A nostalgic twist on a classic pastry

Difficulty: Advanced | Time: 6 hours (active), 12 hours (total) | Yields: 14 croissants

Let me tell ya… Making croissants by hand is not for the weak. If you are not familiar with how croissants are made, it involves a process call “lamination,” which creates all those flaky, delectable layers. You have to roll the dough out and fold it with a block of butter… Then you roll and fold, and roll and fold and roll and fold until you have about 36 layers of dough to butter. It was my workout for the day.

These croissants were inspired by my dear friend Lacy, and I made them for a little send-off we were having for her. She is embarking on a new adventure that may or may not involve Paris… Hence, the croissants. BUT, while croissants are universally loved, like Lacy, I needed to give these croissants a twist to match Lacy’s unique nature. She’s vibrant, playful, and proudly queer, so I had to bring in some rainbow cereal whimsy to this pastry masterpiece.

This treat is flaky af, and buttery af… Which you have to expect from a croissant. There’s nothing like the crispy exterior leading you into an airy center… But then fill that center with cereal milk whipped cream, and you have the perfect addition of sweetness that feels both nostalgic and novel. It’s sweet without being cloying, and texturally crunchy, creamy and airy all at the same time. It’s going to be a yes from my dawg.

Ingredients:

For the croissant dough:

1,210g all purpose flour
132g granulated sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp salt
14g active dry yeast
428g water
240g half and half
114g butter (or one stick of butter), room temp, cubed
1 egg, for egg wash
1 Tbsp heavy cream, for egg wash

For the butter block:

680g butter

For the cereal milk whipped cream:

500mL heavy whipping cream
51g fruity pebbles
13g fruity pebbles, crushed
32g powdered sugar

For the decoration (optional):

Fruity pebbles
8oz white melting chocolate
White chocolate ganache (1c white choc chips : 1c heavy cream)

Directions:

Steep the cereal in the heavy cream:

Combine the heavy whipping cream with the 51 grams of fruity pebbles.
Cover and place in the fridge over night, or at least for 4 hours, to let the cereal steep in the milk.

Make the croissant dough:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.
Create a well in the center and pour in the water and milk. Turn the mixer on low speed and knead for 5 minutes.
Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
Remove the damp cloth and add in the cubbed butter. Knead on medium low speed for 10 minutes. The dough should be very smooth, elastic and not sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a ball. Place the dough ball back into the bowl, seem side down, and let it sit at room temp, covered with plastic wrap, for about an hour. It should almost double in size.
Place the bowl in the fridge, covered, overnight. It should double in size again.

Make the butter block:

Let your butter come almost to room temperature, so it is workable.
Slice your butter into 3/4“ slices and place the slices next to each other inside a gallon sized plastic bag. Once you’ve lined the whole inside of the plastic bag with butter, close the bag and roll the butter out with a rolling pin. Once the butter is cohesive inside the bag, place the bag in the fridge to harden again.

Laminate the dough:

Remove the butter block from the fridge and cut it out of the Ziploc bag. Let it sit at room temp until it is still cold, but pliable. You should be able to bend it without it breaking.
Remove the dough from the fridge and deflate the dough with your fist.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll the dough into a rectangle that’s about 24" long and 8-10” wide (must be wider than the butter block).
Place the pliable butter block in the center of the dough and fold the long ends toward the center, surrounding the butter block. Pinch the dough together at the seam, or if it overlaps a little bit, press the seam down to seal it.
Press the non-folded edges down around the butter, to further seal the butter in the dough. Trim off any excess dough with a pizza cutter.
Turn the dough so the seam is perpendicular to your rolling pin and roll the dough into a 24” narrow slab, making sure to lift the dough every now and again to make sure it isnt sticking to the surface. Continue to flour the surface as necessary.
Make your first fold: Fold the two long ends into the center line of the dough slab, leaving a slight gap where the two edges of the dough meet. Then fold the dough again in half, along the gap you left in the center. This is called a “double turn.” Make sure to brush off any excess flour with each fold.
Cover your “book” of dough with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30min-1hour to rest.
Remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temp for about 5 minutes. Then roll it out again on a floured surface into a narrow 24” slab. Make sure you roll out the dough with the folds perpendicular to your rolling pin. If you are having a hard time rolling out your dough, it might need to rest longer. Fold it back up and place in the fridge for another 15-30 minutes.
Make your second fold: Fold the slab like an envelope. Bring one side of the dough in 1/3 of the way, and the fold the other end of the dough over top, brushing off any excess flour.
Cover the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for another 30min-1hour.
Make your last fold: Repeat steps 9-11.

