The Perfect Croissant?

What makes the perfect croissant? And more importantly, who makes it? With so many boulangeries / pâtisseries within easy walking distance, we decided to treat ourselves to a Christmas Eve morning croissant taste test. We ventured out in the darkness to purchase croissants from four different boulangeries.

We had tried several of these before, but it’s hard to accurately compare them when you’re eating them several days apart. And I didn’t have a clear mental (gustatory?) image of the perfect croissant. Trying four at once, however, clarified things.

I was surprised that we didn’t agree on what the perfect croissant should look like. M says #1 is how a traditional croissant should look, while I’d go with #3. We need some French connoisseurs to weigh in!

While they all look reasonably similar on the outside, they’re quite different on the inside:

Tasting notes:

#1 (top left): Not much crackle when you bite into it, very buttery, very moist, heavy

#2 (top right): Lots of crackle, light texture, moderate butter flavor

#3 (bottom right): Not much crackle, not buttery, blah texture

#4 (bottom left): Moderate crackle, slightly sweet (has a very light sugar glaze), moist, buttery

So, now I know what makes a perfect croissant for me: lots of crackle when you bite into it, moist interior, strong butter flavor, and light texture. None of the ones we tried completely hit the mark. #3 was the clear loser – a ho-hum croissant you could find in the US. #1 was too heavy, #2 not buttery enough. If the best of both could be combined, the resulting croissant would be perfect. So the winner was: #4! This probably wouldn’t be the choice of traditionalists because of its very slight sweetness, but we both agreed it was the best of those we tried.

During earlier trips to France, I would eat two croissants for breakfast without a second thought. Now I eat two (or 1-3/4, as I abandoned the rest of #3 as not worth the calories) and think, ugh, that was way too rich. Must be getting old…