Recipe Pistachio braid

To prepare this dish

Ingredient list

Croissant dough

835 g plain flour (T55, approximately 11% protein)
835 g strong flour (T45, approximately 14% protein)
65 g yeast
860 g milk
30 g salt
200 g sugar
165 g Extra dry butter 84% fat
1000 g Extra dry butter 84% fat

Pistachio almond paste

1000 g Almond paste 33%
385 g pistachio paste 100 %
100 g egg white

Pistachio caramel

250 g Excellence whipping cream 35% fat
1 g vanilla powder
220 g sugar
34 g glucose syrup
50 g Elle & Vire gourmet butter 82% fat
2 g fleur de sel
60 g pistachio paste (coloured)

Gum arabic syrup

250 g water
250 g raw sugar
100 g glucose syrup
70 g gum arabic

Finishing touches

SQ pistachios in grain

Elle & Vire products used

Extra dry butter 84% fat

Excellence whipping cream 35% fat

Elle & Vire gourmet butter 82% fat

The recipe,
step by step

1. 1

   Croissant dough

   Dissolve the yeast in the cold milk. Combine the two types of flour, salt, sugar, butter (1) cut into pieces and the yeast/milk mixture on speed 1 of the stand mixer for 5 minutes. Knead on speed 2 for 8 minutes. Shape into a ball and let rise for 1 hour. Punch down, roll out into a rectangle and refrigerate overnight. 
   

2. 2

   Pistachio almond paste

   Combine all ingredients using the paddle attachment.
   

3. 3

   Pistachio caramel

   Heat the cream, glucose syrup and powdered vanilla. Prepare a dry caramel with the sugar and dissolve with the hot cream. Heat to 108°C. Add the butter at 40°C with the pistachio paste then mix. Refrigerate.
   

4. 4

   Gum arabic syrup

   Bring the water, brown sugar, glucose syrup and gum arabic to the boil. Mix and let cool.
   

5. 5

   Finishing touches

6. 6

   Shaping and baking

   Roll out the pistachio almond paste between two guitar sheets to a thickness of 2 mm (35 x 60 cm) and place in the freezer.

   Enclose the butter sheet (2) in the dough and perform 1 double turn. Then give the dough 1 single turn and let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 3 mm and a width of 35 cm and cut in two widthwise.

   Place the pistachio almond paste on the one of the dough halves and cover with the second half. Seal by rolling gently with a rolling pin then place in the freezer.

   Cut into 34-cm long x 1-cm wide strips. Cut in half to obtain strips that are 17 cm in length (approximately 22g per strip).

   Interweave 4 strips to make the braid.

   Let rise for approximately 2 hours at 26°C in the SILFORM® mats. Bake in a 165°C convection oven for approximately 17 minutes. Remove from the oven and glaze immediately with the gum arabic syrup then sprinkle with chopped pistachios. Let cool then pipe a ball of pistachio caramel in the centre.
   

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