trays and the babble of voices as hungry customers eagerly make their orders. Fresh baguettes are propped haphazardly in a wicker basket by the door. Beautifully-shaped merigues and delicate little biscuits are arranged prettily in the window display, their variety of colours and shapes never failing to draw the attention of the wide-eyed school children who press their little faces to the glass and gape longingly at this spectacular display of sugary delights. And then, of course, there are the trays of French pastries and such like. The buttery croissant, possibly the most gorgeous-smelling of them all, and perhaps the ultimate symbol of French baking itself. Pain du chocolat and creamy, finger-shaped eclairs. Glorious mountains of profiteroles and fruit tarts and the brightly coloured macaroons...well the list is endless really, isn't it. You can keep your snails and your frog's legs - for me, the French baking tradition is in a whole league of its own.

and so to celebrate this epic tradition...I guess it's only natural for a baker like me to try out their time honoured-recipes for herself. So today Ganache-Elf got busy with both her rolling pin and piping bag and endeavoured to make both croissants and eclairs. and they were both a success, even though of course not as professional looking as the you would get in the boulangeries. But the aromas produced as they baked were no less delightful, I must say... ;)

Croissant-making is great fun and very rewarding, though again, not something to do if you are in a hurry or have an unusual dislike for rolling out dough (one of my favourites baking tasks...I do so love messing around with my rolling pin. ;) ). As there is ALOT of roling involved. This is to ensure the butter is nicely incoporated into the dough - you want it evenly dispersed after all, and not end up with croissants which are buttery in some parts and dry in others.

Now today I am going to give you my own recipe for butter croissants...well, Of COURSE, when I first made these for the first time ever, I followed a recipe out of one of my cookbooks. It looked so long and complicated and daunting...I very nearly chickened out, I must admit. But anyway I finally stopped dithering and having read the recipe possibly about a hundred times I went for it...and yes, as you can see from my pics, my croissants don't look as flaky and as perfect as the ones you'd get from a bakery, but...the taste, and the smell, were by no means any less appealling...possibly better, as home-baked often is. Since then I've made croissants a few times and I've developed my own recipe which is a little bit different from the original. I hope it provides any croisant-making novices with a clear and straighforward set of instructions for making thse gorgeous yeast-risen pastries at home...I don't think, though, if you want really, really beautiful croissants with a real professional finishing look about them, that my own recipe is the one you should turn to: this is more for someone who, like me, is content with croissants that are equally as awesome in their own right but due to a teency bit of laziness on the behalf of the baker aren't flawless in every way appearance wise. This laziness being mainly, that I don't roll my dough out into precise rectangles and ensure at every turn that it is the exact measurements as stated in the recipe. But anyway, enough of my waffling and onto the recipe. No wait actually - perhaps it would be best if I gave you the recipe in a different post, as this one is way too long AGAIN. And, after a very busy day in the kitchen once again, Ganache-Elf needs her beauty sleep, so off I go. Croissant recipe coming up tomorrow though, if you are interested. But for now I am just going to finish my bed time hot chocolate and stumble up to bed. Another day of cooking, bbaking and pottering around in the kitchen no doubt awaits us tomorrow. ;)