Homemade Puff Pastry

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      Did you know that you could make your own puff pastry?  Did you know it's not that hard?  Did you know that it only has five ingredients?  Well, it's all true.  I learned how to make puff pastry last winter when I took an awesome cooking class.  I was amazed at how easy it was to make.  If you make your own pie crust, you would find it extremely easy.

     There are a couple of things you should know before you get started.  First of all, make sure that all of your ingredients are REALLY cold.  You need to put the flour and butter in the freezer for an hour and the water needs to be ice cold.  The other thing is don't overwork the dough and don't use too much water.

     Look for an upcoming post with a recipe for a savory tart using your homemade puff pastry.

   

Puff Pastry

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup ice water

Mix the flours together with the salt and freeze for 1 hour.  Cut the butter up into 1/2 cubes and freeze for 1 hour.

Put cold flour and butter into a large mixing bowl.

With a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until you have 1/4 in pieces of butter.

Add enough cold water to the flour mixture until the mixture almost holds together (I needed to use a little more water than that, probably 2 tbsp more).

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and press together to form a rectangle.  There should be large chunks of butter showing.

Roll the dough into a rectangle that is about 5x7 inches.

Fold the narrow end inward to meet in the center and then fold the dough again so that there are four layers.

Turn dough 1/4 turn and repeat the process.

Repeat the process two more times for a total of four turns.  After the last turn, fold the dough accordion style.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 45 minutes.  Then use as you normally would use puff pastry. 

ENJOY!


Shared at It's a Keeper on 12/15/11.
Shared at Miz Helen's Country Cottage on 12/15/11.
Shared at 4 Little Fergusons on 12/16/11.
Shared at Mandy's Recipe Box on 12/20/11.
Shared at Chef in Training on 12/20/11.