Patent Publication Number: US-2006003054-A1

Title: Croissants and method for forming same

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e)(1) of a provisional patent application, Ser. No. 60/581,498, filed Jun. 21, 2004, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention relates to croissants and a method for forming cut dough into croissants. Specifically, the invention relates to forming croissant intermediates such that the croissant retains its shape during baking.  
     BACKGROUND  
      Croissants are a popular, layered pastry that are shaped and baked in a familiar, crescent shape. Croissants are specifically named after their crescent shape in French, wherein croissant in French means “crescent.” The dough used in making croissants is cut to form a croissant intermediate, which is subsequently wrapped and pinched to form a crescent-shape croissant intermediate. The dough is proofed or caused to rise by using yeast to break down simple sugars present within the dough into carbon dioxide and alcohol. During baking or proofing, the yeast may initially cause the croissant dough to continue rising wherein the traditional crescent shape of the croissant intermediate may be lost or deformed. The loss of the crescent shape during baking can lead to a visually unacceptable croissant. As such, it would be advantageous to have croissant intermediates that did not deform or change shape during baking.  
     SUMMARY  
      The invention addresses the aforementioned need by providing a croissant intermediate having a stress-relieving feature such that the croissant intermediate does not come unpinched during baking. The stress-relieving feature generally takes the form of at least one cut within a triangular croissant intermediate that is substantially perpendicular to a leading edge and does not intersect either the leading edge or a pair of side edges. The cut can be made, either manually or automatically, and is generally made at the same time as the triangular croissant intermediate is formed from croissant dough. The stress-relieving feature may comprise one or more cuts within the croissant intermediate.  
      In one aspect, an embodiment of the invention comprises a croissant intermediate having a stress-relieving feature that serves to prevent a pinched croissant intermediate from coming unpinched during baking.  
      In another aspect, the invention comprises a process for forming a croissant intermediate having an integral stress-relieving feature.  
      The above summary of the various embodiments of the invention is not intended to describe each illustrated embodiment or every implementation of the invention. The Figures in the detailed description that follow more particularly exemplify these embodiments. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The invention may be more completely understood in consideration of the following detailed description of various embodiments of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a top view of an embodiment of a croissant intermediate.  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of croissant intermediate of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 3  is a top view of a rolled, elongated croissant intermediate.  
       FIG. 4  is a top view of a rolled and pinched croissant intermediate.  
       FIG. 5  is a top view of an embodiment of an improved croissant intermediate of the invention.  
       FIG. 6  is a top view of an improved rolled, elongated croissant intermediate.  
       FIG. 7  is a top view of an improved rolled and pinched croissant intermediate.  
       FIG. 8  is a top view of an embodiment of an improved croissant intermediate. 
    
    
      While the invention is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit the invention to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      As used herein, the term “croissant intermediate” refers to an article that is in an intermediate condition and requires further thermal processing such as baking, cooking or frying to change the intermediate into a croissant suitable for consumption by a consumer.  
      A known croissant intermediate  100  is illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Generally, croissant intermediate  100  is made from a piece of croissant dough  102  that has been cut to form a triangular shape  104 . Triangular shape  104  is generally defined by a base or leading edge  106  and a pair of side edges  108   a ,  108   b . A tail  110  is defined at the intersection of side edges  108   a ,  108   b  opposite of leading edge  106 . Croissant intermediate  100  has an intermediate thickness  111  that can vary from approximately 4 mm to approximately 10 mm. In a representative embodiment, croissant intermediate  100  has a leading edge length  112  which can be, for example, 10 cm to about 20 cm, and an intermediate height  113  which can be, for example, 8 cm to 15 cm. In one embodiment, a smaller sized product can be about 11 cm (leading edge length) by 9 cm (intermediate height). In another embodiment, a large croissant can have a leading edge length of about 19 cm and an intermediate height of about 13 cm.  
      Croissant dough  102  is generally formulated to be a highly developed dough having many layers upon baking. In one representative example, croissant dough  102  may have a composition, expressed in weight percent, as follows:  
                                                   Ingredient   Wt. %                          Milk   24%           Yeast    2%           Flour   41.5%             Salt   1.5%            Sugar    3%           Butter   28%                      
 
