It’s Epiphany today. One of the traditions for this day is to bake “a cake with horns”: croissants. And if croissants, they have to be Aunt Halinka’s Croissants.

Dziś Trzech Króli. Jedną z tradycji jest piec “rogate ciasto”, czyli rogaliki . A jak rogaliki, to tylko te od Cioci Halinki.

Yesterday I was reminding my family tradition of making dumplings :

https://www.facebook.com/breadcentric/posts/543692415988753

One of the comments (thank you Agnieszka!) reminded me of another one:

“and we make a cake with horns (croissants), so that the world doesn’t perish”

I did forget about it as we didn’t follow it in our family. But once she mentioned this, my memories went back to summer in Raków:

Raków (source: spwz.e-swietokrzyskie.pl, click image to follow)

and this:

Electrical oven (source: allegro.pl, click image to follow)

Aunt Halinka used this kind of oven to bake her croissants (I don’t think she uses it anymore). The croissants have become her signature dish in the family (one of many).

Here’s her recipe.

Aunt Halinka’s croissants

Planning

Start the oven, make the dough, roll it, cut, fill, make croissants, bake. Done in one hour.

Ingredients can be cold out of the fridge.

Croissant shape is not essential

Ingredients

Makes a lot.

• 500 g plain flour

• 250 g margarine (or butter as an alternative)

• 50 g fresh yeast & 1 tbsp sugar for activating them

• 1 egg

• 1 egg yolk

• 150 ml sour cream

• some marmalade/preserve to put in the croissants

• 1 egg white for coating

• sugar for sprinkling

  

  Shaping

Preparation

1. Turn the oven on, 180 C degrees, fan assisted if available. Know your oven

2. Put the yeast and a tbsp sugar in a cup, use a spoon to work it till it turns runny and the sugar dissolves, more or less

3. Put all ingredients in a bowl and work it till you get a nice dough. You can start with a little less cream and add a bit more if it looks too dry

4. Roll the dough flat and divide into triangles. Hint: you can make a dough circle and divide like pizza

   

   Shaping

5. Put the marmalade on the triangles (about a third of a teaspoon per triangle) and roll them in croissants

6. Put on a baking tray, brush with whisked egg white and sprinkle with sugar

7. Bake for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown

   

   Before and after

Done. I could write more about them, but I have a lot of croissants and they won’t eat themselves.