Puff Pastry (or Pâte Feuilletée) is a crispy, flaky light pastry. You will be surprised but it doesn’t take a lot of ingredients to make this delicious flaky pastry at home. You just need Flour, Butter and Salt. Yes, that’s it! Well, these ingredients, a lot of time to spend in the kitchen and some elbow grease. But believe me once you have made this dough from scratch, you will never go back to buying the readymade sheets again.
In India we have different kinds of delicious treats made with puff pastry which are both sweet and savory. Debarshi and I still visit all those small bakeries during our India trip to relive our childhood flavors. But that is not what encouraged me to bake this beautiful flaky pastry myself. The first time I tried making this dough from scratch was after watching the Great British Baking Show. I actually had a beginner’s luck because it turned out so good that I kept baking this pastry again and again. Granted this pastry is loaded with fat and carb so do not be tempted to eat all the pastries yourself. I try to reserve this pastry for special occasions so that we can share these treats with our friends.
If you are thinking we can buy readymade sheets from the market why go through all this hassle, then let me share my personal experience. I bought a readymade packet this year because I wanted to bake Puff Pastry at home and continue our Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions. I also, at the same time, wanted to save time so that I can play and attend baby Prisha. While it was still good to have those yummy appetizers on those special occasions, that readymade pack didn’t come close to what I have made these last few years. Believe it or not, making a puff pastry dough at home is not an impossible task. You just need some time in hand and strength (to roll the dough several times).
Puff pastry is made by putting a sheet of butter inside the dough and then folding and rolling it repeatedly to make hundreds of layers. The resultant dough is also called a laminated dough. Now just rolling and baking the sheet is not enough. You need the yin to your yang or the delicious filling to go with this flaky pastry. Puff Pastry is quite temperamental when it comes to baking it. After all the efforts put into rolling it, the butter can still leak out leaving a greasy soggy bottom. However, there is a simple tip to avoid that tragic result. Yes, I call it tragic because that is what we feel when after spending a whole day in the kitchen the puff won't puff. It is heartbreaking and when I tell you how it can be avoided, it is such a big relief!
Puff Pastry calls for a cool kitchen and a fridge. Yes, you must have space in your fridge to keep the dough inside as long as you can. Take it out only when you are working with it. While baking, make sure to preheat your oven and make all the necessary arrangements (like lining the cookie sheet, keeping mittens handy), because the clock starts ticking as soon as you take out the puff pastry from the fridge. Also, try to avoid running dishwasher or making the kitchen or yourself unnecessary hot right before working with the Puff Pastry dough. So, here is what I do, the day I decide to make this dough, I make sure I have plenty of leftovers in the fridge. I make my filling before hand so that it is cool and ready to be filled it. I don’t wash my hands in hot water and allow them plenty of time to cool down before touching the dough. These tips may sound amateur game but they have always helped me. Also, I am a self taught baker so I do welcome any tips or tricks you may have for me. Please post your suggestions in the comments section below.
If you have a couple of hours and are wondering how best to use them, do give this pastry a try. Once the dough is made, you can make different types of fillings (both sweet and savory) for them. This dough makes excellent appetizers and is always a crowd pleaser. After all who can say ‘No’ to a flaky, buttery, elegant snack stuffed with yummy filling.
Ingredients:
- All-Purpose Flour - 2 cups, plus 1 tablespoon
- Salt - 1 teaspoon
- Ice Water - 2/3 cup
- Butter - 8 ounces, unsalted, cold
Directions:
- In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour and salt. Add the water a few tablespoons at a time. Mix until combined. Add a few more drops of water if the dough looks a little dry. Shape into a ball. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
- Place the butter between two large sheets of baking parchment and use a rolling pin to flatten the butter into a square (say about the size of your palm). Place in the fridge to chill.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to a square (this one will be bigger than your palm). Then roll out to a rectangle.
- Place the butter in the center and fold the pastry edges to fully encase the butter. Chill for ½ hour.
- Now roll the dough with the butter to a rectangle. Sprinkle some flour wherever you start seeing butter.
- Fold the bottom third up and the top down over this. You should have a square/ rectangle shape with three layers of pastry.
- Take a piece of cling film (I usually use a marker to mark the side facing me) and wrap the dough in the film. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Place the dough in front of you as it was when you last folded it (the mark now makes sense right?) Give it a quarter turn. Repeat the rolling out into a rectangle, folding and chilling. Repeat this twice more.
Puff pastry dough is ready! Use fillings of your choice to make yummy appetizers, Gujiya, pies or tarts. The baking time and temperature will depend on your filling and dish.
Tips:
- Work in a cool kitchen.
- Turn the fridge temperature to coldest.
- Keep the puff pastry inside the fridge as much as you can. Take it out right before handling it then put it swiftly back inside.
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