Before You Start:

• Make sure you have a strong and active starter. It will need to be less acidic for best results, so, if you can, feed it for a couple consecutive days.

DAY 1:

Make détrempé (The Dough):

• On the day, once your starter is at its peak, make the détrempé (the enriched croissant dough that is one of the 3 main elements of savoury croissant – détrempé, butter lamination and ham and cheese filling).
• In a bowl of a stand mixer (we absolutely love our Kenwood), fitted with a dough hook attachment, mix the strong flour, salt and sugar. Pour in the water, milk and active sourdough starter. Turn the stand mixer on and knead for 5 minutes at medium speed. The dough will come together into a rather stiff ball (don’t expect it to look smooth or elastic at this stage, it may even look a bit dry). Leave the dough to relax for 15 minutes.
• Run the stand mixer again on medium speed, and start adding 50g of room temperature butter a little bit at a time. Make sure your butter is soft (hard butter will have trouble combining with the dough). Keep the mixer running for around 8-10 minutes until the butter is fully incorporated and you have a smooth dough. It shouldn’t be sticky.
• On a clean work surface, shape a tight ball, and slash the dough with a sharp knife (a razor or a dough scorer) in a cross on top of the dough (see photo below). This will help you roll the dough out into a square/ rectangle rather than a circle. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and leave in a warm spot to bulk prove for approx. 4 hours. Ideally, you need a temperature of 21-23° C. If it is warmer, adjust the timing: your dough should rise x1.5 times. Place the dough in the fridge for another 3-4 hours to finish proving and double in size. Finishing with a cold-proof helps roll the dough out later as it will be nice and firm.

Prepare The Butter Parcel:

• Take the butter out of the fridge in advance so it is soft enough to be rolled. Place it on a large sheet of baking parchment (we highly recommend Bacofoil Baking Parchment – it is strong and lasts forever), place another sheet of parchment on top. Using a rolling pin, gently bash to flatter the butter. Then fold the baking parchment under into a neat 18x18cm (7×7 in) square and roll the butter inside the parchment parcel into all four edges, aiming for the same thickness across (for process photos see below). Enclosing the butter into the baking parchment square will help you get an even butter square with sharp edges. Still wrapped in the baking parchment, place the butter in the fridge to firm up.

Lamination: Letter-Fold Method

• Take the dough out of the fridge and place it onto a floured worktop. Knock the air out with the bottom of your palm and roll it into a square around 28x28cm (11x11in). Try to make it even.
• Unwrap the butter (keep the baking parchment). Place the butter in the middle of the dough on the diagonal (see the photos below).
• Taking one side at a time, fold the edges of the dough into the middle creating a square envelope. Once you fold all four sides into the middle, pinch the edges together. You should now have a 20x20cm (8x8in) butter parcel. Wrap it in baking parchment and freeze on a flat surface for 10 minutes.
• First Fold: Take the parcel out of the freezer, unwrap and roll the parcel out into a rectangle that’s around 50x20cm (20x8in). Make sure your dough isn’t sticking to the worktop as you roll: you want the butter encased and the dough may tear if it sticks. Dust with flour if needed. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut off any untidy short edges that don’t have any butter in them.
• Fold the rolled-out dough like a letter: from the short edge, hold ⅓ of the sheet into the middle, then take the opposite short edge and fold it over the first one. Wrap the dough in the parchment paper you kept the butter in, or cling film, and place in the freezer for 15 minutes, then transfer to the fridge for 1 hour.
• Second Fold: Take the dough out of the fridge and place it short edge in front of you. Roll the dough out to 50x20cm (20x8in) again. Fold the top third towards the centre and then the bottom third over (just like before). Wrap and place the pastry in the freezer for 15 minutes, then fridge for 1 hour.
• Third Fold: Just like before, roll out the dough to 50x20cm (20x8in) rectangle. Fold like a letter, wrap and place in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours (we leave it in the fridge overnight).

DAY 2:

Filling and Shaping Ham & Cheese Croissants

• Take the pastry out of the refrigerator and let it warm up for 5 minutes at room temperature. Unwrap and, on a lightly floured worktop, roll the pastry out into a 60x40cm (24×16 in) rectangle, gently getting all the air out of the pastry. You don’t want pockets of air to burst abruptly though, exposing the butter.
• Trim the pastry from all four sides to create even edges. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut the pastry sheet in half lengthways. Then each long strip into 6 rectangles measuring 20x10cm (8x4in). You should have 12 even rectangles (see photos below).
• Taking one dough rectangle at a time, place a piece of ham (it may need to be folded in half) towards the bottom short edge, about 1-2 cm away from the edge). Add 1/12 of the grated cheese on top (or you can use a slice of cheese, but make sure to roll the croissant tightly). Fold the pastry over the ham and cheese and roll until you have a neat spiral, tucking the cheese that's trying to escape back into the pastry.
• Repeat with the rest of the rectangles. Place the sourdough savoury croissants seam side down on the prepared baking sheets spaced out, leaving enough space for them to rise.

Proofing Shaped Savoury Pastries

• Cover the pastries with oiled cling film and leave them to proof in a warm spot (around 23C) for 4 hours.
• If your kitchen is very cold, or you live in a particularly dry climate, you can pour boiling water into an ovenproof dish and place it in the turned off oven. The steam will raise the temperature and humidity. Leave the hot water in the oven for 10 minutes. Once the temperature in your oven is no higher than 23 C (any higher and your butter will start melting into the pastry), place the plastic-wrap covered croissants into the steam yoven. The humid environment will ensure that the savoury croissants won’t form a crust on top, preventing the pastries from rising.
• The pastries should puff up significantly and the layers should be clearly visible.

Eggwash:

• Once your savoury croissants have proved, we like to place them in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. The pastries will firm up and won’t be as fragile when you are brushing them with egg wash. Furthermore, the butter in them will have time to solidify a bit again to help create perfect flaky layers.
• Whilst the ham & cheese croissants are chilling, take the ovenproof dish with water out of the oven and then preheat it to 190°C Fan.
• In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk and cream (or milk). Using a pastry brush, very gently brush the pastries with the mixture. The eggwash will give the top of the croissants a golden brown finish.

Baking Savoury Croissants With Ham & Cheese:

• Bake the pastries for around 20-25 minutes. The cheese melts, the pastry soaks up the aromas from delicious ham and the tops turn golden brown. Leave the ham and cheese croissants to cool for 30 minutes. They are best served on the same day! We enjoy them most when they are still a little warm and the cheese is oozing out!