Artisan Baking
Layers of Precision: What American Home Bakers Can Learn from the Chemistry of French Croissant Dough
Achieving the shatteringly crisp, honeycomb-layered interior of a proper croissant is less a matter of luck than it is an exercise in applied science. From butter plasticity to fold ratios, the variables at play are exacting — and understanding them is the first step toward mastering laminated dough at home. We spoke with award-winning American pastry chefs to decode the technique behind this most revered of French pastries.