Yeast Puff Breads
lynnescountrykitchen.net
See Yeast Puff Breads Recipes Below
Yeast dough interleaved with thin layers of butter produces a variety of delectable breads that puff higher than any other yeast bread. During baking, the moisture of this yeast puff dough turns to steam. The folded-in butter keeps the layers of dough separate, holding in the steam so that the bread balloons as it bakes. Finally, the dough dries out and its layers become light flakes. Among the breads made from this dough are croissants, French breakfast favorites.
The preparation of yeast puff dough begins with mixing dough, moistened in this case with milk rather than water, kneading it, letting it rise twice and then rolling it thin. This sheet is spread with softened butter, folded in thirds to enclose the butter, rolled to compress the layers and folded once again. To assure the dough enough layers to puff up handsomely, the folding and rolling must be repeated at least once, more often if you wish. Each repetition triples the number of butter layers.
Because the yeast puff dough undergoes so much handling, care must be taken not to overdevelop the gluten. The initial kneading should be lighter than for an ordinary bread, and the dough must be given an hour to relax after each sequence of rolling and folding. During the rest periods, the dough should be covered so that the surfaces do not dry out, and refrigerated so that the butter stays firm enough to separate the layers.
Handling the dough is best done on a cool work surface, such as marble. If you have only a laminated plastic counter, cool it with an ice bag before placing the dough on it. A breadboard, the least satisfactory surface, can be chilled in the refrigerator or freezer.
After a final rolling, the dough is ready to be cut and shaped. For croissants, triangles of dough are rolled up tight and curled into crescents, then left to rise. The baking should begin at a very high heat to give impetus to oven spring, then proceed at a lower temperature to keep the exteriors from buring.
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