The preparation of puff pastry

The proportions of flour and butter (or margarine) are almost equal (500 g of flour, 500 g of butter, a pinch of salt and a little cold water, of about 2dl). The flour is first mixed with a little water, so as to obtain a paste by which, working with many different folds, the butter will be split into little pieces, so that at the end of the ingredients used, the pastry will be divided into different layers of “puff”, hence the name of ‘puff’ to the cake prepared with this paste.

The preparation of puff pastry 1

There is a second method of preparation of puff pastry, the same as presented in the following pictures consisting in the kneader of a third part of the flour with butter in order to obtain a ‘stick’ that will be placed at the center of the dough, obtained by combining the remaining flour with water. This way will facilitate the absorption of the same butter in the dough.

This will be followed for all subsequent stages, in the identical manner described above.

The cooking of pastry

The cooking of the pasta dough should be at a fairly high temperature, between 250 and 300 degrees. Only in this way the pastry will rise. Some failures in the preparation of puff pastry are almost always the low temperature of the oven.

Half puff pastry

The procedure is the same as regular puff pastry, only the amount of butter (or margarine) is less than 1 / 3 or even half.

Sweet puff pastry

During the production of puff pastry is not added sugar ever, to be sprinkled at the end, before cooking or cooked, when you want to cover with icing.

This  puff pastry in Italia is known as “pasta sfoglia”.

Uses of puff pastry

You can make puff pastry from alternate discs of “sponge” or paste “génoise” soaked in liqueur and filled with cream to make cakes. You can prepare cakes caramelized sugar, or “vol-au-vent”, pretzels, and various devils sticks stuffed with various fillings.

The cannoncini (Pastry Horns  – called Custard Horns or Cream Horns) and “vol-au-vent” to make them sweet, just out of the oven, should be brushed with a very hot saturated solution of sugar.

Half puff pastry – uses

It is also used for “pie crustt” to be served very hot, like pie or macaroni, tortellini or ravioli in cream sauce, with various sauces.

These pies can be, in some cases, enclosed by a lid of paste that traps the filling. This type of pastry lends itself well to the preparation of “strudel” of apples, nuts in general, or fresh ricotta.

Frozen puff pastry

There are trade packages of frozen puff pastry and shortcrust pastry that are quick and easy to use. For the various conditions you need to follow the instructions on the case.

Pictures of how to make puff pastry

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top