Folded and Laminated Breads

Cooking Skills: Bread 2

Chapter 6 · Folded and Laminated Breads

Skill goal

Fold butter, cheese or filling into dough for layers, and handle butter so it stays in its layers.

The basics

Layered breads have thin sheets of butter, or filling, folded into the dough. In the oven the butter melts, the water in it turns to steam and pushes the layers apart, giving a flaky, airy texture. A true laminated dough like a croissant uses a block of butter and several folds. Simple swirled and folded breads use the same idea with fillings.

Figure 6. Lamination builds many thin layers of butter and dough. Each fold multiplies the layers.

The layers add up

Folds (letter folds)	Butter layers
After the enclose	1
After 1 letter fold	About 3 to 4
After 2 folds	About 9 to 13
After 3 folds	About 27 to 40

The numbers are approximate: the layers multiply by three with each letter fold.

Rules for laminating

Butter and dough must be the same firmness: cold, but bendy like plasticine. If the butter is harder, it shatters; if softer, it leaks.
Work cool and fast: a cool room, a cold surface and quick hands.
Chill between folds: 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge relaxes the gluten and re-firms the butter.
Roll gently, keeping edges square and thickness even. Dust off excess flour.
Sharp cutter: a dull knife seals the layers. Cut straight down.
Proof cool: if the room is too warm, the butter melts into the dough before baking.

Swirls, stacks and folds

You don't need a butter block to get layers. A swirl rolls a filling into spirals, a stack piles buttered strips on edge, and a letter fold with cheese sandwiches the filling between layers of dough.

Butter, eggs and keeping

Butter and the rolling pin: keep the butter cold but bendy (not hard, not soft), roll gently and chill the dough whenever the butter starts to soften or smear. Hot kitchens make lamination hard: work in a cool room or chill more often.

Eggs: use eggs with the British Lion mark, wash your hands after handling raw egg, and bake egg-glazed bread until golden and cooked through. Don't taste raw dough.

Keeping filled breads: breads with cheese, garlic butter or egg glaze are best eaten within about 2 days. Keep them covered, in the fridge if the room is warm, and reheat until steaming hot.

Try it

Level 1 · Start here

Cinnamon swirl loaf

3 hours (40 minutes of work)1 loaf (12 slices)rolling a filling into spiral layers

A swirl loaf has layers of filling instead of layers of butter. Roll the dough up tightly so the spiral holds together.

Ingredients (12 portions)

500 g strong white bread flour
1 sachet (7 g) sachet fast-action dried yeast
8 g fine salt
50 g caster sugar
40 g butter, softened
1 Lion-marked egg
230 ml lukewarm milk
30 g butter, melted, for the filling
60 g light brown sugar, for the filling
2 tsp ground cinnamon, for the filling

Mix the flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Rub in the 40 g butter, add the egg and milk and knead for 10 minutes. Prove for about 1 hour 15 minutes.
Roll the dough into a rectangle about 25 x 40 cm. Brush with the melted butter and scatter with the sugar and cinnamon, leaving 1 cm clear along one long edge.
Roll up tightly from the other long edge, finishing seam side down. Trim the ends and place, seam side down, in an oiled 900 g tin (or cut in half lengthways and twist for a braided look).
Prove for 45 minutes until above the rim. Bake at 180°C (160°C fan) for 35 to 40 minutes, covering with foil after 20 minutes if it browns fast. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then on a rack.

Egg, hot sugar and allergens

Level 2 · Stack

Garlic pull-apart bread

2 hours 45 minutes (35 minutes of work)1 loaf (10 pieces)layering strips of buttered dough

Strips of dough spread with garlic butter, stacked on their sides in a tin, and baked until they pull apart in soft, buttery layers.

