The Exquisite Joy of Puff Pastry
Ahhh puff pastry! Few things are tastier than a well made puff pastry. That sweet butter taste combined with an exquisite flakiness. Being able the make even a moderately good puff pastry will then open the door to culinary possibilities.
Puff Pastry Recipe
NUMBER ONE key to a good puff pastry is the butter. Go all out here and find the best unsalted butter you can get your hands on, no cost spared. If you are lucky enough to have a store that carries the Plugra brand European Style butter, it is damn tasty and usually sells at a very reasonable price for the 1 lb. brick. Smart & Final carries it in our area (Trader Joes used to 🙁 ) at an exceptional under $3 price.
How to Make Puff Pastry
The start to finish time is a bit long, 3 + hours, but most of that time is chill time in between folds. As long as you aren’t leaving the house for a while, you can get plenty of other dishes made, or chores done, or football games watched while making the magic dragon pastry. Pay attention to the details while making this. A little mistake will magnify later.
Also, when using puff pastry in recipes, keep in mind that their dough may be meant to rise differently than this one. This recipe should rise about 4 times it’s rolled out thickness, but even that will change with how old the dough is or how well it is made.
The dough and formed-ready-to-bake pastries keep very well in the freezer, but not so much in the fridge. This recipe is based off of “The Professional Pastry Chef” by Bo Friberg, we’ve just tweaked a couple of the techniques to what we’ve found to be easier for us.
P.S. If you are going to venture into pastry making, I seriously suggest you start baking by weight if you aren’t already. Get a kitchen scale, especially one that weighs in grams. Pastries are as much science as art and you need to be as accurate as possible. So start weighing out ingredients and have less recipe missteps. After you get used to baking this way, you will love it.
-Todd
Step by Step Recipe Gallery
Blend butter & flour for butter block
form into 6″x6″ square
make dough. sift flour onto worksurface
form into a ball
slash the top pull stretch into a square
diagonally place butter block on dough square
wrap butter block with dough and pinch seams closed
roll and fold. What is puff pastry? here’s a good comparison explanation between puff pastry and pie dough.
Puff Pastry Recipe
Ingredients
Butter Block Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (510g) cold unsalted Butter
- 2 teaspoons (10ml) Lemon Juice
- pinch Salt
- 1 cup (130g) Bread Flour
Dough Ingredients
- 3 cups (410g) Bread Flour, approximately
- 1/4 cup (556g) soft unsalted Butter
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 1 cup (240ml) cold Water
Instructions
- Make Butter Block: In mixer w/ paddle attachment, work butter lemon juice, salt, and flour into a smooth paste.
- On a sheet of wax paper, roughly form an approx. 6" square with the butter block mixture. Lay another piece of wax paper on top and smooth out the square & straighten the sides. Peel back each wax paper sheet & re-lay as it wrinkles to keep a smooth, even surface. After block's thickness & sides are even, refrigerate until firm.
- Make the dough: Sift flour onto your work surface (preferably something chilly like granite or marble slab) Pinch butter into chunks and place on top of flour. Continue pinching butter into flour until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- Shape into a mound, then make a well in the center of the mound. Add the salt & cold water into the well, then with a fork, use a whisking motion to gradually incorporate the well's sides into the water. When it starts to form a solid mass, finish incorporating the flour by kneading. Incorporate just until it is still sticky and has a rough texture. Adjust the water & flour as needed. Try to knead as little as possible. Puff pastry likes lazy kneaders.
- Form dough into a ball, remember-knead as little as possible. Flatten the ball a bit, then cut a cross halfway through the dough. Wrap it up & let rest in fridge for 30 minutes.
- You'll want the Butter Block to have approximately the same consistency as the Dough, after the dough is rested. You don't want the butter rock hard, but not mushy soft, either. A dough that is softer than the butter will stretch while the butter doesn't. If the butter is softer than the dough, it will be pushed out the sides. Either create difficulties to some degree. You may have to adjust chill/resting times for either dough or butter block so they are about the same. Kitchen temp., how long it took to make the dough, fridge temp., all affect the consistency of the Butter Block & Dough. Figure out adjustments to make so they'll work together homogeneously. It may take a time or two, but you'll get the hang of it. While everything is chilling, get to work. Clean that kitchen up. Then relax & get ready to assemble.
- Assembly: Pull the corners of the cuts out of the dough ball to make a square shape. Roll the dough out to a square slightly thicker in the center than on the sides, and slightly larger than the butter block.
- Place the butter block diagonally on the dough square, so that the butter corners are pointed at the middle of the dough sides. Fold the uncovered dough corners over the butter block to completely envelop the butter. Pinch the seams tightly together to seal in the butter.
- Dust your work surface with flour, and roll the dough into a rectangle about 1/2" thick. Remember to keep dusting with flour whenever needed to keep the dough from sticking & tearing the layers.
- Size up your rectangle visually into 3. Fold one third over the middle, then fold the opposite third over. Just like a tri-fold brochure. Try to have everything as even as possible. All the edges should match fairly closely. Put on a plate, cover, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Relax, read the paper, check email, whatever you like.
- Roll out to 1/2" thick and repeat the fold. Don't forget to flour as you roll. Plate, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Repeat this for a total five roll & folds.
