Why our croissants take 48 hours

Day one is dough, day two is butter, and the morning is mostly waiting. A slow look at lamination.

Laminated croissant dough cut into triangles, with rolled croissants on a tray

Every croissant on the board started two days earlier. It's the longest thing we make, and the one people ask about most, so here's where the time goes.

Day one: the dough

We mix a stiff, lightly sweetened dough in the afternoon and let it rest overnight in the fridge. Cold, slow fermentation builds flavour and keeps the gluten relaxed enough to roll.

Day two: the butter

The butter is beaten into a flat block and folded into the dough, then rolled and folded again three times. Each fold multiplies the layers. Between folds everything goes back in the fridge, because warm butter melts into the dough and the layers disappear.

The morning

At 5am the dough is cut into triangles, rolled by hand and left to prove until it wobbles. Then 18 minutes in a hot oven, and onto the board by seven.