A good croissant is heaven in your hand.

But few people have the dedication, time and strength needed to make the type of authentic butter croissants that Dara Reimers — owner of The Bread Shack in Auburn — is known for.

Her process takes more than 18 hours — and a whole lot of upper-body endurance for dough rolling if you’re making them at home. The b section’s weekly Eats feature typically offers readers great recipes that can be made at home with ease, but this week it’s more about appreciating the hard work that goes into making something that seems so simple and, fortunately, tastes so good.

Lucky for us, enjoying these croissants is as simple as dropping into the Center Street bakery, picking out your favorite croissant flavor, paying and enjoying!

Reimers knows her croissants, and just about everything else associated with baking. In 2008, she was one of three bakers who represented the United States on TeamUSA in the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, otherwise known as the World Cup of baking or the Olympics of baking. She will be again competing, in March, as one of 24 bread makers from 17 countries in the 2010 Les Maitres de la Boulangerie (The Masters of Baking) in Paris, France.

The Bread Shack has offered croissants since opening last August, and while its breads are the biggest sellers, the croissants — particularly the almond variety — are the most popular pastries, along with torts.

A few stories about the origins of the croissant have been passed
down through time, and while they are interesting, there is
apparently little truth to most of them. Perhaps the most popular account involves a Hungarian baker
who is said to have thwarted Turkish troops during an attempted siege in 1686. After
the early-rising baker supposedly heard noises while baking bread in underground ovens, he alerted authorities, who apprehended the Turks. As a reward the baker
was granted sole right to bake bread rolls in the shape of the crescent
moon featured on the Turkish flag, so that Hungarians could say they ate the
Turks for lunch.

The exact date the first croissants were actually created is unclear, but they are believed to have originated in France sometime after 1850. The first croissants weren’t the flaky variety available today either, lacking the yeast and techniques now used. And that’s where Reimers comes back in.

At the Bread Shack, the process starts 12 hours before the real work begins, with the
making of what is called “preferment” dough. When that mixture of yeast, flour and water is ready, the ensuing process includes lots of mixing, four to six hours of refrigeration time and several series of rolling, folding and refrigeration. Each time the dough is refrigerated it gets stiffer and harder to work with. But there’s a fine reason: flaky crust. “The secret to a good croissant is using a cold dough and cold butter,”
says Reimers. “They need to be the same temperature and the same
consistency.”

The delicious taste will remain the same if the dough becomes warm, but you’ll lose the flakiness of the pastry. “I make them very rarely at home. It’s a huge treat, but a lot of work,” says Reimers.

 Staff at the Break Shack use a machine called a dough sheeter to make the rolling process
quicker and easier, and keep the dough cooler. “Maybe when I was 20 I could have rolled it out,” says Reimers.

Along the way to the final product, there is also a lot of cutting and measuring of the dough, and filling, if desired, before getting to the ideal seven-layer croissant ready for baking.

Whew! Still want to make your own? Go for it … it is the season of miracles, isn’t it? Reimers’ recipe is at www.sunjournal.com, as is a video showing Reimers making croissants. And Reimers’ final gift to all energetic bakers out there ready for the challenge: If you have questions about the process, e-mail her at dara@thebreadshack.com and she will personally try to help you make possibly the best croissants in the universe.

Or, well … The Bread Shack is at 1056 Center St. in Auburn.

Next week: We offer up some of the best holiday drink recipes ever, from some of the area’s best drink makers. Drink local, toast global.
Dara Reimers’ croissant recipe

There are three components to preparing a flaky, flavorful croissant: a sponge called a preferment, a butter block and the final dough. The key to good croissants is controlling the temperature and consistency of the final dough and butter block. When the dough or butter gets too soft or sloppy, stop and chill it in either the freezer for 30 minutes — but don’t freeze it — or the refrigerator, but for no longer than an hour. The freezer is preferred so that the yeast is not activated, especially if the dough or room is warm (above 70 degrees Fahrenheit).

