Viennoiserie Process

Step by step guide to croissant production at Wilson's Bread

Good morning - it’s the day after Christmas / Boxing Day / my brother’s birthday. Things are slow at our house today following 48 hours of eating and drinking. So, I figure others might have some down time as well … pass the time with a pastry tour.

We have a traditional 3-day process for pastry production. What’s different? I’m not totally sure, but from what I gather on instagram there are a few things that stand out:

1. We use a ton of levain (pre-fermented dough) in our croissant dough. The levain is young and doesn’t bring too much acid into the mix but I suspect it has a noticeable affect on the texture of the crumb, color of the bake, and overall flavor. I’ve been using 80% (relative to the flour in the final mix) levain in the mix since I started and am looking forward to teasing out its exact impact through experimentation.

2. Long overnight final proof - We skip bulk fermentation altogether and freeze our divided dough immediately after the mix. The instant yeast largely remain inac…