Homemade Puff Pastry

My love said the funniest thing the other day. He said,"I'm too cute." I wonder where he heard that from? But he's right, he is cute. So cute! Okay I'll stop.



As usual,  my love watched patiently while I was making the homemade Puff Pastry. I've been wanting to make my own for some time now. There are so many recipes you can make with this buttery, delicious, flaky pastry dough. From savory to sweet, your options are endless.



I found this particular recipe on Foodbuzz from a fellow Featured Publisher Healthy Green Kitchen with some modifications.



Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2-1/2 Cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour (I used half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour)

1-1/4 Cups Cake Flour

1 tbsp Salt (I used a half tbsp of salt)

1-1/4 Cups Ice Water

1 Pound Organic Butter

Plus extra flour for dusting



Directions

1. Place the all purpose flour, wheat and cake flour and salt in your processor. Pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers, sort of like play dough.





2. Remove the dough and form it into a ball. With a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.





3. Place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into an inch. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm. If it softens or becomes oily, chill it before continuing. Unwrap the chilled dough and place the butter in the middle of the dough.





4. Place the dough on a work surface dusted with flour. A cool piece of marble is ideal as it remains cool. With your rolling pin (a french rolling pin without handles are ideal, I used my gigantic Kitchenaid rolling pin with handles and it worked fine), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad "ears", or flaps.



Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely to create an envelope that is an 8" square.





5. Please make sure the dough and butter remain cold at all times. If the butter is oozing out, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.



Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and top of the dough well floured, roll the dough into a rectangle and is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" long.



With the first roll, be sure that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle. Check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well and roll a bit harder or more evenly.

Brush off excess flour from the top of the dough and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed on turn. There are a total of six turns.





6. Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.



If the dough needs to be chilled again please do so and continue the process until you have reached six turns.





7. This recipe makes quite a bit of puff pastry. If you wish you can chill overnight to finish or at least for an hour before cutting or shaping it. Wrap in plastic wrap to chill. Puff pastry will last up to 7 days in the refrigerator and up to weeks in the freezer. It can be thawed then frozen again without any problems.