a BreadBell cloche is good for croissants too

so it would seem anyway; there is almost too much oven spring. a traditionally laminated, all-butter dough baked covered for 6 minutes, then uncovered for a further 12 at 400F. fresh out of the oven, it smells like a warm, dry, early autumn morning in the viennoiserie district of choose-your-french-city. the sticky-looking filling is a pseudo-frangipane made tasty and more inauthentic by the addition of freshly ground green cardamom.

unfortunately, a disappointing texture in the final baked good and a distinctly bloated aspect unknown among the trim and lovely croissants made by pros and french baking nerds (see, for instance, this). is this due to my incompetent shaping? definitely. but it is also because i laminated the dough too many times. when the instructions say to "mark on paper or a slip of parchment each time you do a turn, for this dough will not hold indentations as puff pastry dough will," they know of what they speak.

fortunately, they taste great. perhaps next time, if i follow instructions to the letter, they will also look like this on the inside.

vt