It takes imagination to insert the nozzle of a bicycle or balloon pump into a stretchy block of puff pastry: Albert Adrià certainly doesn't lack it, and his intuition is at the heart of a small avant-garde culinary classic where air takes center stage.
The idea
Younger than his brother Ferran only in terms of age, Albert Adrià is the author of authentic signatures of avant-garde cuisine, such as the air croissant, whose fundamental ingredient is neither butter nor flour, but air. The recipe dates back to 2016 when it was served at Enigma.
Among the secrets of the Adrià brothers, there has always been the fact of having no secrets: since the glorious days of elBulli, they have shared every discovery with the Spanish and global culinary community, disseminating it in books or congresses and, when necessary, turning it into a business. In this case, ordinary puff pastry, but extraordinarily elastic, is inflated with a common bicycle or balloon pump and transforms into an air receptacle.
Albert Adrià's Air Croissant Recipe:
For the dough:
- 1 kg of flour
- 18 g of salt
- 22 g of baking powder
- 520 ml of cold water
- 100 g of sugar
- 140 g of cubed butter at room temperature
For the finish:
- 500 g of butter
- Flour for dusting
- Egg yolks
Method:
Create a well on the work surface with the flour and salt. Make a hole in the center, add the baking powder, and dissolve it with a little water. Then incorporate the sugar and a bit more water. Gradually mix in the flour, kneading in the rest of the water until you have a dough. Work it until it no longer sticks to the work surface and becomes elastic.
Gradually incorporate the butter into the dough and continue working it until it no longer sticks to the surface and becomes smooth, soft, and elastic. Form a dough ball and place it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap to prevent drying and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a baking sheet and press it with your hands to cover the entire surface. Let it firm up in the refrigerator. Remove.
Dust the work surface with flour and place the dough on top. Roll it out to form a rectangle measuring 20 by 40 cm. Place half of the butter rectangle on top of the dough and cover it with the remaining half. Seal the edges so that the butter doesn't escape when rolling out the pastry.
Dust the work surface again and place the pastry on it. Gently tap it with a rolling pin to create a rectangle. Dust it lightly with flour and roll it out to achieve a rectangle with a thickness of 1 cm. The dough should easily stretch over the table; otherwise, it should be lightly floured on both sides.
Ideally, divide the dough into three equal horizontal parts. Fold the upper one over the middle one, then fold the lower one. This completes the first fold. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Flour the work surface again. Place the pastry on it as before, with the sealed side up. Turn it 90 degrees to the left and roll it out to create a 1 cm thick rectangle. Give it another fold. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Remove from the refrigerator, remove the plastic wrap, and flour the work surface again. Turn the pastry 90 degrees again, roll it out, and perform another fold. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Take the dough, cut it into large rectangles, and roll them out. To inflate them, you'll need a bicycle or balloon pump. Insert the nozzle into a corner, sealing it well on the sides, and then inflate it until taut. At this point, remove the pump nozzle and seal it.
Brush with beaten egg yolk, fermented at 28 °C for 40 minutes and baked at 40 °C for 30 minutes. The texture should be dry at the end, allowing you to cut slices that showcase the internal air pockets.
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