Ingredients (10 portions)

500 g strong white bread flour
1 sachet (7 g) sachet fast-action dried yeast
10 g fine salt
40 g butter, softened
300 ml lukewarm milk
80 g butter, softened, for the garlic butter
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp chopped parsley
100 g pasteurised mozzarella or cheddar, grated

Mix the flour, yeast, salt, 40 g butter and milk. Knead for 10 minutes and prove for about 1 hour until doubled.
Mix the 80 g butter with the garlic and parsley. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 30 x 40 cm, spread with the garlic butter and scatter on the cheese.
Cut into 5 strips lengthways, stack the strips on top of one another and cut across into 6 stacks. Stand the stacks on their cut edges in an oiled 900 g loaf tin, cut side up.
Prove for 45 minutes. Bake at 190°C (170°C fan) for 30 to 35 minutes, covering with foil if it browns fast. Cool for 10 minutes and serve warm.

Milk, garlic butter and keeping

Allergens: wheat (gluten), milk, butter and egg. Label them if you share the bread. Cheese fillings add milk.

Keeping filled breads: breads with cheese, garlic butter or egg glaze are best eaten within about 2 days. Keep them covered, in the fridge if the room is warm, and reheat until steaming hot.

Raw flour: flour is a raw ingredient and can carry bacteria such as E. coli, which are killed only by baking or cooking. Don't taste raw dough, don't let children eat or play with it, and wash your hands, bowls and surfaces after handling flour and dough.

Level 2 · Folded

Cheese-layered rolls

3 hours (40 minutes of work)8 rollsfolding a dough around a filling like a simple lamination

A letter fold with cheese between the layers: a first taste of lamination without the butter block. The layers show when you pull the rolls apart.

Ingredients (8 portions)

500 g strong white bread flour
1 sachet (7 g) sachet fast-action dried yeast
10 g fine salt
30 g butter, softened
300 ml lukewarm milk
150 g mature cheddar, grated
1 tsp mustard powder
1 egg, beaten, for glazing

Mix the flour, yeast, salt, mustard powder, butter and milk. Knead for 10 minutes and prove for about 1 hour.
Roll the dough into a rectangle about 25 x 40 cm. Scatter two-thirds of the cheese over two-thirds of the dough (leaving one third bare). Fold the bare third over the middle, then fold the cheesy end over that, like a letter. Roll out again and repeat with the rest of the cheese, folding in 3 again.
Roll to about 3 cm thick, cut into 8 squares and place on a lined tray, 3 cm apart. Cover and prove for 30 to 40 minutes. Brush with egg.
Bake at 200°C (180°C fan) for 18 to 20 minutes, until deep golden. Cool on a rack and eat within 2 days.

Egg, milk and keeping

Level 3 · Laminated

Croissants, simplified

About 9 hours with chilling (1 hour 30 minutes of work), or overnight10 croissantsbuilding layers of butter and dough by folding

The real thing, with a few shortcuts: a short mixing, three folds with chilling between, a slow proof and a hot bake. It is a project: take your time, keep everything cold, and expect your first batch to be rustic.

Ingredients (10 portions)

500 g strong white bread flour
1 sachet (7 g) sachet fast-action dried yeast
10 g fine salt
50 g caster sugar
280 ml cold milk
250 g cold butter (ideally a block with at least 80% fat), in one block
1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk, for glazing

Dough: mix the flour, yeast, salt, sugar and cold milk to a firm dough. Knead for 5 minutes (it needn't be elastic). Wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Butter block: place the butter between two sheets of baking paper and flatten with a rolling pin to a 15 cm square. Chill until firm but bendy.
Enclose: roll the dough to a 30 cm square. Put the butter diamond-wise in the middle, fold the dough corners over it like an envelope and pinch the seams.
Fold 1: roll out gently to about 20 x 60 cm, fold in three like a letter, wrap and chill for 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat for fold 2 and fold 3 (turn the dough a quarter each time), chilling between each. If butter leaks out, chill sooner.
Shape: roll to about 5 mm thick, trim the edges and cut into 10 triangles. Make a small cut in the base of each and roll up from the base to the tip. Curve into crescents and place on lined trays, tip underneath.
Proof for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours in a cool room (about 22 to 24°C, not warm enough to melt the butter), until puffy and wobbly. Brush with the egg glaze.
Bake at 200°C (180°C fan) for 18 to 20 minutes, until deep golden. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes.

