CWAH-SANTS!

I guess if I'd thought about it I would have realized that there's no way creating a flaky, butter-filled pastry like this would be easy...but I decided to embark solo on the project anyway the other night while the household was quietly snoozing to some big-screen magic.

Preparation went like this. In a bowl, combine:

1 c. flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 packet yeast

3/4 tsp salt

1 c. warm water

1 tbsp softened butter

Mix these thoroughly; I had to do it by hand since we lack a mixer (but somehow I wouldn't have it any other way). Then stir in:

up to 1 1/2 c. flour

until a soft-ish dough is formed. Knead for a few minutes, and let rise in a greased bowl for 45 minutes. Take it out, punch it down, and put it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

This next part was where it got laborious. Luckily I had Hannah around to amuse me with girl talk and other such inanities. First, 1 entire effing cup of butter had to be "massaged" until it became soft, but not melted. Then, roll the dough into a rectangle and spread precisely one-quarter of the butter over the top. Fold the rectangle in thirds, and roll out again; spread more butter. Repeat this until the last butter has been applied, and put the rolled-in-thirds dough back in the fridge overnight!

We went to sleep, and dreamed some dreams, and walked blearily back the next morning to prepare. We rolled the dough out easily into about a fourteen-inch square, and cut it first in quarters and then in eighths (by creating two triangles out of each quarter). Then we simply rolled up each triangle starting from the wide end.

We let these cool in the fridge for another half hour, and then took them out, brushed them with beaten egg, and baked them at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes. They rose scarily in the oven; when we took them out I was astonished by how beautifully puffed and flaky they were; soft and buttery and mmmmmmmm.

It was breakfast, after all, so an egg sandwich was necessary. The mission was to recreate this sandwich from our beloved Mocha Blend, so we mixed up:

4 eggs / milk / salt / pepper / basil

These scrambled with spinach were delicious, and I suppose worth waiting 3 hours after waking for breakfast. Also, the housemates seemed to love them...