Pastries and Croissants

Pastry refers to a variety of doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury baked goods made from them. These goods are often called pastries as a synecdoche, and the dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often described as bakers' confectionery. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, quiches, croissants, and pasties.

The French word pâtisserie is also used in English (with or without the accent) for many of the same foods, as well as the set of techniques used to make them. Originally, the French word pastisserie referred to anything, such as a meat pie, made in dough (paste, later pâte) and not typically a luxurious or sweet product.[7] This meaning still persisted in the nineteenth century, though by then the term more often referred to the sweet and often ornate confections implied today.

Wonderfully flaky, buttery, tender pastries, turnovers, cheese straws, elephant ears (palmiers), shells for savory fillings, and more can be yours with a minimum of effort.

Since this pastry uses only a few ingredients, it's important to make those ingredients top-quality.  

www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/fast-and-easy-puff-pastry-recipe 

From simple, super-flaky turnovers to crunchy palmiers (elephant ears) to fancy Napoleons, puff pastry is the dough to go to when you're looking for something light and delicately crispy. 

This is the pastry that breaks into a thousand buttery shards with each bite, showering the plate (and probably the table) in front of you with its delicious crumbs. While it's time-consuming to make (and we list some easier versions in "tips," below), this recipe is the original — and still a baking classic.  

www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/classic-puff-pastry-pate-feuilletee-recipe 

Did you ever wonder how artisan bakers make those super-buttery, flaky, light-as-air Danish? Here's how. Warning: this isn't a quick-and-easy recipe; there are numerous steps, including a suggested overnight rest for the dough. But if you follow the directions and take it one step at a time, you'll be able to claim a delicious new pastry for your baking repertoire. 

www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/danish-pastry-recipe 

A croissant is a French pastry made from puff pastry in a crescent shape.

It is a buttery, flaky, viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl, but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough. Croissants are named for their historical crescent shape. The dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a thin sheet, in a technique called laminating. The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a puff pastry.

Crescent-shaped breads have been made since the Renaissance, and crescent-shaped cakes possibly since antiquity. The modern croissant was developed in the early 20th century, when French bakers replaced the brioche dough of the kipferl with a yeast-leavened laminated dough.

Known in France as croissants de boulanger, this yeasted dough is layered with butter and given a succession of folds that create the distinctive profile of classic croissants. Light and airy and shatteringly crisp, with a deeply caramelized buttery flavor, these croissants are a labor of love that's absolutely worth the time. 

www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/bakers-croissants-recipe 

The dough is made with yeast and, once mixed, is patted into a 12" square. No kneading is necessary, since the rolling and folding you're about to do takes its place.

After mixing the butter with a little flour to soften and stabilize it, it too is shaped into a square and placed "on point" in the center of the dough, like a diamond in a square. Take care with neat corners and straight lines; it will make a big difference in the finished product.

Bring the corners of the dough to the center over the butter, and pinch the seams together to completely surround it. Dust the top with flour and turn the packet over.