- After the last fold, roll the rectangle out to about 3/4". If it is difficult, put dough in the fridge for a bit to relax the gluten. If using immediately, cover, rest in fridge for about 30 minutes, then use as needed. If it's for later, cut into sections big enough but that still fit easily in your freezer (usually just in half), layer with wax paper between sections, freezer bag it, & store until needed.
can this recipe be halved? excited to try it but i don’t need that much.
You can, but it also freezes great. I almost never use a full batch when I make it, and will freeze half or more for the next time I am needing puff pastry.
THANK YOUUUUUU!!!!! I needed something that described the process and had accurate pictures. I am also happy you mentioned buying good butter. I would have just bought regular store brand butter, since that is what I use at home. That’s probably insulting to french cooking ๐ I’m also glad you mentioned about making sure the surface was well floured. I have been scared to over flour in the past when rolling things out, in fear of changing he consistency of what I’m making and it has definitely created problems. THANK YOUUU again for this article!
-Shannon
I just got my mini pie maker in the mail yesterday, and this is the first thing I need to make to use it! I can’t wait. I’ve been wanting to try our scratch puff pastry for a long time.
Do you guys have a specific scale you’ve found you like?
Hi Nicole,
Just about any digital scale we’ve used has been great, (our first cheap $20 scale lasted 10+ years) but a scale we recently acquired has become a new favorite. It is the OXO scale with the pull out display. A lot of time I’ll be measuring with a big bowl or on a piece of wax paper and it is hard to read the display, so having a display which can extend out 12″ or so is fantastic.
Good luck on your baking!
Todd
I am hoping to make a pear tarte tatin for my dad’s birthday this weekend. We have our own pears, as well as our own lard made from our own pigs. (We’re working on getting butter…) I was wondering if there was anyway to use this lard to make puff pastry, or if the taste would be too strange, or even if there woul be technical problems. I’ve never made puff pastry before, hence all the questions. Thanks for the post and wonderful directions.
Hi Kara. Sounds like a great assignment, making the pear tarte for you dad’s b-day. You can use lard instead of butter. It will actually rise more, but the taste will be a bit different (more bland) and the mouthfeel is a little different. Some describe it as a bit of a waxy feel. We haven’t tried it ourselves yet, but you are basically doing the same thing of layer the fat (now lard instead of butter) between the flour layers. Good luck and if you try it we’d love to hear how it turns out.
T
I tried making puff pastry last summer and it flopped. Your great pictures are an inspiration for me to try again. I broke my left arm and hand in 11 places in a car accident a few years ago so have a hard time with the rolling pin, but maybe this will be good therapy. I bake pies and other baked goods for a large farmer’s market so need to start exercising my arm again. I had hoped to have pastries on my table of goodies for sale–but they stayed at home. But I will try again. This year our air conditioner will be working–and I will make the puff pastry in the early morning when it is very cool.
Hey, it worked perfectly with the Earth Balance buttery sticks. This morning I made samples
of pain au chocolat and croissant and they were just right. Later today I am going to try the
Pear Tarte Tatin. Again, thanks for the recipe and keep posting! Now vegans can enjoy those
delicate puff pastry treats, too.
Hey, thanks for this recipe. I am going to try to make a vegan version. I learned how to make
this at L’Ecole de Gastronomie Francaise Ritz-Escoffier and your recipe is pretty much the same.
And yes, you’re right the quality of the butter is important. I’m going to see what happens when
I make it with Earth Balance vegan butter substitute.
My favorite thing to make with puff pastry is Tarte Tatin. That’s the upside down apple tart with
that sparkling shiny carmelized sugar on top and that amazing flaky pastry underneath. I have
a version made with pears instead of apples that is so good it makes you cry. With joy.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe – I just made it, and am happy to say that the results were divine! Take courage, readers, it’s not as hard as it seems (though I know now, after making it, that the rolling process requires a wee bit of arm muscle, and perhaps, next time, a french rolling pin). Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Wow, this was so super easy! I can’t wait to use it for my Napoleons tomorrow, yum! And your pictures are so gorgeous. :o)
Thanks!
Ive tried your recipe and method. it turned out real good. Thanks.
WOW !! I am absolutely over the moon impressed! What a Fantastic Recipe! Thanks so much for giving us the low down! Love it!
at what temp should this be cooked? i cant find the reference.
The temperature you cook the puff pastry depends on what recipe you are using it for. This is just the recipe for the dough. Generally you will cook it at a higher oven temperature (425 degree average), but every recipe varies.
Great recipe being looking for it some time now THANKS
I made the puff pastry recipe. It was a lot of work, but it turned out great. The pastry was fabulous. Thank you very much!
This is hands down the best presentation of puff pastry that I’ve been able to scrounge up on the internets. Thank you!
Wow great photos, and you make puff pastry actually seem attainable. I am going to try this today – but have to admit, am scared it might turn out a complete failure. My husband has been asking for beef wellington for some time now, and usually I just buy pre-made puff pastry, but due to a recently discovered dairy allergy that my infant son has, I can not longer have dairy. SO – that being said, I am attempting your recipe with *gasp* (I know how awful this is) dairy free butter substitute (Nucoa). Oh how I miss real butter. I don’t expect it to be puff pastry exactly, but I am going to get it as close as I can. Again – beautiful photos and article, and am hoping with all the help you have provided here I may be able to come up with a decent faux butter puff pastry