Monday 13 March 2017

Fast Rough Puff Pastry

This is my bullet-proof rough puff pastry. I can't even remember where I originally found the recipe, but it's my go-to whenever I need to do laminations. So long as you're a bit canny, you can get away without the repeated chillings you normally need, and from start to finish be ready to go in 20 minutes.

One down side is that it is messy...you're working with a soft, buttery half-formed dough to start with, and you need copious amounts of flour on your surface and rolling pin, until the dough forms. I tend to work on a silicone mat, and then all the mess is in one place, making it a bit simpler to tidy up afterwards. I've used this recipe for all sorts of things;
Pies
Palmiers
Mille-feuille
Apple Tart
In fact, I'd always recommend making too much, and you're bound to find something else to use it for. It doesn't take any longer to make, and if you can get 2 or 3 items out of one batch all the better. This recipe makes enough for 2 x 21cm plate pies (top and bottom), to give you an idea...

Rough-Puff Pastry - Recipe

Ingredients

  • 200g plain flour (plus a copious supply for sprinkling)
  • 200g strong white flour
  • ½tsp salt
  • 100g chilled butter
  • 100g chilled lard
  • 50-100ml chilled water
 1) Place the flours and salt in a large, cold bowl

2) Chop the butter and lard into 1cm cubes

3) Add the fats to the flour, and ensure each of the chunks are separated and coated in flour in the bowl

4) Start to add the water while carefully mixing the flour with your finger tips...you're looking to form a rough dough around the lumps of fat. It is a bit of a messy process, however try and add as little water as possible, just enough to incorporate the flour into the dough

5) Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface. Sprinkle some additional flour on top. for the next few steps you want to make sure the dough has no opportunity to stick to the work surface.

6) Roll the dough into a rectangle about 35cm wide and 20cm high...it should be about 1½cm thick

7) Brush any excess flour off the top, then fold it into thirds, leaving you a brick-shaped block of dough about 10-15cm x 20cm

8) Rotate the block 90', and repeat the rolling/folding 5-6 more times. Remember to keep the rolling pin and surface floured, and just brush the top off before you fold. As you do the folds and rolls, it should begin to form a more recognisable dough and become smoother. You should also be able to see the large, flattened discs of fat within the dough

9) Wrap the dough in clingfilm, and place it in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes (or 10 minutes in the freezer). If you roll it slightly thinner before wrapping it, it should chill faster.

10) To use, roll to about 3mm thickness, and bake at 190'C for about 30 minutes.