Puff pastry is one of my favourite pastries. I remember as a little girl, I would have about 6 stacks of ready to roll puff pastry in the freezer homemade. I use to quadruple the quantities of my recipe.
I used to have puff pastry Sundays, I would wake up super early, before the sun comes up (best time to do pastry) I'd be rolling my last layer of pastry just as the sun was coming up.
I always did it on a Sunday because Dad would make his traditional bacon and egg pie early morning on a Sunday. After he had finished cooking pancakes for the whole family.
I would always get so angry at him, if he ever tried to use the supermarket thin rubbish! Filled with chemicals and preservatives. More chemicals then natural ingredients.
When you realise how little ingredients are in this recipe, you will be making yourself some puff pastry in an instant. You get such a flakier and puffier pastry when you make your own.
Look at that golden goodness and puffiness. I did notice when you used store brought pastry it never got that lovely golden brown. Weather they weren't using butter, maybe margarine. Ew
Yum, I actually am sitting in a hostel in Vancouver writing this. And I haven't had home cooked goods since I left Australia. And its a tradition to have pie for breakfast in New Zealand. I remember all the Maori's would have one 8am, fresh from the corner store. Big ben pies and a can of fizzy for $2. Can't beat NZ.
Oh well, on to the recipe and tutorial.
Here we go,
Make a flour well, with your fingers.
Begin pouring your chilled water into the well, slowly being careful not to break the walls.
Begin mixing the flour and water together slowly to form a dough.
Keep mixing.
Once all the water is incorporated, add your melted butter to the tacky dough. Begin kneading one the tacky dough comes together.
Allow the dough to rest in the fridge before you begin laminating.
Recipe:
3 1/2 all purpose flour
57g unsalted butter melted
400g unsalted butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups cold water
Method:
Place flour on the bench and make a well. Pour your chilled ate into the well of flour. Begin mixing the water and flour together with your dough scarper. Being careful not to break the flour walls. Add your 57g of butter (melted) into the well along with the salt. Keep mixing the flour mixture until it begins to form a dough.
When the dough begins to become a tacky dough begin kneading it.
Tip the dough out on a floured surface, begin kneading the dough for 2-3 minutes just to work the dough and make it more elastic.
Place your dough in the fridge to rest (relax the gluten) for 30minutes.
Follow this tutorial of laminating dough to continue the procedure of puff pastry dough.
Wooh la, puff pastry
xx Linz
