Last week I attempted to make some croissants using all levain. Maybe my mojo was off. They were just awful. My friends on Facebook, bakers who do this all day, were aghast and asked, in fact, if it the batch was actually created by my goldfish. Well, my friends, I don't have goldfish!! Worse, I was ridiculed for using a crappy croissant cutter, which was blamed for my mediocre craftsmanship and bin-ready laminated dough.

To make up for it, I tossed the cutter into the garbage, got my levain revved up to bubblelicious state, and chilled my dough after a good ferment in the freezer. Then laminated successfully, I cut this batch by hand the croissants, then rolled the smooth stretchy dough to get the lovely curves and layers that should have been present in my first batch. Of course, I woke up in the wee hours of the night, and checked that my croissants were puffed and ready for egg wash, as well as for a hot oven. Success, here was what I got!