Jill Wherrett
The perfect croissant: a glossy goldenbrown exterior, a crunchy, flaky crust, the rich aroma of creamy butter, and inside, a honeycomb of soft, airy layers. What makes a great croissant? And how do the offerings in some of our neighbourhood bakeries and coffee shops stack up?
First, to get some insight into what’s beneath all those layers, I sat down with Yann Le Coz, Head Pastry Chef Instructor at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa, who took me through the exacting process of making croissants.
“What is most important for croissants is definitely the quality of the flour and the quality of the butter,” Chef Le Coz said, explaining that butter with a high fat content has richer flavour and greater “plasticity,” so it can bend when cold without breaking, allowing it to roll out more easily. “It’s best to have a minimum of water. The more water you have in the butter the more difficult it is going to be to make a croissant.”
Controlling temperature of the ingredients and environment, kneading the dough properly to give it good structure, giving the dough time to rest, and following a precise process of lamination (the technique of folding and rolling butter into the dough to create many very thin layers) are also key. “You follow specific steps and process…There’s no shortcut that makes the difference.”
And at the end? “What’s the bottom line for a good croissant? Its butteriness, its flakiness, its consistency in terms of layering,” Chef Le Coz said.
I couldn’t resist asking the chef for his view on the wave of croissant fads and internet sensations over the past decade. “I think it’s great,” he said, noting that all the attention has enhanced public perception of the baking profession. As well, more small shops making traditional products are opening up. “Today we find that in Canada, in Ottawa. The trend is moving forward.”
Then I set out to sample some of the croissants available in and around Old Ottawa East. For purposes of comparison, I chose classic plain croissants, although several of the shops offer a variety of flavours, including an almond and chocolate, as well as more exotic fare like the gooey, chocolatey crookie (do not attempt to eat this decadent treat on your own!) and the stunning pistachio rose croissant at Tartelette.
1172 Bank Street
To be fair, I didn’t expect Bridgehead’s croissant ($3.95) to measure up to one produced by a bakery or pastry shop. (Bridgehead’s baked goods come from Bytown Catering.) But I didn’t expect it to be so disappointing. A pallid straw colour, this pastry had little aroma and no buttery flavour. What flavour it did have was faintly bitter, tasting as if the croissant had absorbed the aromas of the shop. It lacked a crunchy crust and had few flaky layers, and a dry, chewy interior.
204 Main Street
This pastry ($3.65), sourced from Rudolph (a baking wholesaler), was on the smaller side. A tad over-browned, the croissant hadgood crispness and flake when pulled apart, and a lovely aroma and appealing sweet buttery flavour with a hint of yeast. The interior was soft with some moistness at the centre.
1071 Bank Street
I had higher expectations for Dessert First’s croissant ($3.16, the lowest priced of the five I tasted), given that it is a bakery. However, while not unpleasant, it was merely fair. It had some crunch, but not much flake, and was a little short on distinctive aroma and flavour. While the longest, it was the lightest in weight, lacking in substance and with a texture that was a little too chewy and elastic.
1134 Bank Street
Life of Pie’s croissant ($4.50) had a home baked look with a slightly uneven shape. Fresh out of the oven when sampled, it had a crisp shell with a satisfying audible crunch when I bit into the ends, and a strong buttery scent and appealing taste. While the shortest of the five I sampled, it weighed the most and had a denser, squishier centre (in part because it was freshly baked).
175 Main Street
The largest and most expensive ($5.80) of the five, Tartelette’s croissant was the most visually appealing, with a uniform shape and beautiful glossy bands of gold and bronze on the exterior. Its very flaky outer layers shattered when touched, and revealed a light, airy, well-layered interior. It featured a rich, sweet butter flavour and aroma.
