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A croissant is always tasty. And during this Croissant Week, the Ambassadeurs du Pain set out to find the perfect croissants from our Belgian bakers. How do you recognize a quality copy? How should it taste? And can you make it tasty again after two days? Our journalist found out this from the jury and the participants. “Use this trick to transform a day-old croissant into a delicious delicacy.”
Like last year, at the beginning of this week, bakers from all over Flanders gathered with their freshly baked croissants to have them judged for the “Croissant Week”. With the largest cake box, an Isomo box or a cardboard box, they line up in front of the only Flemish branch of Bruyerre, the paradise for gourmets. They all had one goal: to win the title of “Golden Croissant,” crowned with a beautiful glass croissant on a stick that can be displayed in the bakery’s window.
This way you know if your baker is serving the perfect croissants
Do you see a glass croissant like this in your bakery? Then you’ve come to the right place and you’ll find perfect croissants, prepared according to the rules of the art. Although someone with a diploma about a bronze or silver award is not to be despised. How are these croissants selected? From all the professionals. “Do you see the shirt collar with the French colors there?” one of the jury members tells me. “This means that he can hold the title ‘Meilleur Ouvrier de France’, an award that you only receive in France if you are really one of the best in your field.” So he knows what the croissant should look and taste like. “
The hardest part was getting the flavor right. For example, it is important which sugar you use.
Jury member Mark Vander Cluyzen spent 15 years working on the perfect croissant
The Belgian jury members are also masters of their craft. Mark Vander Cluyzen was one of last year’s winners and now sits on the other side of the table. He worked for 15 years on what eventually became the perfect croissant. How come this was so difficult? “The structure, the texture, the leaf layers, … everything has to be right. But finding the right taste was the biggest challenge,” he says. “For example, it is important what type of sugar you use. And the right flower – which I only found when I moved to Steenkerque – also turned out to be very important.”
What does the appearance of a croissant say about its quality?
Once the huge amount of croissants have been delivered, the jury can begin tasting them. “The exterior reveals a lot,” says jury member Guy Van de Vorst. “Here you can see a kind of crackling. This indicates that the croissants rose at a temperature that was too low. Then the butter ‘breaks’. “Inside you.” You can also see that the croissant isn’t puffed optimally.”
For comparison, he brings a croissant from another box. “Can you see the difference?” Yes, even to a layman it is clear that the fine stripes on the outside reveal that it is the same on the inside: beautiful layers and therefore an airy croissant. Although sometimes there are some defects, with a piece inside that couldn’t rise enough. These fine lines are therefore already an initial identifying feature of quality.
The jury judges the croissants based on volume, shine, color and appearance. Golden yellow is great. Too light or too dark is usually a cosmetic defect. When you turn a croissant over, you can tell whether the foot has sagged or not. If the croissant touches the baking sheet, the bottom may collapse slightly. Then you sometimes see a double edge at the bottom.”
Jury member Cyril Hervé first smells the croissant: “You can immediately tell which butter is used” / Right: a beautiful hint of a croissant. © rv/adb
How should a croissant taste?
After an initial inspection from the outside, the tasting follows. To do this, the judges first stick their noses into half a croissant to check the aroma. “You can tell straight away whether butter or margarine was used. Even butter-flavored margarine is inferior to real butter.”
The tasting is accompanied by nods, head shakes, raised noses, furrowed eyebrows and the occasional pained look. Some very nice croissants disappoint in terms of taste, every now and then a less nice one surprises and every now and then a villain is exposed. For example, people incorporated vanilla into the dough: “What’s that good for?” Others spread sugar syrup on their baked croissants. “Can not!” Brushing with sugar syrup before baking is permitted. “To get a nice shine, mix three quarters of an egg with a quarter of sugar syrup,” says jury chairman Guido Devillé.
A bad croissant no longer tastes good in the afternoon, but a good one stays tasty for two days.
How long does a croissant stay tasty?
We gratefully take the opportunity to glean even more useful information from this group of experts. How long does a croissant stay tasty? The answer is unanimous: “A bad croissant no longer tastes good in the afternoon, but a good one stays tasty for two days without any problem.”
And what do you do with it on the third day? “Then you put it in the oven at 160 to 180°C for a minute to warm it up again. You can also cut it, fill it and glaze it. For example, a cream biscuit or the famous Dutch crompouce.” Or an even better alternative: “Put a few almond flakes on top and frangipane in it.” Then put it in the oven. The oil from the almonds in the frangipane ensures that the crumb inside becomes nice and soft again. Yummy!”
Further inspiration from master croissant bakers for croissant week, rounded off with special toppings. © rv/adb
Can you freeze croissants to take away their flavor?
There is no clear answer to the question of whether you can freeze croissants. It is possible, but there is a risk that they will crumble: croissants are simply fragile. “For competitions, I transported them on Styrofoam with cocktail sticks in between so they wouldn’t collide with each other,” adds perfectionist Mark. A colleague sometimes freezes leftovers, but they don’t have to look perfect afterwards. “Just so my wife and I can have breakfast the next day. Just pop it in the oven and it’s perfect.”
Gold, silver and bronze croissants
In total, more than sixty croissants were evaluated before the jury could award points and prizes. Among the eagerly waiting participants, a well-known Dutchman watches the rows of croissants and the nervous participants with amusement. Robert van Beckhoven runs the Bij Robèrt bakery in Oisterwijk, but is known far beyond the Tilburg region for his baking shows on television and in particular for Heel Holland Bakt, the Dutch counterpart to our popular Bake Off Vlaanderen, hosted by André van Duin.
He is also an ambassador of pain. He enthusiastically feeds us pieces of croissant from different boxes and asks us questions. “What do you think is best?” Why?”. A day spent watching croissants being judged and tasted ensures we can provide answers that will be met with approval. With more than twenty golden croissant winners – almost double last year – and a range of silver and bronze croissants, the quality of croissants in our country is good. Croissant week can begin, although admittedly we won’t see any more after this week…
The Dutchman Robert van Beckhoven has a baking show on Dutch television and is “Herman Van Dender” in the Dutch version of Bake Off, nl Heel Holland Bakt © rv/adb
Also read:
How do you bake bread at home that is just as crispy as it is at the bakery? Topbakker gives 9 tips: “Open the oven for five minutes at the end of the baking time” (+)
Crazy croissants are a food trend thanks to social media, but are they delicious? Trend watchers and pastry chefs explain
How do you recognize the tastiest coffee cakes? “In West Flanders the coffee cakes are much sweeter than in the rest of the country” (+)
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