i cut into my test loaf of the yeasted croissant bread. Watch the video, then let’s be honest about it together. What worked: the layers are there. That spiral, the flaky separation, the soft crumb between the bands. The butter stayed cold through both folds and the steam did exactly what we talked about Thursday. This is what you’re aiming for Saturday. What I’d do better: look at the gaps between some of the swirl bands. That’s me rolling the log a little loose during shaping. Snugger roll, better seal on the seam, tighter spiral. And that end crust got right to the edge of too dark. Five more minutes and I’d be telling you a different story. That’s why we tent with foil when the top runs ahead. That’s the whole point of this Academy. Even the test loaf teaches. Yeasted version, start to finish, about 5 hours. Recipe’s in the Pantry. We bake Saturday morning. www.recipepantry.app Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥

Two days from now you’re gonna grate frozen butter onto dough, fold it up, and slide it into a hot oven. Here’s what happens in there, because once you understand this, you’ll never lose your layers again. Butter is about 16 to 17 percent water. When your loaf hits that 375 degree oven, the cold butter shreds between your dough layers melt fast. And all that water inside them flashes to steam. Steam expands. It needs somewhere to go. So it pushes… and what it pushes apart is your dough. Every thin sheet of butter becomes a tiny steam engine prying the layers open. Then the gluten bakes and sets, and those separated layers become permanent. That’s flakiness. That’s the pull-apart. That’s the whole show. Now flip it. If your butter gets warm while you’re working, it blends into the dough instead of staying in shreds. No distinct butter layer means no steam pocket. No steam pocket means no push. You’ll still get a rich, tender loaf, but the layers are gone, and they’re not coming back. That’s why every step this week keeps coming back to one rule: keep it cold. Frozen butter. Chilled dough. Quick hands. The 20 minute fridge rests between folds aren’t suggestions, they’re where the bread gets made. Cold fat. Steam. Set. Same science as every croissant bakery in Paris. You’re just doing it with a box grater. Saturday morning we put it to work. Both recipes are in the Recipe Pantry. What’s your one worry about the bake? Ask it below and I’ll answer every one today. 👇 Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥

👋 We’ve got a lot of new faces in the Academy this week, and the Saturday bake-along is coming up fast. If you’ve never done one before, here’s what to expect. If you’ve been around a while, this is a good refresher to share with someone you’ve been trying to pull in. Here’s how it works. 📅 The recipe for the week gets announced on Monday, and we post about it throughout the week. Teaching posts, technique breakdowns, reminders, prep tips. By the time Saturday rolls around, you’ve already got everything you need to bake with confidence. 🥖 This week it’s Rustic Italian Ciabatta. 👉 Recipe here: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/rustic-italian-ciabatta ☀️ Saturday morning around 8:00 AM ET, I open a dedicated thread right here in the community feed. That thread becomes the living room for the day. Everyone gathers there. Photos of dough in progress, questions, wins, struggles, troubleshooting, side conversations. All of it happens in one place. 🚫 You don’t need a Zoom link. You don’t need to log in anywhere else. You don’t need to RSVP. You just show up in the feed. You’ve got three ways to participate: 🔥 Bake with us live. Some folks start Friday night, some start midday Saturday. It doesn’t matter when you begin. The group pace gives you a built-in rhythm and you can jump in wherever you are in the process. 🕐 Bake at your own pace. Some members have other commitments and don’t finish until Sunday. Some bake Monday. Doesn’t matter. Post your bake whenever you finish and you’ll still get eyes on it and feedback. 👀 Just watch. A lot of first-timers do this one. Read the thread, watch how people handle each step, see what questions come up, see what the dough looks like at different stages. That’s how you learn the rhythm before you ever touch flour. There’s no minimum participation requirement. 💬 Any questions about how it works, drop them below. No question is too basic. Henry ⭐🔥