My neighbor Mrs. Chen spent 20 minutes showing me how to fold butter into dough properly (I was smushing it all wrong)

This was maybe 3 years ago at her kitchen table in Seattle. I kept getting these flat, greasy croissants no matter what recipe I used. She watched me once and laughed, then pulled out her rolling pin and showed me how the butter should stay in distinct layers, not get blended in. She said 'your croissants look sad because you're murdering the butter'. Has anyone else had that moment where one tiny technique change from a random person completely fixed your baking?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason2838d ago

Got a similar lesson from my aunt who caught me overworking pie dough until it was basically glue. She said "you're fighting the flour, let it be a little lumpy." It's amazing how one simple fix changes everything, but I still feel guilty every time I leave those butter chunks visible.

schmidt.grant8d ago

See I kinda disagree with the lumpy thing. I've had way better crusts since I started smearing the butter thin between the layers, almost like I'm painting with it. My grandma showed me that trick and it made everything flakier for me at least.

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