Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée)
Puff pastry is an incredible assembly of thin layers of butter enclosed in thin layers of dough. After cooking this give a succession of thin crisp pastry leaves that produce exceptional desserts or pies. It's a jewel of French patisserie.
Making your own puff pastry is not very difficult, it's just a little work with a good recipe (like this one!). This recipe is for quick puff pastry ("feuilletage rapide") perfect for beginners.
Making your own puff pastry is not very difficult, it's just a little work with a good recipe (like this one!). This recipe is for quick puff pastry ("feuilletage rapide") perfect for beginners.
Last modified on: January 19th 2011
Keywords for this recipe:For 1 kg 100 g, you will need:
- 1
500 g flour - 2
200 g butter - 3
200 ml water - 4
1 teaspoon white (spirit) vinegar (optional) - 5
1 teaspoon fine (or table) salt - 6 200 g butter
- Total weight: 1,107 grams
How long does it take?
Time required for this recipe:
| Preparation | Resting | Start to finish |
|---|---|---|
| 45 min. | 2 hours | 2 hours 45 min. |
At what time:
- When will I finish if I start the recipe at ... ?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at ... ? - Work this out...
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 5 min.
Mix 200 ml water and 1 teaspoon fine (or table) salt, if possible add 1 teaspoon white (spirit) vinegar to prevent dough from turning grey.
Stage 2 - 5 min.
Stage 3 - 1 hour
Stop as soon as dough is smooth, this dough is called a "détrempe" (soaked or softened).
Form it into slab, cover with plastic film, and put in the fridge for one hour.
Form it into slab, cover with plastic film, and put in the fridge for one hour.
Stage 4 - 5 min.
After this time, remove dough, unwrap it, then roll it out on your work surface into a large rectangle.
Stage 5 - 1 min.
Measure length of rectangle, and make a small mark with your finger at the 2/3 point.
Stage 6 - 5 min.
Put 200 g butter between two sheets of plastic film, and hit it with your rolling pin...
Stage 7
...until you get a butter "sheet" which is a little narrower than the dough and 2/3 the length.
Stage 8 - 5 min.
Lay the butter sheet on the dough, starting at the small mark you made before.
You should now have butter on 2/3 of the dough, 1/3 empty.
You should now have butter on 2/3 of the dough, 1/3 empty.
Stage 9
Fold up this 1/3 on top of the butter.
Stage 10 - 5 min.
Then fold over again onto the final 1/3.
You have done "one simple turn", which means that you now have 2 butter layers inside 3 dough layers.
You have done "one simple turn", which means that you now have 2 butter layers inside 3 dough layers.
Stage 11 - 1 min.
Turn the pastry a quarter turn.
Stage 12 - 5 min.
Roll out into a long regular strip.
Stage 13 - 1 min.
Remove any excess of flour with a Short-handled brush or a pastry brush (we do this because too much flour can hinder the layering of the pastry).
Stage 14 - 2 min.
Fold strip in from both ends to meet in the centre.
Stage 15 - 5 min.
Then fold this in half.
You have done "one double turn" or "wallet turn".
You have done "one double turn" or "wallet turn".
Stage 16 - 1 hour
Cover pastry with plastic film and leave to rest in the fridge for one hour.
This sequence of "double turn" + 1 hour rest, needs to be done twice more to get: 1 simple turn and 3 double turns.
This sequence of "double turn" + 1 hour rest, needs to be done twice more to get: 1 simple turn and 3 double turns.
Stage 17
Your puff pastry is now ready to use. Cut into three pieces (of about 300g) and wrap each in plastic film until use, or freeze (see below).
Remarks
Puff pastry should not be kept in the fridge for too long (in spite of the vinegar), 2 or 3 days maximum. But it can easily be frozen, in which case don't do the final double turn and freeze at this stage. When needed, remove from freezer, leave to thaw in the fridge overnight, and do the final double turn just before use.
You wonder how-many layers there are? Here is the solution: after the first turn there are 2 butter layers between 3 dough layers, and each double turn multiplies by four. So after the first one we get 12 layers, 48 at the second, and 192 at the third.
How does it work? In the heat of the oven, the layers of pastry cook and turn brown and crisp, at the same time the butter melts (helping pastry to brown) and the water inside turns to steam. This steam in trapped in the pastry, so the entire pastry inflates to become puff pastry.
You wonder how-many layers there are? Here is the solution: after the first turn there are 2 butter layers between 3 dough layers, and each double turn multiplies by four. So after the first one we get 12 layers, 48 at the second, and 192 at the third.
How does it work? In the heat of the oven, the layers of pastry cook and turn brown and crisp, at the same time the butter melts (helping pastry to brown) and the water inside turns to steam. This steam in trapped in the pastry, so the entire pastry inflates to become puff pastry.
Keeping
1 or 2 days in the fridge, folded in a plastic film.
Nutritional information
| Whole recipe | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Energetic value | Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats |
| 4,741 Kcal or 19,850 Kj | 48 gr | 370 gr | 341 gr |
| 237 % | 18 % | 35 % | 52 % |
| Per 100 g | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Energetic value | Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats |
| 428 Kcal or 1,792 Kj | 4 gr | 33 gr | 31 gr |
| 21 % | 2 % | 3 % | 5 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 1 kg 100 g : 3.34 €
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
Some recipes that use this recipe
Apple Pie
This classic of family cooking is quite simple: just a puff pastry "shell" sealing in lightly sweetened slices of apple. During cooking, the fruit softens to resemble stewed apple. Serve warm, if possible, to enjoy at its best.
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Saint Honoré cake
The Saint Honoré cake is a famous example of French patisserie. It consists of a puff pastry base surrounded by a ring of caramel-coated choux puffs and topped with whipped cream (Chantilly). It is a bit tricky to make, but this recipe gives you all the hints you need.
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Icelandic-style fish and vegetable pie
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Vol-au-vent cases
Vol-au-vents, whether large or bite-sized, need a special pastry case that is hollow to take the filling. Here is how to prepare these delicate cases using puff pastry.
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Source
After Gaston Lenôtre.
This recipe uses (among others)
 | Flour: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Rabbit civet "à la normande", Oat shortbread biscuits, Coconut tuiles, Little lemon biscuits, Spring veal sauté , ... All |
 | Water: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Butter cream, Chocolate Chantilly , Stewed plums, Seeded loaf, Pizza dough, ... All |
 | Butter: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Crisp apricot and pistachio tart, Little caramelized peach tarts, Fish "à la Bordelaise", Celeriac and sesame soup, Lille style chicken, ... All |
 | Fine (or table) salt: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Leek and potato soup, Chinese style chicken, Salmon and spinach quiche, French dressing (vinaigrette), Paté en croute (terrine in a pie crust), ... All |
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