February 5, 2023 - 8:26am
Puff Pastry
I have tried making puff pastry multiple times, the first time it came out like a butter cookie, the second time it basically expelled all the butter to the outside of the cookie, and the most recent time it turned out like pie crust. Are there any tips anyone could tell me that would possibly make it turn out right? More butter?
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This is a classic recipe I’ve been using
500g flour375 g butter250 g water +/-30 g lemon juice (strained)5 grams of salt reserve 30 g flour to blend with buttermix lemon juice and salt with 200 g water mix into flour to moisten doughadd rest of water rest dough for an hour prep butter by blending in 30 g of flour, smearing out butter on cutting boardshape into square maybe 4 mm thick, refrigerate until dough has rested roll out dough to 2x area of butter slabwrap dough around the butter slab and seal6 turns, 2 at a time with 1 hour rests
I think it’s fairly easy but I’m possibly obsessed. If you want a quicker method, check out one of the many quick puff recipes out there. Here’s a video.
Apologies for the spacing. Copied this from a notebook that apparently uses non-breaking carriage returns.
Bonne chance,
Phil
“prep butter by blending in 30 g of flour”
Am I mixing flour into the butter, asking because I’m not familiar with it and I don’t want to mess up.
How much butter am I mixing into in the beginning then how much at the point when I’m making the butter slab.
Last question do you put the pastry in the fridge or freezer after the turns?
Merci
Tyler
You are mixing the 30 g (2-3 tablespoons?) into all 375 g of butter while smearing it out on a cutting board. This is supposed to make it more flexible and malleable. You do have to be careful not to let the butter warm up too much. Serious pastry chefs would do this on a slab of chilled marble, but I just use a plastic cutting board. To make the slab, I fold parchment paper into a 15 cm(?) or 6-8” square, then unfold it, glop the smeared butter in, refold, then use a rolling pin to fill in the corners and even out the thickness.
I generally use the refrigerator and give 1-2 hour rest between 2 rolling out and folding sessions. In a hurry, 20 minutes in the freezer should work, but you don’t want to get the butter so cold that it loses its flexibility.
Phil
Although I did not use your recipe as it’s more difficult I tried out the quick puff pastry and it FINALLY PUFFED. I am so thankful I am up at 10:16 PM on a school night baking these, I will try your recipe after I master making the quick version. Thank you for your time Phil and I have found my new favorite forum site.
Tyler
Bruno Albouze
His recipes are trustworthy. I have made dozens of his recipes and they all work. I have not made puff pastry. One of many important points is to lock the butter in. It sounds like this was not accomplished, from your description. Temperature of the butter needs to be right, and the dough needs to be the same temperature as the butter.
Butter drives the process, need to take care of the butter.
https://youtu.be/wPMbgI4jxyk
After Phil brought me to attention of this man I have looked at his recipes very well and I will make sure to make many of them to expand my skill level in baking.
Thanks Tyler