Puff Pastry

Course: Breads, Breakfast, Desserts, Entree

Cuisine: French

Keyword: pastry dough, puff pastry

Prep Time: 20

resting/chilling time: 2 15

Total Time: 2 35

Servings: ounces (enough for 4 (1 1/2 1 3/4 pound)recipes

Calories: 121kcal

Begin this dough early in the day and you'll have plenty of puff pastry dough to bake by evening.

3 cups (6 sticks or 680 grams) unsalted butter whole or diced and at room temperature
1/2 cup (60 grams) bread flour
1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt

In a large mixing bowl, use the heat from your hands to soften and mash the unsalted butter into a thick, peanut butter-like paste.
Add the bread flour, lemon juice, and salt to the paste in the bowl. Use your hands to mash these ingredients into the butter to create a smooth, thick paste.
Cover the bowl with the beurrage in plastic wrap and transfer it to the fridge to chill for about 20 minutes*.

Mix or sift the all-purpose and bread flours onto a clean work surface (or in a mixing bowl). Use your fingers to toss in the kosher salt.
Use your fingers to cut the cold butter into the flours until the mixture looks coarse and sandy, like coarse-cut cornmeal.
Gather the mixture into a pile, then use the bottom of a measuring cup to form a well in the center of the pile.
Pour the ice-cold water into the well and use your hand or a bench scraper to fold the flour into the water.
Knead everything together just until the mixture forms a soft dough. Don't overmix the dough because you don't want to develop too much gluten.

Use a heavy rolling pin to roll the dough out on a floured surface into a large rectangle that's around 20 x 15 inches (51 x 38 centimeters).
Measurements don't have to be exact, but you want to roll it out so it's between 1/4 to 1/3-inch thick.
Try to make or keep the corners as square as possible.
Use an offset spatula to spread the beurrage in an even layer over 2/3rds of the dough.
Fold the unbuttered dough third over the adjacent third. Then, fold the remaining third over the exposed dough— like you're folding a letter.
Transfer the dough-butter package to a sheetpan and cover it lightly with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes to give the gluten in the dough a chance to relax.

After 15 minutes, uncover the dough.
Turn the dough 90 degrees so the length becomes the width, or so the short ends are on the left and right. Roll it into a rectangle 20 x 15 inches (51 x 38 centimeters).
Don't press down when rolling out the dough. Instead, roll evenly and smoothly. Also, try not to run over and down the edges of the dough. This will prevent the layers of dough from sticking together.
Fold the two short edges into the center of the dough to meet at the halfway point of the rectangle.
Next, take one of the short edges and fold over the other half, like closing a book.
This is your first of three 4-folds. Use the knuckle of a bent finger to press a divot into the end of the "book" to keep track of the turns completed.
After the first turn is completed, return the "book of dough" to the sheetpan and cover it with the plastic film.
Chill the dough for 25-30 minutes to give the gluten a chance to relax.
Turn the dough 90 degrees so the length becomes the width, or so the short ends are on the left and right.
Turn the dough this way after every fold to ensure the puff pastry layers are consistent and rolled in every direction.
Roll the dough out lengthwise into a rectangle with the same dimensions as the first rectangle, keeping the corners as square as you can.
This is your second 4-fold turn. Give the dough a chance to rest another 25-30 minutes before repeating these steps once more for a total of three 4-fold turns.

Once the dough is finished, divide it into 4 pieces of equal (or as close to equal) weights. Ideally, you can get 3-1lb 9oz (or 700 grams) bricks and one that is heavier.
You can eyeball it, though or even decrease the weights of each to get more portions of dough.
Wrap each piece of puff pastry in a layer of plastic wrap and store them in a covered container or food storage bag for up to 4 days.
You can use one piece of puff pastry for most recipes that call for a package (or box) of store-bought dough.

Replace the lemon juice with lime juice, white distilled vinegar, or vodka.
The butter stage can be done in a stand mixer, mixing on the lowest speed.
If you have a food processor, you can also use it instead of your hands to cut the fat into the flour, but I find it warms the butter too much and makes the détrempe gummy.

*You want the butter layer to be firm enough so it doesn't ooze when you spread it onto the dough layer, but not so firm that it breaks when you press a finger into it. The butter and dough layers need to be the same consistency when you fold them together.
Folding in the butter layer does not count as a turn or fold when making puff pastry.
If you find that the dough is too hard to roll out, it's most likely because it was overmixed during the making of the détrempe. Giving it more rest time may help, but you might have to leave it overnight to give the gluten a while to rest.
When rolling out puff pastry dough for your recipes, it's important to roll it thinly- or about 1/4-inch thick.
Bake the puff pastry at the proper temp of at least 400°F (205°C).
Make sure you're cutting your dough with a very sharp knife to prevent the layers of puff pastry from sticking together while baking.
Never bake the dough while it's warm or it will melt into the dough. It's better to chill the dough than to bake it while it's warm.

You can store prepared puff pastry dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the fridge for four days. Don't store it any longer than that, or the flour in the dough will start to ferment and turn gray.

The best way to store puff pastry is in the freezer:

Wrap your pieces of dough in plastic wrap and put them into a freezer-safe storage bag.
Store the puff pastry in the freezer for 6 months.
Thaw the dough in the refrigerator and allow it to warm up slightly on the countertop before rolling it out.