Almond Croissants
If you love croissants and you love almonds, I feel very confident you with adore these flaky, butter croissants filled and topped with layers of melt in the mouth, soft almondy frangipane and flaked almonds.
Ingredients
For the sugar syrup:
- 125ml/½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
Make the Almond Croissants:
- 125g unsalted butter, at room temperature (See Recipe Notes)
- 125g caster sugar
- 1 large egg
- 125g ground almonds/almond meal
- 20g plain/all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
Also:
- 4 one day old croissants, left uncovered overnight
- 4 teaspoons slivered almonds
To serve:
- Sprinkle of icing sugar
- Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries
Instructions
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Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
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Preheat oven to Fan Oven 160°C /180°C/350°F/Gas 4
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First make the frangipane – you will only use half of the frangipane. Either freeze the remainder for use another time in this or another recipe.
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Weigh all the ingredients into a bowl and beat with an electric whisk for about 1 minute, or until combined.
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Remove half of the frangipane and set this aside for a different purpose. (See Recipe Notes)
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Make the Almond Croissants: make the sugar syrup – use a saucepan big enough so that the croissants can fit in the base.
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Put the water and sugar in the saucepan and heat over a moderate heat until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool.
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Slice the croissants in half horizontally.
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Hold the croissants together (as if they hadn’t been cut) and dip the top, bottom and sides in the sugar syrup. The sugar syrup should be all used up and the top and bottom of the croissants, quite wet.
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Place the base of the croissants on one baking tray and the tops on another baking tray in the same order.
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Divide the frangipane into ⅓ (70g) and ⅔ (150g). Set the ⅓ aside and divide the ⅔ into 4 equal portions.
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Spread the cut side of the base of each croissant with one of these 4 portions of frangipane. Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 15 minutes.
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Whilst the bases cook, divide and spread the remaining ⅓ of the frangipane over the tops of the croissants. Scatter over the flaked almonds.
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Remove the bases from the oven after 15 minutes and top with the corresponding croissant frangipane top. Put back in the oven for a further 10 – 15 minutes.
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Leave to sit for 10 minutes and sieve over icing sugar. Serve! Top tip – they disappear very quickly!
Recipe Notes
Equipment:
- Kitchen scales and measuring spoons
- Mixing bowl and electric whisk
- Chopping board and knife
- Saucepan
- 2 x baking trays
Frangipane:
You will only use half of the frangipane in this recipe. Either freeze the remainder for use another time in this or another recipe such as the Rhubarb and Orange Frangipane Galette I posted recently.
Ensure the butter is at room temperature and soft enough to beat.
- The best way to do this is to take it out of the fridge around half an hour before you want to use it (you may need less time in hot climates!) and chop into small squares. It will soften much more quickly this way. Beat with an electric whisk before adding the remaining ingredients.
- If you do not have time to wait, you can soften it slightly in the microwave. Cut into small squares and blitz in short bursts only. Be very careful not to melt it though – just do 5 seconds at a time if you are unsure. Beat with an electric whisk before adding the remaining ingredients.