Butter, eggs and allergens

Butter and the rolling pin: keep the butter cold but bendy (not hard, not soft), roll gently and chill the dough whenever the butter starts to soften or smear. Hot kitchens make lamination hard: work in a cool room or chill more often.

Eggs: use eggs with the British Lion mark, wash your hands after handling raw egg, and bake egg-glazed bread until golden and cooked through. Don't taste raw dough.

Allergens: wheat (gluten), milk, butter and egg. Label them if you share the bread. Cheese fillings add milk.

Experiments

Experiment

Butter temperature

Too cold, right or too warm.

Laminate three small bits of dough with butter that is fridge-hard, cold and bendy, and soft (left out for 20 minutes). Roll each out.

Look for: The hard butter cracks into shards and tears the dough; the right butter rolls out in a smooth even sheet; the soft butter smears into the dough and leaks.

Experiment

Number of folds

Two or three.

Make two batches of croissant dough, giving one 2 letter folds and one 3. Bake and compare the layers.

Look for: Three folds give a more even, flaky layered crumb. Two folds make a more open, bready croissant with fewer layers.

Experiment

Chilling

Rest or press on.

Fold one dough straight away and chill another for 45 minutes before the next fold.

Look for: The unchilled dough fights back and tears, and the butter softens. The chilled dough rolls easily.

Experiment

Proof temperature

Cool or warm.

Prove two croissants, one in a cool room (about 22°C) and one in a warm spot (about 30°C).

Look for: The warm one melts butter and leaks and bakes dense and greasy. The cool one stays layered and rises evenly.

Tasting notes

What I tried	Method or amount	What I saw	What I thought	Will I do it again?
Cinnamon swirl loaf
Garlic pull-apart bread
Cheese-layered rolls
Croissants
Butter temperature
Number of folds
Chilling
Proof temperature

Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely cause	What to do
Butter leaks out in the oven	Butter melted before baking, or not sealed	Proof cooler; seal the edges; chill before baking
No layers, bready	Butter blended into the dough, or too few folds	Keep butter cold; chill between folds
Butter shatters when rolling	Butter too cold	Let it warm for a few minutes until it bends
Swirl loaf unwinds	Rolled loosely or not sealed	Roll tightly; seam side down
Greasy, dense croissant	Over-proofed or too warm	Prove cooler, until puffy but not collapsed
Filling burnt on the tray	Sugar leaked	Line the tray; seal edges; use a tin

Eggs, hot sugar and allergens

Eggs: use eggs with the British Lion mark, wash your hands after handling raw egg, and bake egg-glazed bread until golden and cooked through. Don't taste raw dough.

Allergens: wheat (gluten), milk, butter and egg. Label them if you share the bread. Cheese fillings add milk.

Hot ovens, trays and steam: use dry oven gloves, pull the shelf out rather than reaching in, and put hot trays and tins on a heatproof surface. If you put a tray of boiling water in the oven for steam, pour it carefully with the oven door open a little and your face well back: the steam is far hotter than the water.

Keeping filled breads: breads with cheese, garlic butter or egg glaze are best eaten within about 2 days. Keep them covered, in the fridge if the room is warm, and reheat until steaming hot.

Checkpoint: can you do this now?

I can roll a filling into a tight swirl.
I can fold a dough around cheese or butter.
I know why butter and dough must be the same firmness.
I can chill between folds and work in the cool.
I store filled bread safely.

Next chapter

Cooking Skills: Bread 2, chapter 7 is Rye, Spelt and Other Grains: working with flours that have less gluten.