Puff Pastry
- Total Time
- About 3 hours 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1pound all-purpose flour (preferably Hecker's)
- 1cup cold water, approximately
- 1teaspoon salt
- 1pound sweet butter, cold, cut in small pieces
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Preparation
- Step 1
Put all but ⅓ cup flour on a work table and form into a ring. Place water and salt in the center. With the tips of your fingers, gradually incorporate the flour. Do not overwork. Form into a round - the dough should be smooth, moist and not overly sticky. Slash the top of the dough ball in a cross shape. Cover dough in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator.
- Step 2
Mix remaining flour with butter. Work to smooth mass and form it into an eight-inch square, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Step 3
On a lightly floured working surface, roll out the dough to form a large clover shape. Place butter-flour mixture in the center of the dough.
- Step 4
Close flaps of dough and completely enclose the butter. Roll out the dough to a rectangular shape approximately 18 inches by 8 inches. The rectangle should be rolled out vertically away from you. Always roll from the center out, never backtracking with the rolling pin. Leave the edges a little thicker than the center to avoid breaking dough. After rolling, gently flatten the edges with the rolling pin.
- Step 5
Brush off excess flour and fold dough in thirds like a letter (top toward you, bottom over top) to complete first turn. Rotate the the dough clock-wise one quarter turn - at this point it should resemble a book with its binding on the left.
- Step 6
Gently roll it out again on a floured surface into an 18-by-8-inch rectangle as in step 4. Brush off excess flour and, once again, fold the dough in thirds as with a letter, top down and bottom up. This completes the second turn. Cover the dough and refrigerate for one hour.
- Step 7
Execute third and fourth turns exactly as was done with the first two. Refrigerate for another hour. Then make the 5th and 6th turns and refrigerate for another hour, or overnight.
Private Notes
Comments
First time making puff in a couple of years, and it worked out really great! I would definitely not recommend making it on a really hot day though, constant refrigeration does help
Easy and excellent. Makes 1200 gm, which is three standard 14 oz portions. Pop the butter into the freezer while making the dough as it makes it much easier to cut into pieces.
Have made this three times now, and it always results in beautiful flaky pastry! I use 3 1/3 cups of flour total (3 cups mixed with the water, and the other 1/3 cup mixed with the butter). When mixing the flour and water, I use the well method but I do it inside of a large bowl, because as Allison noted, when I tried to do it on a work table, water went everywhere. The dough also freezes quite well, so I like to keep a batch in my freezer at all times!
Really wish I had read the notes first. Like others, I tried the well method on my counter top and water went everywhere. Made the first stage much more exciting than expected. Apparently that can be done in a mixing bowl! I’ll know for next time.
Easy and excellent. Made the mistake of assembling all my ingredients before starting, but the butter gets too soft to chop into small pieces. Next time will pop the butter in the freezer while I make the first part of the dough. Makes the equivalent of three 14 oz parcels of dough.
Easy and excellent. Makes 1200 gm, which is three standard 14 oz portions. Pop the butter into the freezer while making the dough as it makes it much easier to cut into pieces.
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