Puff pastry is undoubtedly one of the most versatile doughs. It easily adapts to sweet pastries (such as Italian cannoncini), salty preparations (vol-au-vent), and, of course, to make traditional desserts such as Millefoglie or Saint Honoré.
In this dough, the product’s leavening occurs thanks to a fat barrier to the steam generated during cooking because of the fat’s particular stratification. When the steam expands during cooking, it tries to get out. Still, it meets the fat stratifications, preventing it from escaping.
Puff Pastry’s preparation is often perceived as quite challenging. In reality, we will see that the procedure is pretty simple. Still, it requires a lot of time because the dough needs long rest periods in the fridge throughout the process.
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THE INGREDIENTS
The necessary ingredients for the preparation of puff pastry are mainly 4:
FLOUR: I recommend using strong flour (refer to W 300-330) with 14% – 15%. This is very important to make the classic folds and allow “puffing” during cooking. Generally, people use plain flour, but you can achieve excellent results with stone-ground type 1 flour, added with 50% white flour.
LIQUIDS: Generally, we use water to prepare the dough. However, in some recipes, you can add 10gr of white vinegar to 1kg of flour to reinforce the gluten. Sometimes, a small quantity of alcohol (like dry Vodka) is also used for the same purpose.
BUTTER is undoubtedly the primary ingredient in making an excellent puff pastry. Generally, butter represents the dough’s main fat component; however, we can use a fat dough made of butter and flour to make the process easier. Margarine, either pure or enriched with butter, is also used as an alternative to butter. The use of Margarine certainly makes the puff pastry easier; however, once cooked, it will be much less aromatic.
SALT: it accentuates the aromatic note of the puff pastry. Together with butter is one of the factors responsible for the coloration during cooking. Generally, we can use about 15gr of salt per Kg of flour.
TRADITIONAL PUFF PASTRY RECIPE
EQUIPMENTS
- Stand Mixer
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 350 gr Flour (W280 or 10%-11% of proteins)
- 150 gr Butter
- 10 gr Salt
- 200 gr Water
For the Fat Dough
- 350 gr Flour (W280 or 10%-11% of proteins)
- 150 gr Butter
DIRECTIONS
For the Dough
- Knead all ingredients and let the dough rest for 24 hours in the refrigerator at +4°C (39°F) well covered with a plastic sheet
For the Fat Dough
- Take the butter out of the fridge and soften it by hitting it with a rolling pin on the table to preserve its plasticity.
- Mix butter and flour in a stand mixer with the leaf, shape the mixture into a rectangular loaf between 2 sheets of grease paper, roll out to a thickness of ½ cm and refrigerate for 90 minutes.
How to Make Folds
- roll out the dough, giving it a rectangular shape with a height double that of the width and 1/2cm thick.
- Do the same with the fat dough, trying to roll it out with the exact proportions and dimensions.
- Place the fat dough on top of the dough, and close the 2 top and bottom edges in the center, sealing them carefully. Turn the dough to 90 degrees (so that the lateral sides are closed)
- Roll out the dough in a vertical direction until it is 1cm thick
- Give the first Single Fold: With the dough rolled out in front of us (in a vertical direction), fold the dough’s top edge to about 2/3 of the dough’s height and then overlap it with the lower edge. In this way, we will obtain a rectangle of dough composed of 3 layers.
- Cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge at +4 °C (39°F) for 1 hour
- With the dough in front of you and the lateral sides closed, start to roll it to form a rectangle about 1cm thick, whose height will be twice the width.
- Let's make the Double Fold (or 4-Fold). To do this, bring the upper and lower flaps towards the center and fold them in half, thus obtaining a rectangle with 4 layers of dough.
- As before, turn 90 degrees, wrap everything in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge at +4 °C (39°F) for 1 hour.
- Repeat the 2 folds seen above. Give the dough 2 single fold (3-fold) and 2 double fold (4-fold), always letting chill in the fridge for 1 hour between one step and the next.
- Once the puff pastry is done, I recommend that you let it rest 1 night in the fridge before rolling it out and cutting out the shapes to be baked.
NUTRITION LABEL
HOW TO MAKE PUFF PASTRY
1. LET’S PREPARE THE PASTRY AND THE DOUGH
The first step of preparing the puff pastry is the “lean” dough: We can easily mix flour, water, and salt. The final dough needs to have good elasticity without being overworked to avoid a structure that is too stiff and difficult to roll out. In this case, the chilling period in the fridge will be longer.
For the FAT DOUGH preparation, mix the butter at about 10°C (50°F) and the flour in a stand mixer. The secret to facilitating the next puffing step is to use butter with a “plastic” consistency. For this reason, I suggest you put the butter between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper while still cold and hit it with the rolling pin until it softens. We will make a bit of noise, but the method is proven!
