The 5 characteristics that share the best croissants in Spain

The best croissants in Spain have something in common. Some details are visible to the naked eye, but others are not so easy to spot. Therefore, to find out what we should look for when distinguishing between a first division croissant and a second division, Global Consumer has interviewed some of the greatest specialists -among them a national champion- in the art of making these delicacies.

The first rays of sun shine through the medieval streets of the Born district of Barcelona. Upon reaching the corner of Princesa and Montcada, a subtle and delicious smell of butter forces the passerby to stop, enter the hundred-year-old Brunells Pastry Shop and have breakfast with croissants. It is nine in the morning and the activity in the workshop is frantic. There are Andreu Sayó, winner of the award for the Best Artisan Butter Croissant in Spain in 2020 --it sells for 2.20 euros--, and his right-hand man, Miquel Chamorro.

1- A good croissant must have a well-marked laminate

The first thing we “must look at to know if we are dealing with a ten-size croissant is the sheets that are marked on the turns. These thin layers have to be seen on the puff pastry, well marked”, Sayó details about an aspect that determines that the laminating and cooking process have been done correctly.

Having a good laminating technique so that the layers come out “is not easy”, points out Domenico Rosso, pastry chef at Pandomè (Mercado Tirso de Molina, Madrid), about an art that, according to him, requires a lot of experience, craftsmanship and technique to work the dough. On the other hand, in an industrial croissant "the sheets are not marked well", the experts agree.

2- Color and volume

A quality piece “enters by sight. Because of its golden color and the shine of its puff pastry, which should not be too flattened or swollen if it has been cooked at the correct fermentation point", Laura Martínez, one of the owners of the Alfonso Martínez Pastry Oven, exposes Global Consumer. from Valencia, where the classic artisan croissant sells for 1.15 euros.

“It must have a uniform color”, says Sayó about an aspect that indicates correct cooking. Industrial ones, for example, “are not as pretty to look at, nor are they usually uniform,” she adds. The standard weight of one artisan butter ranges between 45 and 65 grams.

3- The palate never lies

We could ramble on for hours about the keys and characteristics that must be present in the best croissants in the world, but it is something so ineffable, so sensory, that it would be an exercise useless. “The quality is most noticeable when you take your first bite. It has to creak and it has to crumble”, Sayó explains. The basis of everything "is the raw material and craftsmanship, and that can only be tasted with the palate," says Martínez.

Opening the Brunells Pastry bag and sinking your teeth into one of these delicacies produces a small explosion, crunchy at first and tender right after, with a delicious butter flavor. It's a light and fluffy explosion that makes it very difficult not to gobble up the product in a matter of seconds and go back for a tray. You have to pull will and endure. But then you get to the other extreme, the crunchiest point, and you don't want that little bliss story to end there.

4- The secret is inside

Another characteristic that any of the best croissants in the country should have inside is “a honeycomb that is neither too large nor too small, since they are fermented and the butter that creates these eyes when entering the oven”, says Sayó. These holes make it melt in the mouth with all its flavor and aroma of quality butter.

The specialists explain that, if the comparison is made with an industrial one, the factory one will have a uniform mass inside with the appearance of a brioche.

5- The unpainted ceiling

While in some bakeries they paint the croissants with sugar or gelatin after baking them, “a good half moon doesn't need it”, says Sayó.

At the Brunells Patisserie, they subtly pulverize the dough with a mixture of egg, cream and milk before putting it in the oven. Finally, “the sweet must be tasted as it comes out. Without adding more sugar ”, insists the expert.

And what about padding?

Padding also deserves a few lines. In Pandomè they make them filled with hazelnut, pistachio or chocolate bars, they sell them for between 1.60 and 2.90 euros, and they are scrumptious. The secret "is to use a quality raw material when making the cream and in the laminate," says its owner, Domenico Rosso, who ensures that they inject the filling.

In Brunells they have also recently joined this trend, but they are committed to opening the crescent and introducing the well-distributed filling “as if we were making a sandwich”. They range between 2.80 and 4.90 euros and have the classic cream and cream, some more original tiramisu and sweet potato, and even mojito and daiquiri, for when the temperature rises.