Happy Anniversary to Us!
- Jeffrey Lamont Brown
- Jun 9
- 3 min read
96 LAYERS
Our croissants take our Dojo team 4 days to make. Can we speed up the process? Absolutely! However, we choose not to use dough conditioners to accelerate it. Instead, we rely on the magic ingredient of time, which allows the gluten to relax and the flavor to develop.
At the end of this 4-day journey, we create a magnificent work of art - 96 layers of Normandy butter, each as thin as a strand of hair, layered between our croissant dough.
And for my fellow engineers who want to know the math behind our 96 layers, here’s the breakdown!
On day 3 all of our lamination occurs. The first step in lamination is to sandwich 1kg of Beurre D'Isigny between two layers of croissant dough. LAYER COUNT: 1
After a rest in the cooler, we proceed to our second pass, where the "butter sandwich" is stretched even thinner. Then, we fold it in thirds, ultimately creating three layers (3 x 1 = 3). LAYER COUNT: 3
After yet another rest in our coolers, we roll out this dough again, then fold it back on itself twice, creating four layers of three (4 x 3 = 12). LAYER COUNT: 12
Then, you guessed it, another rest in our coolers before its final stretch. At this final step, we fully stretch it out, then cut it into triangles and roll the dough into the perfect croissants you see in the photo above. There are four revolutions in our roll, creating eight layers of 12 (8 x 12 = 96). FINAL LAYER COUNT: 96!
And it is each of these 96 layers of butter that are key to the delicate, yet rich flavor of the IZOLA croissant. Additionally, did you know that the moisture in the butter also contributes to the formation of the air pockets that create the honeycomb crumb structure of a croissant? As the heat of our incredible SALVA ovens hits the croissant, the butter releases steam, which creates these pockets (with the help of some yeast too!).
We're serving up these architectural marvels 7 days a week. Hot from the oven from 7a-2p. Pre-order now or just pop on by.
In a rush and have a pre-order? Just call us at the bakery when you arrive, and we'll bring your order out to your car with a smile! We call it IZOLA Drive By.
Thank you to Hannah for the gift of your art. Your watercolor graces the wall of our office and we look upon it fondly.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US...
Tomorrow we celebrate IZOLA's 5th anniversary. I am humbled, astonished, and so grateful. In many ways, it has been a long 5 years, and in other ways it has felt like a blink of an eye.
From our humble beginnings teaching ourselves how to make croissants, failing miserably over and over again in more ways than you could imagine, and lowering our sourdough and croissants out our 3rd story window to guests waiting on the street below, this has been an adventure to say the least!
And fast forward to today at our beautiful new location...where we have an amazingly strong and inspiring team that provides the kind of hospitality my Grandma Izola would have loved. It brings me so much gratitude to see the joy on our guests' faces in the dining room.
Thanks for walking along on this journey with us.
PS - For a peek back in time to our beginnings, here are a few of the earliest email newsletters I sent out.
LIVE MUSIC SATURDAYS
Every Saturday, we host live music at the bakeshop from 8a-1p. Come on by to see how talented our local San Diego musicians are! Follow us on Instagram to see the lineup!
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