Reddit Is Obsessed With This Oddly Satisfying Croissant
The internet can be a great source of inspiration. And envy. Such was the case when someone posted a photo on Reddit of a beautiful croissant that they had made, with the heading, "Chocolate Croissant. Yes, I do this for a living." Professional baker status notwithstanding, it was a thing of beauty, puffy and with an incredible number of flaky layers, characteristics of a perfect croissant (via Bonjour Bakery Miami). Clearly, Reddit agreed, as the thread has racked up 8.7 thousand points, more than 350 comments, and was 97% upvoted.
Many Redditors were understandably obsessed. "I audibly moaned seeing this. My lord," wrote one. "Oh. My. God. Heavy breathing. I can taste that beauty remotely," wrote another. What struck many commenters was how perfect the layers looked. "That layering is absolutely perfect. I can hear the crunch of the crust and taste the buttery, chocolatey fluffiness....I can even imagine inhaling a flake and having a coughing fit, which tells me that it's 100% authentic croissant."
The secret is in the lamination
The key to a good croissant is in the lamination, or the process of folding and rolling butter into the dough numerous times to create the incredibly thin layers (via Food & Wine), a notoriously difficult process. Several commenters on Reddit asked the OP for tips on the lamination process, given how great the croissant turned out. The OP was more than happy to share some tips, which included the proper temperature for the butter, preheating the oven, and the ideal temperature for proofing the croissants.
Although the vast majority of the comments were positive, there were a few purists that took issue with calling the creation chocolate croissant, with one of them commenting, "That's not a croissant that's a pain au chocolat." A few others called it a chocolatine. That's despite the fact that chocolate croissant is a commonly used term in America (via Make Bread at Home). Whatever the case, someone cross-posted the thread to the France subreddit, where lots of (presumably French) people were able to overlook any naming discrepancies to admire how good the pastry looked.