almond croissants

with optional blackberry jam! And a little rant (forgive me)

What I’m reading: Piglet by Lottie Hazell. I really wanted to like this - and I did enjoy some of the writing, especially some of the less problematic descriptions of food. I found it a very stressful read though, and should definitely come with a trigger warning (disordered eating).

What I’m listening to: Tim Chadwick’s new-ish album, Pulverise

What I’m eating: a calamari spice bag from Little Fish, Cleggan. Every bit as good as I remembered, highly recommend (below)

This recipe was inspired by an article I saw published by the Independent, condemning Gail’s (in the UK) for charging extra for “day-old croissants”. I saw a lot of backlash online, both from people complaining about the price of viennoiserie, and from artisan bakeries - so here’s my take on it (apologies in advance for the wee rant).

Almond croissants are a funny one, because they were originally invented as a way to use up day-old croissants. Twice-baked pastries work best with slightly stale viennoiserie, as they’re a bit drier, so they absorb new flavours better - plus, they’re much easier to slice when they’re not fresh and flaky. To make almond croissants, you slice them open, soak them in a flavoured syrup, fill them with frangipane (and in some cases, crème pat), close them up again, pipe more frangipane on top, and dunk them in flaked almonds. They are then baked again, resulting in the lovely crispy chewy dense almond croissants we all know and love.

an almond croissant from Una bakery, Ranelagh

The main thing that bothered me in the Independent’s article is the objection to the price of almond croissants. The ingredients that go into a twice-baked pastry are expensive, especially in the current inflationary climate. Frangipane (butter, sugar, eggs, ground almonds, often vanilla) is expensive to make, especially if you use good quality ingredients.

It’s also worth noting that almond croissants in the majority of artisan bakeries nowadays aren’t even made with leftover croissants: they’re made with croissants that are made specifically for the purpose of making twice-baked pastries. The demand for almond croissants seems to be increasing exponentially, so now bakers go through the same arduous process of making croissants (often a three-day job), then making the frangipane, making the syrup, assembling the twice-bakes and baking them. In fact, almond croissant assembly seems to be universally the least-favourite job amongst bakers - it’s tedious and messy and time-consuming.

In conclusion, I think it’s pretty fair that almond croissants cost more than croissants. They are time-consuming and expensive to make, not to mention how delicious they are. If you don’t feel like splashing out an extra €1 for your pastry in the morning, don’t! Get a regular croissant instead and make these almond croissants (recipe below). Thank you for coming to my TED talk :)

Here’s my recipe for almond croissants, using two very simple components (syrup and frangipane), along with slightly stale croissants. You can also use the elements of this recipe to make bostock, which is similar to an almond croissant, but made using slices of brioche. I decided to put a spoonful of blackberry jam inside each of my almond croissants (which my mum made from blackberries she picked on Inishbofin), which worked beautifully: almond and blackberry is a match made in heaven. You can use any other jam, though (or marmalade would be delicious), or leave it out altogether, if you prefer.

recipe: almond croissants