What’s the difference between all-purpose flour and bread flour? It’s working with different wheat grains and protein content. That relaxation allows the dough to be more flexible, more versatile, and I think gives a better flavor. We do what’s called a bulk fermentation, so after we make our dough, we cut the weight that we need, we shape it into balls, and then let that rest for (depending on the temperature) about an hour and it’ll double in size. It’s a whole process of how you add things to the mixture, how long you knead it, how you know when it’s done, and making sure the dough doesn’t get too hot. Car’s quest to develop the ultimate chocolate croissant began a year ago. That’s my ideal chocolate croissant, and what I strive to make every time. The exterior is this golden-brown color and then just a little bit of pale dough within the center. You want it to have that gluten structure. It being chewy is important - if you squeeze it, it kind of falls apart like soft bread but at the same time it has a solid shape. Ideally, it would have some chocolate in every bite and the chocolate would be kind of gooey. Haris Car: It’d be warm with a very thin, flaky shell. A trio of strategically dispersed chocolate batons ensures every bite gets a rich hit of cacao in all its nutty, caramelized, and sometimes even fruity glory.Įater LA sat down with the new baker to understand the crucial elements of pain au chocolat, the root of his dedication, and the overarching philosophy that keeps him going. Served warm to the touch, the pastry’s glossy exterior shatters at first bite, revealing a web of yeast-kissed layers and coating lips with buttery shards. The result is Los Angeles’s ultimate chocolate croissant. “I don’t like it when I bite into a chocolate croissant and eat the chocolate part and the rest is just dough,” says Haris Car of Car Artisan Chocolate.Ĭar’s background and personal ties with cacao farms, which stretch from La Colonia, Nicaragua, to Chiapas, Mexico, and Mbingu, Tanzania, made certain that the cacao beans used to make the chocolate inside each pain au chocolat came from origins where both farm workers and their beans were paid a premium above “ fair trade.” While some of the better bakeries in town laminate their doughs from scratch and source more premium chocolate like Valrhona, no one else is applying the rigorous bean-to-bar ethos to croissant-making like Car is.įrom flour to butter, and, of course, chocolate, Car considered, meticulously tested, and continuously refined every component of his operation. What’s the best mixer? Is it the old hook or is it actually a spiral dough mixer? In my opinion, it’s the spiral so it’s constantly kneading.” Car’s self-proclaimed perfectionist streak led him down a 10-month-long rabbit hole of intense research and development in pursuit of the Platonic ideal of a croissant. “I learned about flour, protein, gluten content in flour, hydration percentages for dough. Car hadn’t considered taking up viennoiserie - the technically difficult and notoriously finicky pursuit required to make butter-rich and flaky pastries like Danishes and kouign amann - but after a year of proofing and baking the pastries each morning, and picking Abrakjian’s brain along the way, he grew increasingly compelled by the idea. Since opening in 2021 on the corner of Colorado Boulevard and Catalina Avenue, the cafe has served croissants that were made by Joseph Abrakjian at nearby Seed Bakery using Car’s chocolate batons. Previously, he focused on crafting bean-to-bar chocolates using ethically-sourced, single-origin cacao at his namesake cafe/manufactory in Pasadena. Haris Car’s quest to develop the ultimate chocolate croissant began a year ago.
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