Puff Pastry

Puff Pastry

Makes: 1250gr

Part: 1

Ingredients:

  • 450gr Salted Butter, at room temperature
  • 15ml Freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
  • 115gr White Bread Flour

Method:

  1. Mix all the ingredients together, shape the mixture into a block 10cm x 10cm.
  2. Cling wrap tightly and place into the fridge to get cold for a few minutes (just cold not hard).

Part: 2

Ingredients:

  • 200gr Cake Flour
  • 200gr White Bread Flour
  • 50gr Salted Butter, cold
  • 250ml Water, ice cold
  • 15ml Freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
  • 5ml Fine Salt

Method:

  1. Sift the cake flour and white bread flour together.
  2. Add the butter and work it in with your fingertips to resemble the same texture as breadcrumbs.
  3. Make well in the flour and pour in the water, lemon juice and salt.
  4. Work the ingredient into the dough, trying to knead it as little as possible.
  5. Cling wrap the dough tightly and place in the fridge to get firm and cold.

Part: 1 and 2 together

  1. Take the part: 2 dough out of the fridge. Make a cross on the top. Roll out from each cross-point edge to form four extensions with a thick centre.
  2. Place the mixture from part: 1 on top of the thick-centred-cross, making sure that it fits neatly on the cross, if not roll out a little more.
  3. Fold the dough extensions over the butter (one-at-a-time) to close and cover it completely, if I could say snuggly.
  4. Flour the surface well. Roll the dough into a rectangle (only rolling up and down, never to the sides), then take the bottom corners of the dough and fold them a third up to the middle, then take the top corners of the dough and fold then down two-thirds, so they meet the bottom corners of the dough.
  5. Then turn the dough a quarter of the way so that the closed side is on the left (try to imagine seeing a books-spine).
  6. That counts as one fold for the puff pastry, between each fold the puff needs to be rested in the fridge, for at least 30 minutes or until cold.
  7. The folding needs to be repeated 6 times, then the dough will be ready for use.
  8. Puff pasty freezes very well.  When needed just take out of the freezer the night before, and slowly defrost in the fridge.
  9. Roll out to desired shape and size. Oven back above 200°C.