Puff Pastry
You can't beat a true butter puff pastry which is so light and flaky it melts in your mouth
Ingredients
Group 1
- 5 kg Plain Flour
- 100 grams Salt
- 1 kg Unsalted Butter
- 50 grams Vanilla Powder , This is not required if your using the pastry for savory products but I find it offers a nice taste when used for sweet products.
- 2.2 Lts Water , This can vary a little depending on the weather but not by much.
Group 2
- 2 kg Pastry Pieces -Medium , I use pastry pieces from EOI as I find them to provide a really nice result but you can use Pastry Pieces from whom ever you prefer.
Instructions
- Mix Group 1 together until you get a nice smooth dough; don’t overmix it, as this will affect the integrity of the dough.
- Let it rest for about 30 minutes before folding group 2 into it.
Note!
If you work in a cool room or your pastry pieces are hard, then it is advised to rest the dough in the fridge until it matches the same temperature as your pastry pieces, or you will find the pastry pieces will tear through the dough.
Always keep in mind when dealing with folding any kind of butter into a dough that both products need to be at the same temperature to get nice flawless folds.
3. Make your first fold a one-and-a-half fold, keeping the seam at the 1/4 mark of the fold.
4. Give your block another 2 single folds and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
5. Give your dough a further 2 single folds and let it rest for 30 minutes again.
Note!
At this point you can store your block in the fridge or freezer if you want to use it at a later date but
A – if frozen! Thaw it out in the fridge overnight when you’re ready to use it.
B – Then let it come back down to room temp before giving your block its last folds.
6. Give your block its last 2 turns and roll it out to your final thickness to make whatever it is you want to cut out.
Notes
Do not forget these important tips!
This pastry is ultra flaky, so if you want to use it to make pastry sheets for things like vanilla slices, mille-feuille or other similar products, I would suggest giving the block another single turn so the sheets don't over-flake and you get nice, clean cuts. This could work for pie tops too if you don’t want super thick, flaky tops. I guess it all comes down to what you want your finished product to look like, a personal preference.
Tips!
If you want a nice end product, you have to follow certain rules, and these rules require you to understand and listen to your dough as it speaks to you whilst it is being flattened using a sheeter/laminator as is done in most kitchens. Yes, one of the mistakes I see over and over again is chefs not understanding exactly how a dough sheeter/laminator works with different products beyond just flattening a piece of dough.
Each type of dough passing through a laminator has its own downgrading speeds. These should be applied so that a nice result can be achieved. Just speeding up the downgrading process faster and you can and will ruin both your dough and machine unnecessarily and completely change the end result of your product. And because you think you're not doing anything wrong, you'll start looking at things like the recipe, blaming the oven/rest period or blaming the weather or amount of water in the dough, when in fact, in most cases, it's all about the operator and how they use the laminator.
If you use unsalted butter for the folding process, then you will have to fold it differently into the block as it might be needed, and it is better in most cases to let it rest for 10-15 minutes between folds and it may even need to be refrigerated between folds as well depending on your room temperature. Remember it is very important that when you begin folding the block that both the unsalted butter and the dough are at the same temperature, or you will squeeze the butter out of the dough rather than folding it into layers.
If you have any problems, you can always mail us.
Nutrition Information
Yield
1Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 3561Total Fat 49gSaturated Fat 26gUnsaturated Fat 23gCholesterol 115mgSodium 58233mgCarbohydrates 575gFiber 21gSugar 52gProtein 76g