The night before, 12 hours before you mix the final dough, prepare the preferment/sponge.

Preferment/Sponge recipe

Bread flour: 10 ounces

Lukewarm water: 7 ounces

Instant yeast: ¼ teaspoon

The consistency should be that of bread dough; blend in a mixer on low speed for 4 minutes, or by hand, kneading just until the dough is pliable and all ingredients are incorporated. Store in a container that will allow for the contents to double in size. First spray the container with cooking spray or lightly oil.

Prepare the butter block:

Do this either when mixing the preferment or just after the final dough is mixed; be sure it is ready before the final dough is ready to process.

Cut 5 sticks of unsalted butter (1¼ pounds) lengthwise. Lay out into a square and loosely wrap in plastic wrap. Let butter warm slightly but do not let it get soft. Then flatten the block, keeping a square shape, with a rolling pin to about ¼ of an inch. Do not exceed a 9-by-9-inch square. Chill in refrigerator.

Final dough

Bread flour: 26 ounces
Preferment/sponge: 16 ounces
Cold water: 7 ounces
Cold milk: 7 ounces
Instant yeast: 1¾ teaspoon
Salt: 4 teaspoons

Mix 5 minutes on 1st speed, 1 minute on 2nd speed. The dough will be stiff, do not mix it to full development. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill in refrigerator 4 to 6 hours. About 30 minutes before the end of that chilling process, take the butter block out of the refrigerator and place it on the counter to soften and become pliable. Do not let the butter warm up or get soft, it should be cool to the touch.

When ready, roll the dough out, using only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the surface, into a 9 ½-by-18 ½-inch shape. Place the butter block on one half of the dough and fold the other half of the dough over the half with the butter block so the block is just covered by the dough a half-inch around. Press the outside edge so the butter is encased.

The first turn: Roll the block out to a minimum length of 24 inches, longer if possible (up to 30 inches). Fold the block into thirds, like a brochure, placing the left third onto the dough, then the right third over the top. Chill the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes (without letting the edges freeze) or the refrigerator for about an hour, until cold and firm. Do a second and third “turn,” like the first one, repeating all the steps. The dough will become stiffer and more difficult to roll out.

Shaping: 30 to 60 minutes after the third turn, do the final roll out for cutting and shaping of the croissants. Aim for 16 inches wide by 23 inches; letting the dough relax for a few minutes will help with getting more length. Cut the dough in half lengthwise and then cut 3 ¼-inch segments along the length of each 8-inch-wide strip; you will end up with about 14 rectangles at this point. Cut each rectangle from the bottom right corner to the top left corner. Take each long triangle and stretch it out as long as you can without tearing the dough. Roll from the wide end to the long end for the final croissant shape.

Place each piece on a tray or in a storage container to freeze — or in the refrigerator if you will be using soon. To have a fresh croissant in the morning, pull the croissant from the freezer the night before and place on a baking tray, leaving room between the pieces to at least double in size so they do not touch while baking. To thaw: Place the tray, covered with plastic, in a cool place — on the countertop if the ambient room temperature is well under 70 degrees Fahrenheit, or in the basement. If there is no cool place, put the tray, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator. In the morning, the croissant left out of the refrigerator should have doubled in size. Heat the oven to 400 degrees, lower for convection oven. If stored in the refrigerator, the croissants will have to warm up and double in size before baking.

When ready, put the tray of croissants in the center rack of the oven and mist with water, set a timer for 2 minutes and re-mist. In 8 minutes turn the tray around, watch for browning. Baking should be completed in the next 4 to 8 minutes depending on the oven. Remove from oven, prepare your café au lait and serve with your finest homemade raspberry jam. Enjoy!

A croissant from the Bread Shack in Auburn

Dara Reimers, owner of The Bread Shack in Auburn, rolls up croissants prior to going into the freezer before going into the oven.

Dara gets some help from a co-worker to quickly roll the croissants before the dough gets too warm.

Dara Reimers, owner of The Bread Shack in Auburn, talks about makine croissants.