When served warm, preferably straight out of the oven, croissants give you the basis for a delicious Continental breakfast. All you need to go with them is a pot of coffee, fruit juice, butter and jam. They are far easier to make than they appear, the art of getting them right is the folding.

YOU WILL NEED 1lb 2oz (500g) strong plain white flour ½ tsp salt 10oz (280g) butter 1 sachet (7g/½oz) dried yeast 1oz (25g) caster sugar Approx ½pt (300ml) warm milk 1 beaten free-range egg to glaze.

METHOD Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl with 2oz (50g) of the butter and rub together, then stir in the yeast and sugar. Gently add the warm milk and mix well to form a soft dough.

Knead the dough on a floured surface for a few minutes, then place the dough into a bowl, cover and leave to rise to double its size in a warm place.

Knock back the dough and roll into a rectangle (14in x 7in — 35cm x 18cm) and with the short side of the rectangle in front of you, spread the remaining butter on top two-thirds of the rectangle. Now fold the bottom third of dough over the middle third, and then fold the top down on the dough to form a parcel.

Give the dough a quarter turn and roll into a rectangle as before and fold again in the same manner, then wrap in cling film and allow to cool for 20 minutes, then repeat the rolling, folding and chilling twice more, turning the dough 90 degrees each time.

Roll the dough into a 21in x 14in (53cm x 35cm) shape and cut into 12 triangles, which you roll into sausage shapes starting from the long side so that the point is rolled last. Twist into a moon shape if you wish and place on greased baking sheets, cover and leave to rise to twice their size.

Bake in a preheated oven 220C/425F or gas mark 7, having brushed them with beaten egg. Bake for about 20 minutes or until brown and crisp.