Culinary Arts 1 and 2 Model

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Lesson Plan Industry Sector
Hospitality, Tourism & Recreation

Lesson Plan Originally Created By: Stacy Chatfield

Croissants

Part of Unit: Bakery, Cakes and Pastry

Lesson Plan Overview / Details

This is a lesson plan to use after the introduction to laminated doughs.  Students will be learning what the characteristics of a croissant are and then have hands on with making a dough, shaping (possibly filling), proofing and baking the croissants.

 

Lesson Time

3 Class Periods
330 Minutes

Objectives and Goals

By the end of this 3 day lesson, students will know the difference between croissant and puff pastry dough. They will know how to make the dough, proof it and shape dough into a traditional croissant shape.

Activities in this Lesson

  • Croissant Video - Demo / Modeling

    Students will arrive to class and take their seats.  The teacher will play this video.  Students do not need to take notes, they just need to pay attention. 

    This is a 10 minute video on a professional baker  first making croissant dough and then making a ton of different shapes from it. 

     

    • Great Video [ Go to Site ] Great video of a European baker, making many different pastries using croissant dough.
  • Teacher Demo - Demo / Modeling

    After video, teacher will ask students questions to reinforce the laminated dough information and questions related to the differences between puff pastry and croissant dough.

    Who can explain the laminating process?

    Why is it necessary/what is the purpose?

    What is the difference between puff pastry and croissant dough?

    What leavens croissant dough?

    and so on...

    Because the students already have an understanding of the butter block and rolling in process, the teacher will be demonstrating the shapes rather than the dough making.

    Teacher will begin the demo with a croissant dough that already has all of its rolls and folds and has suffiently rested.  The dough can even be rolled out.

    Students are encouraged to take notes during demo and to ask questions.

    First the teacher can demonstrate how to properly measure and cut croissants and then shape them.

    Next the teacher will demonstrate with another piece of rolled out dough how to fill a croissant with the following:  jam, ham and cheese and chocolate.

    The final shape that the teacher will demonstrate will be 'morning buns'.  These are the pastries that are rolled and cut, proofed and baked in muffin pans.

  • Croissant Dough - Lab / Shop

    The students are now ready to make their croissant dough. 

    Before beginning lab, hair must be up, apron on, hands washed and counters need to be sanitized.

    Now they are ready to begin their dough.

    They should be able to get through most of their rolls and folds by the end of the first day.  If they do not finish, they need to mark in the dough, with their fingertips, what roll they are on.

    Dough should be properly wrapped and labeled and stored in the refrigerator. 

    • Croissant Recipe [ Download ] This is the La Brea Bakery croissant dough recipe.
  • Rolling and Shaping Croissants - Lab / Shop

    Day 2

    Students arrive in class and pick a shape or filling type written on a piece of paper out of a bowl.  Their assignment is to make a croissant either with that filling or in a specific shape based on what they what they learned during the teacher demo the previous day.

    The options will be:

    Pain au chocolat

    Ham and Cheese Croissant

    Raspberry Croissant

    Plain Croissant

    Morning Bun

    They will have enough time to shape their dough and get it on the pans ready for proofing.  However, at this point, they should wrap their croissants and label correctily and put in the refrigerator. 

     

    The rubric and evaluation are attached in the assessment area.

  • Proofing/Baking/Presenting - Lab / Shop

    Day 3

    The teacher will pull the trays of shaped croissants out so that they can begin proofing before the students arrive. 

    Today students will arrive to their dough already or close to being ready to bake.  They are to eggwash the dough and bake it once it is properly proofed.

    Once croissants are ready, students need to present them in a basket for evaluation.  Students will all participate in an evaluation just like the puff pastry evaluation.  Each student will fill out a form.  Teacher will ask questions leading them to reflect on the lab, what did they like, dislike about it, what did they find hard about the lab, etc.  Also, the teacher will be asking questions regarding the product that they are evaluating such as:

    What is the difference in texture between these two?

    What do you think happened here, why is this one flat with no definition?

    and so on...depending on the product.

     

Assessment

Assessment Types:
Rubrics, Demonstrations, Portfolios, Observations,

For the final assessment of this lesson, the teacher will use the attached rubric, the returned evaluations from students and take pictures of the student's work.

Students will use pictures in their portfolios.  (Also, my CAIII students all have food blogs that we use for reflection on labs/catering jobs and they will be posting the pictures on their blogs and writing a reflection as well.)

Each student will clean kitchen and sanitize work areas and hand in their evaluations before they leave for the day.