First the story: a long, long time ago, in a parallel universe - no, that's not right, it just feels like that - I owned a health-food takeaway shop in Harbord, NSW. The shop is long gone (I think it sells Japanese bento boxes now) and even the suburb has changed. It's recently been renamed Freshwater, but my shop was called The Hungry Hunza, which I thought was a cool, 1980s kind of name.

I made bread for the sandwiches every day, and pretty much all the food in the shop. I even designed the sign for the window that was a big green apple with a bite out of it. In keeping with the 'healthy' angle I made wholemeal croissants on Sunday mornings and they were a real hit. At that time croissants weren't available everywhere as they are now, and wholemeal ones (just like now) weren't heard of.

I adapted a recipe that I think came from a US Bon Appetit magazine, and chose it because it looked quicker than the classic recipes, which seemed a bit too much trouble. I had small children. I taught cookery classes in the back of the shop. I was more than busy.

The other week I was watching the contestants on The Great Australian Bakeoff making croissants and recognised the technique, so I just had to dig out my old recipe, dust it off, and see if it still worked. As you do with recipes, I tweaked it some more. The original said to cut the butter into dice and then flatten each piece in the flour with your fingers. My 2013 version now says use thinly sliced butter.

I hope you like it! Good luck with it.

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The recipe: makes 16

1 tablespoon dry yeast

1 1/4 cups warm water 

1 tablespoon milk powder

1 tablespoon sugar

3 1/2 cups plain flour (strong white bread flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

250g unsalted butter, thinly sliced

1 egg yolk for glazing, beaten with a dash of water

In a large bowl or jug, mix together the yeast, water, milk powder, sugar and 3/4 cup of the flour. Whisk to combine, cover and leave 45 minutes. By then it should have risen and be spongy. Stir down. Refrigerate for later use if desired, or proceed. Combine remaining flour and salt in a another large bowl. Add butter slices and mix through flour. Pour in yeast mixture and fold together. Mixture will be rough and crumbly initially. 

Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Pat together and shape into a rectangle approximately 45cm x 30cm. It should not be unduly sticky and will handle easily.

Roll lightly with a rolling pin. Fold in thirds as for a letter. Lift and quarter turn dough. Rollout again to 45cm x 30cm. Fold again. Repeat three more times, turning, rolling and folding. Wrap lightly in plastic, leaving room for rising, and chill at least 45 minutes or up to 24 hours. 

Shaping and baking croissants:

Divide dough in half (taking a moment to admire the layers you can see at the cut edges) and roll each piece into a roughly 30cm round. Cut each into 8 wedges. Roll each wedge up from the wide end, stretching ends to make a longer roll. Pinch tip onto the middle of the croissant and bend ends together to make a crescent shape. Place tip-side down on a tray which has been lined with baking paper, cover* and let rise 1-2 hours until doubled. If weather is hot, rise dough in refrigerator for 4 hours or until doubled.  Glaze with beaten egg then bake in a preheated 210C fan-forced oven, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on racks.

* I use plastic shower caps for covering all bread doughs when rising. The plastic provides a good humid atmosphere for the bread and they are easily washed and reused.

NOTE: If you want the croissants for breakfast, you may need to shape them the night before and leave them on their trays, covered, in the fridge overnight, then allow at least two hours the next morning for them to come to room temperature before baking. 

DO NOT: think you can hurry up the rising process by putting the trays over a warm surface (bowl of hot water etc) as this will undermine your careful rolling and folding. The butter will leak out when baking and you will have tough little crescents in a sea of butter. Trust me, I've done it!