Directions
Today we want to offer you the recipe for happiness, we will teach you how to make the perfect croissants (Italian cornetti) for a breakfast full of flavor. You know that breakfast is the most important meal, not only to start the day with a lot of energy but also, and above all, with a lot of pleasure!. So we turned to a great chef that puts all his heart and passion into her recipes: Mrs. Aurora Baccheschi Berti, of Castle Vicarello, a small oasis of peace in the heart of Tuscany.
What we like about this recipe is its simplicity, lightness and natural taste. With this recipe, you will be able to bake perfect croissants for a healthy breakfast. In fact, the tone and the taste of these delicacies are very simple, rustic, yet delicious. As soon as they are ready, add a good splash of jam to make them irresistible.
Ingredients for to make the perfect croissants, Italian cornetti
- 500 g (1 1/8 lb/ 3 2/3 cup) Manitoba flour
- 25 g (7/8 oz/ generous 2 tbsp) fresh brewer’s yeast
- 160 g (5 2/3 oz/ scant 3/4 cup) butter
- 200 g (7 oz/ 1 cup) sugar
- 300 ml (10 1/2 fl oz/ 1 1/4 cup) milk
- 3 egg yolks
- grated zest of half a lemon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 50 g (1 3/4 oz/ 1/3 cup) sultanas
- apricot, raspberry and blackcurrant jam
How to make croissants and Italian cornetti
Dissolve the yeast in 125 ml (scant 4 1/2 fl oz/ 1/2 cup) of lukewarm milk. Add the flour, sugar, egg yolks, softened butter, a pinch of salt and the rest of the milk, then work the ingredients together well to form a smooth, workable dough. Place the dough in a bowl, cover it with cling film or a cloth and leave it to rise until it has doubled in volume. Shape it in one of the following ways:
Cornetti: roll the dough out to about 4 mm (1/2 in) thick, and cut triangles with a narrow base and long sides. Place a generous teaspoonful of jam in the center of each triangle, then begin rolling the triangles from the short side, ending with the point. Bend the thin ends gently into a crescent shape.
Plaits: soak sultanas in warm water for ten minutes then squeeze them out well to remove any excess water and mix them into the dough. Take three small pieces of dough, roll them between your hands to form ‘sausages’, then braid them together, pressing down well at each end to keep the pieces together.
Brioches: break off a piece of dough the size of a small potato and shape it into a ball, then sit it on a baking tray and squash it slightly. Take another slightly smaller piece, roll it into a ball, and place it on top. Sprinkle with a few grains of sugar.
Place the dough shapes on oven paper on a baking tray and leave them to rise. Heat the oven to 200˚C (400˚F). When the dough shapes have doubled in size, brush them with beaten egg yolk and bake them for 25 minutes.
These dough shapes can be frozen for use any time. Make the shapes and put them in the freezer: don’t let them rise a second time. To use them, remove them from the freezer in the evening and leave to defrost and rise overnight. The next morning, brush them with beaten egg and bake as normal.
