The Magic of Puff Pastry: Flaky, Buttery Perfection

Puff pastry is a magical dough that transforms simple ingredients into flaky, buttery masterpieces. Through a process called lamination, layers of butter are trapped between dough, creating steam during baking that pushes the layers apart. The result? A light and airy pastry that’s as impressive as it is delicious.  

Tips for Perfect Puff Pastry:

• Keep It Cool: Butter is the key to puff pastry's signature layers. Keeping both the dough and butter cold is essential to prevent the butter from melting or seeping out.  
• Roll with Care: Use a light touch when rolling to maintain the distinct layers. If the butter starts to soften or squish out, pop the dough back in the fridge.  
• Be Patient: While the process of rolling and folding can be time-consuming, the reward of perfectly flaky pastry makes it worth the effort.

Now that I have a block of puff pastry, what should I make with it?

Recipe: Puff Pastry

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 to 3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons unsalted, butter, melted
14 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten, for glazing

[You can find the recipe for Puff Pastry in the book Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link) or here.]

Instructions:

In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour and salt. Pour in the water and melted butter. The dough will be shaggy. Bring it together into a ball and score an "x" in the top. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

While the dough is chilling, place the butter between plastic wrap and form it into a square that's 3/4 inch thick.

To roll the dough, make arms or flaps to form a plus sign. The middle should be mounded slightly. The arms must be long and square enough to cover the middle. (See this post.)

Place the formed butter in the middle and fold the arms over the butter, stretching the dough if needed. Seal in the butter. Using a rolling pin, press on the dough to seal the edges and flatten the square.

Roll the dough about 7 inches wide and 21 inches long. Fold the top down and the bottom up to make an envelope. Turn a quarter turn. Roll again to 7 inches wide and 21 inches long. Fold again. Mark the dough with two fingerprints and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Repeat the rolling/folding/turning and then chill. Repeat once more. Now the dough has been turned six times and is ready to be formed into pie crust, cheese sticks, turnovers, napoleons or whatever you fancy. (The dough keeps well in the freezer, too.)

Next Time
Danoises (Danish) in Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cook Home Collection (affiliate link) page 485

Links
White on Rice: Strawberry Danish Recipe
Not without Salt: Quick Puff Pastry
Dorie Greenspan: Puff Pastry Pinwheels

::Whisk::
I'm baking my way through a cooking school curriculum using the Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link) cookbook. The "classes" are based on the Le Cordon Bleu curriculum found online and used as a guideline. Not all the items in the curriculum are in the cookbook, but most are. Where the items are not in the book, I try to find a suitable substitution.

More to Explore:

• Index of Recipes
• Visual Recipe Index