For a pastry chef (former? I don’t know what I am these days), I haven’t made a laminated dough in a while. Sure, I’ve thrown together some blitz puff pastry here and there, but proper lamination? It’s been a minute.
This month’s challenge comes from James Kubie, my friend and pastry chef at Publican Quality Bread in Chicago. When I asked him for an ingredient, he didn’t hesitate. Tarragon. He said it was one of his favorites, which—honestly? Surprised me. Tarragon is one of those ingredients that people tend to love, hate, or not understand at all. And I couldn’t rememeber the last time anyone actually used tarragon in a dessert (besides me.)
It’s a tricky herb. Anise-adjacent flavors have a way of taking over if you’re not careful. I’ve seen too many well-intentioned dishes die that way. Back in my restaurant days, I made a honey cheesecake with a blueberry-tarragon compote, even though The Flavor Bible warned me against it. (Stay away from dessert, it said. So naturally, I did what I wanted instead.)
At first, I considered a plated dessert. But seeing as James spends his days knee-deep in pastries and viennoiserie, I figured I’d meet him on his turf. A croissant. Not exactly sweet, not fully savory either—just something that made sense. Publican is a bread bakery and James lives in laminated dough. And if I was going to wrangle this ingredient into something that might impress him, it needed butter, flaky layers, and, of course, tarragon.
People like to say that tarragon is better suited for things like béarnaise sauce, or sprinkled over poached salmon, or mixed into some glazed carrots—something like that.
But for this challenge, I wanted the tarragon flavor to be woven throughout the croissant, not just slapped into a filling or sprinkled on top as an afterthought. So, I took a bunch of fresh tarragon and worked it straight into the butter block before laminating it into the dough. That way, the flavor would be subtle but present, emerging from the layers instead of sitting on top like an awkward guest at a party.
The first test bake? Fine. Subtle. Almost too subtle. A whisper of tarragon in the background, like it wasn’t sure if it was invited. So, I pushed it further.
For the filling, I made a goat cheese mixture with tarragon and a blueberry-tarragon compote to dollop on top before sealing the croissant. I balanced the tarragon with honey, brightened it with citrus, and let the butter do its thing. The flavor bloomed in a way I didn’t expect—soft, herbal, a little floral, a little licorice-y, but not in a way that made me regret my choices. It worked. I love when things work. I hate when they don’t.
Full disclosure: my first batch was an epic failure. Not flavor-wise—technique-wise. Turns out, lamination skills don’t stay sharp when neglected. Laminated dough has a way of waiting until the very last second to tell you if you screwed up. You don’t really know until they hit the oven. And when they do? If you did something wrong, the butter weeps out in the most soul-crushing way, pooling onto the baking sheet instead of staying locked in those delicate layers.
There are many ways to ruin laminated dough. Rushing the process (guilty). Overproofing. Underproofing. Butter not incorporated properly. Dough too warm. Dough not rested long enough. Did I commit some of these sins? Yes. Did I know I was rushing? Also yes. So, I made them again. Properly this time. No cutting corners, no impatience—just respect for the process like it demands.
There are different ways to laminate, proof, and shape croissants. This was just my way. I finished them with flaky salt and freshly cracked pepper. They turned out pretty good. I think I would add more filling than I did the next time around. Could they have used more tarragon? Probably. But I’m coming off a three-week sinus infection where I couldn’t taste or smell a damn thing, so I figured I’d add more, cautiously, and cap myself before things crossed the point of no return…telling myself a little more is ok, but also less is more. Unless it isn’t.
Tarragon Croissant with Goat Cheese and Blueberry Compote Recipe: by Ryan Kurr
Yield: 10 croissants
Dough:
510 g. bread flour
70 g. sugar
12 g. kosher salt
10 g. instant yeast
112 g. unsalted butter
250 g. water (at 75 °F)
Butter block:
300 g. unsalted butter
20 g. tarragon
Goat Cheese Filling:
4 oz. goat cheese
4 oz. cream cheese
1 egg yolk
1 T honey
¼ t. salt
6 sprigs tarragon, finely chopped
1 T heavy cream
Blueberry Tarragon Compote:
100 g. blueberries
52 g. sugar
11 g. lemon juice, lemon zest
¼ t. salt
½ t. cornstarch
2 sprigs tarragon
Butter Block
Place butter and tarragon in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until combined, avoiding excess air.
Draw a 6¾ × 7-inch rectangle on a piece of parchment paper, then flip it over. Place the butter in the center and spread it evenly to fill the rectangle using an offset spatula. Wrap and refrigerate until firm.
Dough
Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray. In a stand mixer with a dough hook, mix flour, sugar, salt, yeast, butter, and water. Mix on low for 2 minutes, scrape the bowl, then mix for 1 more minute.
Turn dough onto the work surface. Stretch and fold each side over the center (like folding a letter). Place seam-side down in a greased bowl, cover, and rest 1 hour at room temp.
Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment. Gently pat the dough into a 10 × 7½-inch rectangle, pressing out large air bubbles. Transfer to the pan, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Locking in the Butter & Rolling the Dough
Encasing Butter: Roll dough into a 16 × 7½-inch rectangle. Place butter block in the center and fold dough over, sealing edges.
Turn 1: Press down across the seam, then roll dough into a 22 × 9-inch rectangle. Take one short end of the dough and fold it toward the center but stop slightly before reaching the middle. Do the same with the other short end, bringing it toward the center so that the two ends almost touch but don’t overlap. Now, fold the dough in half like closing a book, bringing one side over the other. You should now have four layers of dough stacked neatly. This is your first turn.
Rotate 90° (opening on the right), mark a corner with your finger to indicate you’ve made one turn, cover, and freeze 20 minutes.
Turn 2: With the opening on the right, roll into a 22 × 9-inch rectangle. This time, fold into thirds like a letter, rotate 90°, mark with two fingers, cover, and freeze 20 minutes.
Repeat rolling out and performing a letter fold once more, then freeze for 20 minutes.
Final Rolling & Shaping
Place a sheet tray on the bottom of your cold oven and fill with boiling water. Close door.
Ensure dough stays cold; freeze as needed if the butter softens. Roll dough into a 19 × 9-inch rectangle. Trim to 17½ × 8 inches.
Cut lengthwise in half, then cut each half into ten 4 × 3½-inch rectangles.
Spread or pipe a thin layer of goat cheese filling across each croissant, leaving a ½ inch border at the top and bottom. Add a small dollop of blueberry tarragon compote on top.
Fold the long ends toward each other to meet in the middle, overlapping slightly, turn over, and press down gently to secure.
Arrange seam-side down on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and place in your proof-ready oven, and proof for about 2 – 2 ½ hours.
Baking
Remove the croissants from the oven, arrange your oven racks in the top and bottom third levels of the oven and set the oven to 375 °F.
Brush pastries with egg wash, careful not to cover the exposed layers on the side, sprinkle lightly with flakey salt and cracked pepper, and bake for 20 minutes, rotate 180 degrees and from top to bottom, and bake another 10-15 minutes, until dark brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.
For the Goat Cheese Filling:
In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese and goat cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until smooth.
Add the egg yolk, honey, cream, salt, and tarragon, and mix until fully combined. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
For the Compote:
In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt.
Cook, stirring frequently, until the berries break down and the mixture becomes bubbly (about 4-5 minutes).
In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with a little cold water until smooth. Stir it into the compote and cook for 1-2 more minutes, until thickened.
Let cool before using.
*if making a half batch, when portioning croissants, roll the dough out to about 9 ½” x 4 ½” and trim slightly before cutting croissants.
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