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How do you heat your Croissants?


Monika

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Earlier this year we spent three days in France in a Bed and Breakfast run by a lovely British Couple. There was just one thing which spoilt the stay: the famous "ping" emitting from the kitchen at Breakfast time and we would know that once more tough, chewy Croissants would grace our breakfast table. I think there is only one way to heat a Croissant and that is the oven.

Monika

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I am not sure what croissants you are all talking about here ?

Boulangerie bought, shop bought or large box bought on special offer from the hyper or ? So what type of croissant is it?

As far as we are concerned, there are not any much good in the supermarkets or shops. The boulangerie bought ones are completely dependant on wherever you buy them. Folks here will go past one or two other places to get to  a boulangerie where they know they are excellent.

The reason we buy direct from Brake France is the quality is guaranteed, we take the Charentaise butter type and they need baking for around 10/12 minutes after allowing them to rise overnight.

Aesthetically very good plus a really good taste.

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I have to start off with the fact that I think that croissants are over-rated but on the odd occasion I can be bothered to go a mile up the road to the boulangerie to buy them I stick them in the micro-wave on hi-speed for 20 secs and I just find them warm and floppy.  For all I know they buy them in bulk and make out that they bake them themselves.

I have fond memories of my childhood when we used to live virtually next door to a bakery and mum used to get us to go for hot rolls for our breakfast before school, now that was a treat.

Weedon (53)

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We have a baker producing excellent croissants 3km away, so the question of heating them doesn't arise. Our guests get them really fresh.

The only problem is Monday when the baker is closed, in which case I will either go 6km in the opposite direction for inferior croissants or, the better solution, buy them on Sunday, keep them fresh in the freezer, and reheat them in the oven for Monday breakfast.

Edit - just done an experiment using good-quality pastries from our favourite baker, kept in the freezer (our emergency supply) and defrosted/reheated in the microwave, as the original post suggested. Croissant - chewy, lost most of its buttery flavour. Pain au Chocolat - disgusting, soggy, almost inedible. Pain au Raisin - surprisingly good, not as good as fresh but perfectly acceptable.

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We're with Miki's neighbours here.  We (or rather my husband) drives past three other boulangeries to get ours.  We never have them ourselves, they're only for the guests.  The boulangerie actually closes TWO days a week so we have to go to the next closest on Wednesday and Thursday mornings.  If people have arrived on a Tuesday or Wednesday and are staying Thursday night as well they ALWAYS comment on how much nicer the croissants are on Friday mornings.  We don't heat them though.  They're warm when my husband buys them (if people have requested breakfast early enough) but we find that they lose their heat so quickly that it's not really worth it.
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Doesn't anyone else have one of these super French toasters with a wide top and a croissant setting? We bought ours when we first came to France and have used it ever since, you put the croissants on the top, it warms them through a treat and they stay crisp and flakey!


Angie

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[quote]Doesn't anyone else have one of these super French toasters with a wide top and a croissant setting? We bought ours when we first came to France and have used it ever since, you put the croissants on ...[/quote]

This sounds like a good idea and more economic than turning on the oven. Any of you doing B & B near to the Suisse Normande. Perhaps better post it in my inbox.

Monika

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Doesn't anyone else have one of these super French toasters with a wide top and a croissant setting? We bought ours when we first came to France and have used it ever since, you put the croissants on the top, it warms them through a treat and they stay crisp and flakey!

I am afraid that using one of those machines, instead of our oven would be a bit of a balancing act for us John, we have between 12-17 croissants plus a few pain au chocolats on occasion, to do each morning for breakfasts !!

 

 

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[quote]Earlier this year we spent three days in France in a Bed and Breakfast run by a lovely British Couple. There was just one thing which spoilt the stay: the famous "ping" emitting from the kitchen at Br...[/quote]

Our local croissants are HUGE - so we use boxes of frozen mini-croissants and pains au chocolat from a local wholesaler - a couple per person - take them out of the freezer and prove overnight, a touch of egg-glaze and 15mn in the oven the morning, and there you have it, fresh from the oven - also makes the house smell lovely in the morning as the guests come down for breakfast.  And if they're a bit later and the croissants are cold - well, I'm afraid that's life!
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