It is no more challenging a method than the traditional way, but it does result in a remarkably flaky and tender puff pastry that rises evenly and rolls out easily. It is however, more delicate and has many flaky, tender layers as compared to pie dough. It turned into a greasy mess and put me off ever trying again. When to use what? Then you do the same folding and rolling thing and the butter is distributed in small layers throughout the pastry.

The puff pastry dough can keep refrigerated for up to 4 days, or can be portioned and frozen for up to 3 months. If just preparing one of these, any excess dough can be frozen for later use.

Lift the beurrage occasionally to ensure it isn’t sticking to the work surface (after the first roll, it does not stick at all). This action is simply like closing a fully opened book.

7. Line an 8-inch square pan with plastic and scrape the butter into the pan, spreading to level (as it will be soft).

Puff pastry does take time to make, as it must rest in between folds, but it is well worth the effort.

The dough is chilled and then the process is repeated several times.

Where a traditional puff pastry is made by wrapping a block of butter (beurrage) with a flour/water dough (détrempe) and then folded, this recipe does the reverse and folds the dough with the butter. However, I personally find it therapeutic to be engaged in the layering and folding and there’s a great sense of satisfaction when eating the finished product! I had been aware of the terms puff and rough puff, but I had always assumed they were two terms for the same thing, and that rough puff was just the full name of the pastry. Chill this until it is the same consistency as the détrempe – this could take 30 to 90 minutes.

Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for one hour. That is the ‘first turn’ completed. I’ve only ever stuck with one and I don’t think any techniques are more superior than others, it’s just a case of different chefs use different techniques that are most familiar to them or a technique that was taught to them and they’ve stuck with. Its designed to produce a similar effect to puff pastry, for a lot less effort. Rolling a block of butter out to a quarter inch thick and then wrapping it around a block of dough may sound terrifying, but it’s no more difficult than making the puff pastry in the normal fashion.

Your dough will be ready to use the next morning. Other varying techniques are in relation to how the dough is folded: Personally, I use a mixture of the two as I feel you can’t go wrong then (!) 2 comments. 5. The reasons were mostly because I didn’t see the point when you could just buy it, but also a fear of messing up. This time, you will complete a ‘double fold’ or ‘book’ fold. Now, you want to fold the dough into three – like a business letter, just like in the pictures below: 6.

Firstly, there are two ‘types’ of puff pastry.

1. Any technique, so long as its executed properly will result in that perfect flakiness – a crisp bite, a melting on the tongue and an overall light texture. There  are so many different variations or techniques when it comes to making puff pastry. The inverted puff pastry is easier to work with. After one hour, repeat step 7 and then refrigerate overnight. Web design by BrightCherryBlue Horizon Web Design Ltd. UK Registered Company No. 1. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat rolling the dough to a 20-x-10-inch rectangle, brushing off and folding into thirds. However, there’s not quite a thousand leaves or layers, but it could hardly be called ‘seven hundred and twenty nine leaves’, could it?! I have a recipe for arlettes that ask for inverse puff. Are any breakfast cereals really healthy. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for one hour. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for one hour again. 2. Whilst cooking, the layers ‘puff’ up due water within the butter trying to evaporate – the butter creates steam whilst melting and cooking in the oven, yet cannot escape due to the fat content in the butter causing a ‘seal’.

Each of these “leaves” consists of a layer of flour separated by a layer of butter. You can’t quite put your finger on why, but there’s such a sense of achievement in doing it yourself! For the second fold, roll the dough again into a 20-x-10-inch rectangle, brush off excess flour and fold into thirds.

It doesn’t shrink as much when you’re working with it and isn’t as temperamental. From what I remember his folding techniques were slightly different, but a really good result is also achieved with the folding techniques I use below. Simply thaw in the fridge before rolling and using. Some use a mixture of the two types of folding method. The butter is cut into chunks and mixed into the dough, still in chunks. Some chefs use bread flour, while others use plain flour and there’s a difference of opinion on which is better to use. It’s a bit like making bread really.

(You can pull the détrempe or beurrage to try and get it into shape – its not that fragile). Shape the dough into an 8-inch square, wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 hours. The pictures show this better: 8. Don’t try and aim for the butter to be fully blended, it will look marbled and you will see lumps of butter in the mixture – but thats how it should be. I know that some people will say that because I make a lot of it so I think it's easy but I found this method is a lot easier than the one with the butter inside.