Shape your dough:

Take the dough out of the fridge at let it sit for about 5 minutes.
Roll out the dough on your floured surface to a narrow, 42” slab, making sure to lift the dough to make sure it’s not sticking to the surface.
Trim the edges so they are even.
Make small marks on one long edge of the dough: Start the first mark 3 inches from the bottom of the edge, and continue to mark the dough every 3” until you reach the end of the edge.
Make small marks of the opposite long edge of dough: Start the first mark 1.5” from the bottom of the edge, then continue to mark the dough every 3” from there until you reach the end of the edge. These marks should be staggered from the marks on the opposite edge of the dough.
Using a pizza cutter, cut triangles in the dough: Cut diagonally from one side of the dough to the other side of the dough, zig-zagging to each mark until you’ve cut the slab into 14 triangles.
Flatten each triangle a bit with your rolling pin, and tug at the edges of the flat end to widen that edge a little more. Roll up each triangle, starting with the wide end that you just stretched, toward the pointed end.
Set each crescent on a baking tray, lined with parchment or a silicon baking sheet.

Proof the croissants:

Place the croissants in a proofing drawer, or if you don’t have one, place them in the oven, with the oven turned off.
Let the croissants proof for 2-2.5 hours, until they’ve about doubles in size and are delicately puffy. They should wobble a bit.

Bake the croissants:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Beat together the egg and heavy cream. Using a pasty brush, coat the proofed croissants with the egg wash. Make sure to only coat the smooth parts of the croissant, not the exposed, laminated edges.
Place the croissants into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Do not open the oven during this time. You don’t want to release any steam coming from the croissants.
After 20 minutes, switch the baking sheets onto opposite racks and bake for another 10 minutes, until they are a deep golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool to room temp.

Make the cereal milk whipped cream:

Remove the cereal steeped heavy cream from the fridge. Pour this mixture into a bowl, through a fine mesh sieve. Press the soaked cereal into the sieve to extract as much heavy cream as possible. Discard the soaked cereal.
Using an electric hand mixer, beat the heavy cream until foamy. Add in the powdered sugar, while continuing to whisk.
Whisk until stiff peaks form.
Fold in the 13g of crushed fruity pebbles.
Transfer the cereal milk whipped cream into a piping bag, fitting with a round, pointed tip. Set aside in the fridge.

Fill the croissants with the cereal milk whipped cream:

Flip each croissant over. Using a small paring knife, make one or two small holes in the bottom of each croissant.
Take your piping bag filled with whipped cream, and squeeze it into the holes at the bottom of each croissant. You’ll know it’s fully filled when it oozes back out of the hole a little, or if you see the filling starting to escape through an edge of the croissant.

Decorate the croissants (optional):

Make the white chocolate ganache: Microwave the heavy cream for about 1.5 minutes, or until is bubbly and boiling. Pour it over the white chocolate and cover it for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt. Uncover it and whisk it together until smooth. I dyed my ganache pink, but you can leave it white or dye it whatever color you’d like!
Melt the white chocolate drizzle: Melt the white chocolate in the microwave, microwaving it on high for 30 second bursts and stirring it in between each microwave, until melted and smooth. Add the melting chocolate to a piping bag and cut a small hole in the bag for a thin drizzle.
Pour fruity pebbles into a medium bowl.
Dip 1 half of each croissant in the white chocolate ganache, then dip the ganache dipped side into the bowl of fruity pebbles. The pebbles should stick to the ganache, but you might also have to spoon the fruity pebbles over the ganache edge to make sure the fruity pebbles fully coat the ganache.
Place the dipped and pebbled croissants on a sheet of parchment paper and drizzle with white chocolate.

*Because these croissants are filled with cream, store in the fridge when not serving.

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