Puff pastry Tutorial
How to make delicious buttery puff pastry, easy step by step instructions from start to finish.
- 300g / 11oz Plain or all-purpose flour
- 250g / 8.8oz Cold unsalted butter
- 125g /mls Cold water
- 4g / ½tsp Salt
- 6mls / 1tsp Lemon or lime juice
- Start by cutting off 83g, that’s ⅓ of the the 250g pack of cold butter, and dice into small cubes.
- Add the flour and salt to a large bowl, and mix together.
- Add the diced butter to the flour, rub together with your fingers, until all the butter lumps are gone, and you should be left with a sandy texture and colour.
- Add the water and lemon juice to the bowl, and roughly mix together.
- Pour the mixture onto your worktop and pull it all together with your hands, the mix will appear dry at first, but don’t be tempted to add more water, it will come together eventually.
- Form the dough into a rectangle, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Take the remaining butter, and place it in- between 2 pieces of parchment paper.
- Using your rolling pin, form the butter into a 12cm or 5inch square.
- Now place the butter in the fridge for 30 to 45 minutes.
- Take the now chilled pastry and place it on a floured surface, roll it out into a 30 x 18cm or 12 x 7inch rectangle.
- Remove the paper from the butter, and place it on the top half of the pastry, leaving a small edge around the top and sides.
- Fold the bottom of the pastry over the butter and gently press down the edges, to form a parcel.
- Turn the pastry parcel 90° to the left, and roll it out into a 30 x 18cm or 12 x 7inch rectangle once more.
- Brush off any excess flour, then carefully fold the bottom of the pastry up by ⅓, and now fold the top down by one ⅓, gently pat it down, and using your parchment papers, neatly wrap it up, and place it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- After it has chilled, (always on a floured surface) roll out the pastry once more into a 30 x 18cm or 12 x 7inch rectangle, once again fold it exactly the same as the last time, bottom ⅓ up, top ⅓ down, wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Repeat these actions another 2 times, for a total of 4 roll and folds, chilling for 20 minutes each time.
- What is happening, each time you go through this procedure, the layers are building up in the pastry.
- After the 4th and final one, the pastry is now ready to use, wrap the finished pastry in clingfilm, and refrigerate, it will keep in the fridge for several days, or you can freeze it for future use.
- You now have a beautiful, and very versatile delicious, buttery, puff pastry, that you can use in many recipes, including pies, pasties, sausage rolls, also lots dessert recipes, it has many uses.
- Enjoy.
Equipment & products used in my kitchen and videos