      Croissants can generally be made from a variety of dry ingredients including but not limited to, flour, sugar, yeast, and salt; as well as liquids such as water, milk, and combinations thereof; and a fat source such as margarine, shortening, butter, or some combinations thereof. Typically, croissants dough compositions can include wheat flour at 30 wt %-50 wt %, water or milk at 0 wt % to 24 wt %, a fat source(s) at 0 wt %-35 wt %, salt at 0.5 wt %-1.0 wt %, sugar at 1 wt %-8 wt %, and yeast at 1 wt % to 6 wt %. Optionally, added flavors and other ingredients can be added to change the flavor of a croissant. For example, ingredients &amp; components such as the following can be added alone or in combination: ascorbic acid, azodicarbonimide molasses, non-fat dry milk, whole milk, honey, butter flavor, vital wheat gluten, whole wheat flour, and cracked wheat.  
      Croissant dough  102  is typically rolled flat and cut to form the croissant intermediate  100 . Croissant intermediate  100  is rolled as shown in  FIG. 3  wherein the tail  110  is wrapped around the leading edge  106  to form a rolled, elongate intermediate  116 . Elongate intermediate  116  is generally defined by a pair of ends  118   a ,  118   b  and an increased diameter middle portion  120 . Elongated intermediate  116  is then manipulated such that ends  118   a ,  118   b  are in proximity such that ends  118   a ,  118   b  can be pinched together at a pinch point  122  resulting in the formation of a pinched croissant intermediate  114  as shown in  FIG. 4 . Pinched croissant intermediate  114  is then ready for storage, or proofing and baking.  
      Prior to baking, the pinched croissant intermediate  114  is allowed to rise or proof. During proofing, the yeast begins to break down the sugars present within croissant dough  102 . As the yeast breaks down the sugars, croissant dough  102  begins to rise as carbon dioxide resulting from the consumption of the sugar causes the air pockets within the dough to stretch and expand. After proofing, the pinched croissant intermediate  114  is baked. During baking, the croissant dough  102  can experience additional expansion as the yeast can still actively convert the simple sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The interior of the rolled and pinched croissant  114 , either uncooked or partially cooked, eventually reaches a high enough temperature such that the yeast is no longer active. However, the expansion that occurs during baking can result in the ends  118   a ,  118   b  detaching at the pinch point  122  such that the look and appearance of pinched croissant intermediate  114  is no longer achieved. In addition to expansion related stresses related to air cell growth, highly developed doughs such as croissant dough  102  also experience gluten network related stresses which can further contribute to shape distortion during baking or proofing.  
      An embodiment of an improved croissant intermediate  200  is illustrated in  FIG. 5 . Exemplary croissant intermediate  200  includes an expansion-relieving cut  202  within the triangular shape  104 . Expansion-relieving cut  202  is placed so as to be substantially perpendicular to leading edge  106 . Expansion-relieving cut  202  can be made manually or automatically with a suitable cutting instrument. In one example embodiment, expansion-relieving cut  202  is made concurrently with the formation of the triangular shape  104 . Expansion-relieving cut  202  can extend part way or all the way through the previously described intermediate thickness  111  shown in  FIG. 2 . At no point does expansion-relieving cut  202  intersect with either the leading edge  106  or the side edges  108   a ,  108   b . Croissant intermediate  200  can have dimensions of, for example, 19 cm for the leading edge length and, for example, 11 cm for the intermediate height length, referencing  FIG. 1 , such that expansion-relieving cut  202  can have a length ranging from approximately 2 cm to approximately 5cm. It will be further understood that an expansion-relieving cut may be greater than 5 cm or less than 2 cm depending upon the desired dimensions of croissant intermediate  200 . With respect to the length of the expansion-relieving cut  202 , it is to be understood that one of the limiting factors for the length of expansion-relieving cut  202  is that the expansion-relieving cut  202  does not intersect the leading edge  106  or the tail  110  as illustrate in  FIG. 1 . Improved croissant intermediate  200  comprises the same croissant dough  102  as croissant intermediate  100 .  
      After the expansion-relieving cut  202  has been made on the croissant intermediate  200 , the croissant intermediate  200  is rolled and pinched as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  and as previously described with respect to croissant intermediate  100  in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , croissant intermediate  200  is first rolled to form a cut elongate croissant intermediate  203  that is subsequently pinched to form a cut and pinched croissant intermediate  204  as shown in  FIG. 7 . During rolling of the croissant intermediate  200 , the expansion-relieving cut  202  can be covered such that the expansion-relieving cut  202  is not visible from the outside. Cut and pinched croissant intermediate  204  can then be stored, and/or proofed and baked. During baking, the expansion-relieving cut  202  absorbs the expansion related stresses resulting from baking the croissant dough  102 . As such, the improved rolled and pinched croissant  204  remains substantially intact in appearance, e.g. pinch point  122  as shown in  FIG. 7  is maintained.  
      In comparing the baking results for croissant intermediate  100  versus croissant intermediate  200 , it has been found that the inclusion of expansion-relieving cut  202  substantially reduces the potential for baked croissants to develop a discontinuity, particularly at pinch point  122 , or having an unpinched appearance. In tests, it has been found that approximately 15-20% of the croissant intermediates  100  become unpinched during baking. By including at least one expansion relieving cut  202 , the amount of baked croissants having an unpinched appearance was reduced if not eliminated.  
      In alternative embodiments, a plurality of expansion-relieving slices  202  can be cut within croissant dough  100 . For instance, an embodiment of an improved croissant intermediate  206  having two expansion-relieving cuts  202  is shown in  FIG. 8 . Regardless of the number of expansion-relieving cuts  202 , suitable embodiments include expansion-relieving cuts  202  that are substantially perpendicular to the leading edge  106  and that stop short of intersecting the leading edge  106  and the side edges  108   a ,  108   b.    
      Although various embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed here for purposes of illustration, it should be understood that a variety of changes, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated without departing from either the spirit or scope of the present invention.