Pastry: Easy Puff Pastry

Puff pastry is actually very easy to make, if you have the time. While it doesn't take any particular skill, it does take all day. There's a lot of folding, a lot of rolling, and a lot of spreading butter on the dough, not to mention the time the dough will spend chilling in the refrigerator. It's worth the effort if you like to bake things from scratch.


The real secret to this dough is keeping it cold. Refrigerate it between steps and use ice cold water in the dough itself. You might even want to use a metal rolling pin that has been refrigerated overnight. The dough will turn out all the better for it. Just don't substitute anything for the butter. No margarine, no shortening, nothing. Just butter.


When you work with puff pastry, make sure to keep it cold. Refrigerate the portions you're not working with. Puff pastry should go from the fridge to the oven for best results. If you're going to reroll puff pastry that you've cut, don't roll it up into a ball first. Layer it instead, then roll, or your pastry will not puff properly.


Ingredients


3 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 cup ice water
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cups butter, softened


Preparation


This dough is relatively simple, so throw everything except the butter into a large bowl and mix until you have a soft dough that you can manipulate. Add a little extra water if you have to, but not so much that you end up with a sticky mess. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll into a 12x15-inch rectangle.


Spread with ¼ cup butter, but stay about an inch away from all edges. Fold into thirds so that you have a 12x5-inch rectangle, making sure to fold over the butter. Pinch edges sealed and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.


Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out again until it is a 12x15-inch rectangle once more. Spread with another ¼ cup of butter. Fold into thirds, pinch edges until they're sealed, cover, and refrigerate for another hour. Continue to repeat this process until you have no more butter. Make sure you have folded, sealed, and rolled out the dough into a 12x15-inch rectangle.


At this point, you can use the puff pastry immediately for freeze for future use. If you're freezing it, place the entire 12x15-inch rectangle between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll up the dough gently and freeze.


Before you use the frozen dough, let it thaw on the counter for at least 2 hours.


This puff pastry can be used in any recipe calling for puff pastry.