Mmmm....my own birthday cake

Okay, so it's not cake. Hey, it's my birthday so I got to pick my my favorite treat which happens to be almond croissants.  This may be ego talking but I'll say it out loud anyway.  I like my croissants better than any I've found at a bakery.  So they're my birthday "cake" and worth every calorie and fat gram.  They take two days (I'm exaggerating, but only sort of) so I don't make them often. That makes them definitely a treat by that definition.  And there is a reason I don't eat/make cake for my birthday but I'll give the link to a previous post or see "Cake Story" (Feb 1) on my personal blog:  www.xanga.com/Marie9949  rather than reprinting the whole story here.  Let's just say as kids, my brothers and sister and I used to hurt our cake decorating mom's feelings.  A lot. And now it's kind of a sick family joke so the tradition of a no cake birthday lives on.

My birthday today was lots of fun, although I kept forgetting to take a camera anywhere I went so that caused a little cursing on my part.  Any excuse to curse, that's my motto. 

I slept in, made the croissants, then went to a leisurely lunch with Aunt Miranda and cousin Ann.  After they left the restaurant, I retired to the bar for my first Hemingway Writing Tour in ages.  It's simple.You've all heard the stories about Papa sitting in cafes drinking wine all day while writing by hand in notebooks?  It works.  There's something about sitting at a table where there's music and people to bring you beverages that manages to keep your butt planted in the seat for the afternoon while you eavesdrop on the conversations around you and scribble to your heart's content.  I managed about 1,500 words or a little more on my novel this afternoon.  Considering it's the lack of writing that's the one thing that always bums me out about my birthday, getting the afternoon to do it perked me up today.  After that I came home to take an indulgent nap and then Geno took me out to dinner, Mr. Yen's where we split crispy duck and yu-shiang scallops. When we got home he drew me a long hot bath and sprung my birthday gift on me: two sacks full of assorted Bath Junkie products. Oh.  My. Gawd.  My favorite and he knows it.  He let the clerk pick out the colors and fragrances so they were dead on blissful and girlie, every one of them. Tonight was yellow bath crystals in "hibiscus passion."  Speaking of passion...I need to get off the net.  I think Gene has more birthday planned for me...

Almond Croissants

Recipe by Glenna Muse

This is another of those recipes that started from a cookbook, a bread machine cookbook to be exact, that I no longer have. Doesn't matter anyway because I've tweaked the recipe so many times that I've made it my own

Add the following ingredients to your bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer:

1 cup water

2 Tbsp canola oil

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

4 cups all purpose flour

1 Tbsp yeast

1.  Make the dough using the "dough" only cycle and allow the dough to rise for a total of 3 hours. This will be about 2 hours longer than the normal cycle. Just turn the machine off when it beeps at you and let the dough continue to rise.

2.  cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for 1/2 hour.

In the meantime, mix together:

1/2  6 oz can Almond paste

1 cup butter, room temp but not too melty

3.  Roll the dough out, using additional flour as needed to prevent sticking, to approx 8" x 16".

4.  Spread 1/3 of the almond/butter mixture onto the top of the dough using a pastry knife and then fold the dough into thirds (like folding a letter to fit in an envelope).

5.  Reroll the dough out into the same dimensions and spread another third of the mixture onto it. Fold as before. 

6.  Reroll a third time, using the last of the almond/butter mixture and fold into thirds again. 

7.  Lightly cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.

For filling, mix together:

1/2      oz can Almond paste

4 oz.  cream cheese, softened

8. Remove dough from fridge and roll out to approx 8" x 16", less than 1/2" thick.  Spread dough with almond/cream cheese mixture and cut into 12 rectangles and then those 12 rectangles diagonally into triangles.  Roll each croissant up starting at the wider end, ending at the pointed tip, arcing each pastry into a crescent shape.

9.  Bake on well greased pan at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Watch carefully to not overbake.

For glaze, mix together with a hand mixer:

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp milk, slightly more if needed to make a thick, pipe-able glaze

10. To finish croissants, allow to cool and then pipe or spoon glaze on top and garnish each with a few sliced almonds.

Comments

[sher]

I love almond croissants!!! So, I would be thriled to have those as a birthday cake. Sounds like you had a great day. Crispy duck, croissants, lots of bath stuff and..........

Well, I'll withdraw and let you and Gene alone! :)

[Glenna]

Thanks, Sher!

[Jeff]

Everyone is making croissants...I feel left out!

[Glenna]

Jeff--LOL! Get on the bandwagon!

[Raaga]

I'll try this without the machine and see how it turns out. Thanks Glenna

[Glenna]

Great! Let me know!