Quick Puff Pastry Dough
- 1 1/4 cups (10 oz) unsalted butter, chilled
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups unbleached flour
Quick Puff Pastry Dough
Demonstrated by: Jim O’keefe
Taste of Hilo with Restaurant Kaikodo and O’keefe and Sons Breadbakers on November 14, 2003.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Cut 2 blocks of the butter into 1/4 to 1/2-inch cubes; place in refrigerator to chill. Combine water and salt; stir until dissolved. In a food processor, add flour, water mixture, and the remaining 1/2 block of butter. Pulse for about 10 seconds to form a dough. Add the chilled butter cubes and pulse 1 or 2 more times. The dough should have pea-sized pieces of butter in it. Roll dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap into an 8 x 12-inch rectangle. Remove plastic wrap and fold dough into thirds, to form a 4 x 8-inch rectangle. Roll dough like a jellyroll, and press dough with your hands into a 6-inch square. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. Roll dough into a rectangle, sheet 3/16-inch thick x 12-inches wide x 16-inches long. Makes about 1 1/2 lb of dough.
Sheet of dough can be cut into 4-inch squares for turnovers, 2-inch squares for sausage rolls, or cut with fluted biscuit cutters for fruit tarts. Strudel, palmiers, pastry shells, or cream horns can also be made. Puff pastry tarts, rolls, and turnovers can be made ahead of time and refrigerated before baking. They can go directly from the refrigerator to the oven.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Do not let pastry dough get warm while working with it. If the butter melts into the dough, the flakiness of the puff pastry will be lost. Refrigerate dough as needed. The ideal temperature for working with the dough is between 60° to 70°F. Wrapped in plastic wrap, puff pastry can be kept for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator, and up to 2 months in the freezer.
