|
Flaky Puff Pastry
Back to Recipe Archive
Our recipe uses a shortcut method known as rough puff pastry versus the time-consuming traditional puff pastry method. While only taking a fraction of the time, the results are truly delicious, tender and flaky.
Use our rough puff pastry to make sweet or savory turnovers or as the crust for a lovely Tarte Tatin.
Yield- 2 lbs. or the equivalent of 3 single crusts.
1 lb. (3 cups) unbleached white flour
2/3 lb. European-style butter *
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp. salt (reduce to 1 tsp if using salted butter)
¼- ½ cup ice water
With a Mixer
Chill mixing bowl with flour, sugar and salt in refrigerator for at least 2 hours - overnight is best.
With a knife cut cold butter into ¾ to 1-inch chunks. Using the paddle attachment on your mixer, mix cubed
butter into chilled dry ingredients on speed 3 or 4 for about 2 minutes. The goal is for the flour to shift
from a silky texture to a ragged texture with several big chunks of butter still visible. Turn mixer to speed
1 and drizzle 4-5 tablespoons of ice water while the paddle is turning. The dough should just hang together
and will feel and look fairly dry. (Don't be too concerned if it doesn't look like much at this point.
After folding, the dough will start to smooth out.)
Gather the crumbly dough into a flattened rectangle.
Wrap in plastic and chill well before proceeding with folds. (Well-wrapped dough can be frozen at this point.)
By Hand
Chill high-sided metal or ceramic mixing bowl with flour, sugar and salt in refrigerator for at
least 2 hours - overnight is best.
With a knife cut cold butter into ¾ to 1-inch chunks. Mix butter into chilled dry ingredients
with a pastry blender or with your fingers by rubbing chunks of butter together with flour.
When the flour changes from a silky texture to a ragged texture stop mixing. This should only take a
couple minutes. You want to see some large chunks of butter still visible. Make well in the mixture
and drizzle 4-5 tablespoons of ice water into the mixture and combine with a fork. The dough should just
hang together and will feel and look fairly dry. (Don't be too concerned if it doesn't look like much at
this point. After folding, the dough will start to smooth out.)
Gather the crumbly dough into a flattened rectangle.
Wrap in plastic and chill well before proceeding with folds. (Well-wrapped dough can be frozen at this
point.)
Folding
Roll the chilled rectangular chunk of dough into a long narrow rectangle, roughly three times its
original length and approximately ½ inch thick. Using a pastry scraper or your hands, fold the short ends
of the rectangle into the center -with one fold layered on top of the other, like a business letter.
(Don't be concerned if the dough breaks and crumbles when you fold it - as it will.) Using your hands or
pastry scraper, square up the sides of your rectangle and turn the dough 90 degrees to the left. (Left vs.
right is not important, but remember to turn it consistently in the same direction.) Again, roll out the
dough until your rectangle is roughly three times its original size and repeat the business letter folds. Chill the dough for 30 minutes. Remove the chilled dough and turn it again 90 degrees to the left of your last fold. Roll out as previously instructed and fold.
After the 3rd fold, chill the dough for 30 minutes before rolling and shaping.
(Dough at this point can be left chilled for up to three days or frozen for up to a month or two.)
Prior to baking, trim the edge with a sharp knife to allow the pastry to spring in the oven.
*European-style butters such as Cremerie Classique and Plugra boast higher
butterfat content, which creates a more flavorful and flaky crust. However, feel free to substitute
unsalted regular butter for delicious results.
Tips
1. The exact amount of water you will need depends on flour moisture content,
weather conditions, and butter quality, so it is very important to check your dough and stop adding water
as soon you have reached the desired texture.
2. Keeping the dough chilled as you work is critical to the final texture. If your dough begins to warm
and seem difficult to work with, stop and chill it again for 15 minutes before proceeding.
3. Chilling the formed crust prior to baking will preserve a delicate texture.
4. This dough freezes beautifully when wrapped well in plastic at both the pre- and post-fold stage.
When ready to use, remove from freezer and place in refrigerator to thaw for approximately 30 minutes
before rolling out.
5. Try rolling out your dough between two sheets of plastic wrap - this allows you to use little or no
flour, which can dry out the crust and affects the color when baking.
|
