How To: Make croissants from scratch

This video shows how to make light, flaky croissants from scratch. The ingredients needed are flour, active dry yeast, sugar, salt, warm milk and butter. You will also need an egg beaten with some water for the egg wash.

Place the flour, salt, sugar, milk and yeast into the mixer and mix on low speed until you have a smooth elastic dough. Then put it into a bowl that has been dusted with flour, cover with a towel and let it rise until doubled in size. This takes one and a half to two hours.

Place the butter on a piece of cling film, cover with a second sheet of film and flatten it with your hands. Roll it into a rectangle with a rolling pin, and place in the refrigerator to chill.

When the dough has doubled, sprinkle it with flour and punch out the air. Place it on a floured surface and roll into a large rectangle. Place the butter on the upper part of the dough and fold the dough around the butter to enclose it. Turn the dough around and roll it into another long rectangle. Then fold it into thirds and brush off the excess flour. Wrap it in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes. Take it out and roll it into another rectangle, fold into thirds, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes. Repeat this process a third time, leaving it to chill overnight

Cut the dough in half, dust with flour, and roll one half into a rectangle, rolling until the dough is less than half a cm thick. Then trim the edges and cut into triangle shapes. Starting at the widest part, roll it up into a croissant shape. Repeat the process with the other half of the dough. Then place them on a baking sheet, cover and let them rise until doubled. Brush with the egg wash and bake for about 15 minutes until they are a deep golden brown.