Italian-style Croissants

To prepare Italian-style croissants, start by preparing the starter dough. In a bowl, pour the flour, crumbled yeast 1, and water 2. Mix quickly 3,

until a homogeneous consistency is obtained 4. Cover with plastic wrap and let it mature for 8 to 10 hours at room temperature 5. After 8-10 hours of maturing the starter dough, pour the two flours into a stand mixer equipped with a hook 6,

then add the sugar 7, a pinch of vanilla extract 8, and water 9

and the crumbled yeast 10. Also, add the starter dough 11 and turn on the stand mixer. When the ingredients are well mixed, gradually add the eggs to the dough 12 and work with the hook until fully absorbed.

Add the salt 13 and work for a couple more minutes. Then gradually add the soft butter 14, waiting for each piece to be fully absorbed before adding the next. Work until the dough is well incorporated with the hook 15.

Then transfer the dough to a work surface 16 and shape it into a ball. Transfer the dough into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap 17, and let it rise at room temperature for 1 hour. Retrieve the dough 17

and place it on a rectangular tray 19. Press lightly with your fingers to spread it out 20. Cover the dough with plastic wrap 12 and transfer it to the refrigerator for 12 hours.

After 12 hours, take the butter from the fridge and roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper using a rolling pin. You need to obtain a rectangle measuring 8x6 inches 22. Take the slightly risen dough, transfer it to a lightly floured surface 23, and roll it out to form a rectangle measuring 15.75x10 inches 24.

Place the butter sheet in the center of the dough 25 and fold the longer sides of the dough over it. Seal the other two short sides by bringing them towards the center 26 and pressing with your fingers 27. You should encase the butter well and seal the dough.

Roll out the dough with a rolling pin 28, forming a rectangle about 18 inches long and 8.5 inches wide. If the dough has warmed up, transfer it to the refrigerator for 15 minutes, well covered. At this point, bring one edge of the dough to one-third of the rectangle 29 and fold the other over it 30. In this way, you have made the first three-fold. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Take the dough out and place it again on the floured surface; roll it out in the direction of the folds 31 until you obtain a rectangle of the same dimensions as before. At this point, repeat the three-fold by bringing one edge of the dough to one-third of the rectangle 32 and the other to cover 33. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.

and make one last three-fold as just done. Wrap again in plastic wrap 34 and let it rest again in the refrigerator, this time for about 60 minutes. Finally, take the dough out and roll it out to a thickness of about 1/5 inch until you get a rectangle 31.5 inches long and 6 inches wide 35. Trim the edges to be precise 36.

From this, you need to cut 12 triangles with a base of 4 inches and a height of 6 inches 37 38. At this point, hold the base of the triangle firmly with one hand and gently stretch the dough with the other hand to increase its length by a quarter 39.

Now all you have to do is roll your croissant starting from the base without pressing or tightening too much 40. You should get 2 complete turns, so 3 curls 41. Prepare all the croissants this way and place them on a baking sheet, spacing them well apart 42.

Let them rise for 2 hours at room temperature 43, then brush the surface with the egg yolk mixed with fresh cream 44. Bake in a preheated static oven at 392°F for 25 minutes, checking the baking without opening the oven until they are well browned. Remove the croissants from the oven and let them cool slightly before serving them 45.