The Perfect Puff

I had a dinner party a few nights ago. I always like to impress when I have new people over, so decided to make an Apple Tarte Tartin. This is caramelized apples baked in puff pastry. You cook it with the apples lined up beautifully in the pan, then lay the puff pastry overtop. Once it’s baked you flip it so the pastry is on the bottom. It is a lovely dish.

I decided to make my own puff pastry. I have heard it can be complicated, so I was up to the challenge!

I will start by saying that I didn’t really find it all that challenging. It was very time consuming, but not hard.

The trickiest part is incorporating the butter. I think perhaps by butter wasn’t cold enough, but I found it liked to stick to my rolling pin.

The method of folding it up, the rolling it out again really gets that butter throughout the dough. Repeating it four times just helps this process further.

I believe this is what makes it puff. The butter melts leaving air pockets that fill and puff up during cooking.

This is the same method used when making croissants. You need the flaky layers.

I was happy with the end result. Maybe I will attempt croissants soon. . .

PUFF PASTRY

1 Cup Butter

1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour

10 Tablespoons Ice Water

Reserve 1 tablespoon of the butter. Put the rest into a mixing bowl and work with hands until it becomes putty like. When butter is pliable, shape it into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Wrap in wax paper and chill. Work 1 tablespoon butter into the flour with finger tips to the consistency of cornmeal. Add the ice water gradually and mix with a fork to form a stiff dough. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead for 5 minutes to obtain a smooth elastic ball of dough. Grease ball of dough, then cut a deep cross in the top of the ball. Cover with a damp cloth and let stand 30 minutes at room temperature. Spread the dough out by opening the four points made by the criss cross and laying them out flat. Place the chilled butter into the center and stretch and pat it to the corners. Roll into a rectangular shape about 1/4 inch thick and allow to stand for 10 minutes covered with a damp cloth. Fold the long ends of the rectangle toward the center, making three layers. Fold in the other two ends on top of the other. Brush off any excess flour as you fold. Wrap in wax paper and chill for 1 hour. Repeat the process by rolling out the rectangle to 1/4 inch thick, being careful to keep the original shape of the dough and to keep the corners square and edges straight. Then fold, wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Repeat this process three times after the first folding. Wrap thoroughly and place into the refrigerator for up to three days after the final shaping. Bake according to recipe using.