Once the flour is absorbed into the butter, place the mixture between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper, shape it into a rectangular shape, and let it chill in the fridge at +4°C (39°F) for at least 1 hour.
After this time, take back the FAT dough and soften it slightly by hitting it with a rolling pin, as we did before.
Before moving ahead, verifying that the consistency of both doughs is as similar as possible is crucial!
2. HOW TO ROLL THE PUFF PASTRY
Let’s now see how to deal with the most feared step in preparing puff pastry. In reality, you will realize that it is not complicated at all!
First, we roll out the dough, giving it a rectangular shape with a height double that of the width and 1/2cm thick.
We do the same with the fat dough, trying to roll it out with the exact proportions and dimensions.
At this point, we place the fat dough on top of the dough and close the 2 top and bottom edges in the center, sealing them carefully. Now, we turn the dough to 90 degrees (so the lateral sides are closed). The first step is done. Now, we can finally roll the puff pastry.
It is essential to roll the dough to prevent the fat from escaping gently. For that, I recommend you roll out the dough gradually, starting by pressing the surface of the dough with the rolling pin without rolling it. When it is lowered and the butter begins to adhere to the dough, we will roll it vertically until it is 1cm thick.
FOLD #1: THE SINGLE FOLD
Once the dough is rolled, we can make the first SINGLE fold (or 3-fold). Let’s see how to do it!
With the dough rolled out in front of us (in a vertical direction), fold the dough’s top edge to about 2/3 of its height and then overlap it with the lower edge. This way, we will obtain a rectangle of dough composed of 3 layers.
Now, rotate the dough to 90 degrees (always keeping the sides closed), cover it with plastic wrap, and chill it in the fridge at +4 °C (39°F) for 1 hour. This rest stabilizes the butter and relaxes the gluten, making the next folds easier.
FOLD #2: THE DOUBLE FOLD
After making 1 Single Fold and letting the dough rest, we are ready for the second fold of puff pastry.
With the dough in front of you and the lateral sides closed, we can start to roll it to form again a rectangle about 1cm thick whose height will be twice the width.
At this point, we make the Double Fold (or 4-Fold). To do this, bring the upper and lower flaps towards the center and fold them in half, thus obtaining a rectangle with 4 layers of dough. As before, turn 90 degrees, wrap everything in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge at +4 °C (39°F) for 1 hour.
After this time, roll the dough out again and repeat the 2 folds seen above. Give the dough 2 single-fold (3-fold) and 2 double-fold (4-fold), always letting chill in the fridge for 1 hour between one step and the next.
Once the puff pastry is done, I recommend you let it rest 1 night in the fridge before rolling it out and cutting out the shapes to be baked. Also, to prevent the dough from shrinking during cooking, I suggest letting the puff pastry rest in the fridge for 1-2 hours once it has been cut.
When the puff pastry is ready, it is crucial NOT to knead it (as we would do with other doughs) because we would mess up the butter layering. Suppose you have some scraps after cutting out the puff pastry shapes. In that case, the best way to re-use them is to overlap them and roll them out to 1/2cm thick and use them to prepare small savories. The scraps of puff pastry won’t have notable development in cooking. However, they will still be a good accompaniment for an appetizer.
COOKING AND STORAGE
The best way to bake puff pastry is in an oven at 180°C (356°F) with the oven’s port closed for the first 10 minutes to create steam inside the oven and favor raising the puff pastry in the dough.
When the development is complete, and the surface begins to color, we can gently dust the puff pastry with powdered sugar and cocoa butter in powder. This step accentuates the coloring and makes the cake impermeable to the humidity of the fillings. Once dusted, we can bake it again until the surface is well caramelized.
I advise you not to sprinkle sugar on the raw puff pastry. Indeed, the steam it develops during cooking would give the product an irregular color, making it not so beautiful to see!
STORAGE
Puff pastry can be stored in the fridge at +4° C (39° F) well wrapped in plastic for 3/5 days. After this time, humidity (and so the volume) during cooking will be significantly reduced.
Alternatively, freeze the puff pastry at -18 °C (0°F) and wrap it well in a plastic bag. Take care to store the dough in the refrigerator for 24 hours before freezing it. Once frozen, you can keep the puff pastry for 30 days. When you decide to thaw it, place it in the refrigerator at +4°C for 24 hours before using it in your recipe!
3 comments about “La Pasta Sfoglia”
Grazie per i consigli, molto utili. Vorrei chiedere cortesemente,in che percentuali si deve mettere il burro di cacao in polvere sullo zucchero a velo? Grazie in anticipo.
Non vedo indicate le dosi
Ciao!
hai ragione, in questa pagina spiego la tecnica e gli ingredienti.
Ecco il link alla ricetta: Ricetta della Pasta Sfoglia Classica
A presto!