The Baking Answer Book (40 page)

That said, chances are your local supermarket carries only puff pastry made with vegetable shortening. It may puff up in a similar way, but I cannot state too strongly how inferior in flavor this product is to either store-bought or homemade puff pastry made with butter. Well, you might be asking, isn’t the flavor of the filling what’s most important? Absolutely not! Puff pastry shouldn’t be simply a medium for delivering filling ingredients. Whether it is an apple tart, a sour cherry turnover, or a napoleon filled with pastry cream and fruit, any dessert made with puff pastry relies on the way the nutty, buttery flavor of the browned pastry plays off of the flavors of the sweet or tart or creamy ingredients.

So if you can’t buy all-butter puff pastry dough, I highly recommend you make some from scratch. To substitute homemade puff pastry for store-bought puff pastry in a recipe, weigh the dough and then roll it into the called-for shape.

Q
Why did my puff pastry rise unevenly?

A
If your knife wasn’t very sharp, or you dragged it through the dough instead of cutting decisively, you may have inadvertently compressed the layers of the dough at the edges, preventing a high and straight rise. If you glazed your dough with an egg wash, and some of it dripped over the cut edges, it may have sealed the layers together in some places, preventing the dough from rising to its full height.

Q
After baking, how long will puff pastry keep?

A
Most items made with puff pastry are best eaten on the day they are made. Held for longer than this and they lose their delightful flakiness, becoming limp if not soggy. Store leftovers at room temperature, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for up to one day. You can crisp up leftover pastries somewhat by reheating them in a 350°F (180°C) oven for a few minutes. Of course, if the pastries contain pastry cream they should be refrigerated if not eaten several hours after assembling. The pastry cream will be good for several days, chilled, but the pastry itself will soften and eventually fall apart in the refrigerator.

Food Processor Puff Pastry

If you don’t have six hours to make classic puff pastry, don’t despair. Quick puff pastry made in a food processor may not rise quite as high as classic puff pastry, but it will give you plenty of flaky layers along with the essential butter flavor. The following recipe is adapted from one created by Nick Malgieri for his book
How to Bake,
and uses several tricks to create layers of butter and dough without all that rolling.

MAKES 1
½
POUNDS

10 ounces (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, chilled

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

½ cup ice water

1.
Use a sharp chef’s knife to cut 2 sticks of the butter into ¼-inch pieces. Transfer the pieces to a plate and place the plate in the freezer.

2.
Meanwhile, cut the remaining half-stick of butter into 16 pieces; transfer it to a food processor with the flour and salt. Pulse about 10 times, until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

3.
Add the chilled butter and the ice water to the bowl and pulse 3 or 4 times until a rough dough just forms. Don’t overprocess. You want to be able to see some chunks of butter in the dough.

4.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured piece of parchment paper and shape it into a rough rectangle. Top with another piece of parchment and roll the dough into a 12-by 18-inch rectangle. Fold the dough in thirds, like a letter, creating a 4-by 18-inch rectangle. Roll up the dough, beginning at a short end, into a cylinder. Press the cylinder into a thick square, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until well chilled, about 2 hours.

5.
The dough will keep, refrigerated, for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Q
What can I do with my leftover puff pastry dough?

A
Don’t discard your scraps of dough. Press them together, wrap the dough in plastic, and save it for a cocktail party or dessert emergency. The ball of dough made from scraps can’t be rolled into a tart shell because a sheet of dough from scraps won’t have the equal, even layers of a fresh piece of puff pastry dough. But it is very good for items that don’t need to rise perfectly evenly or very high, like napoleons, cheese sticks, or mini palmiers.

Uses for Leftover Pastry Dough

Napoleons.
To make this dessert, lightly flour a piece of parchment paper and roll out your scraps on top of the parchment into a
-inch-thick rectangle measuring 16 by 5 inches, trimming the sides so they are straight and even. Prick the pastry all over with a fork. Transfer the parchment to a rimmed baking sheet and place another baking sheet on top of the pastry. Refrigerate the baking sheets for 30 minutes. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 20 minutes, remove the top baking sheet, and continue to bake until the top of the pastry is well browned, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool; cut the cooled pastry into two 16-by 2-inch rectangles. Cut each rectangle in half so you have four 8-by 2-inch rectangles. Layer the rectangles with pastry cream and glaze the top with vanilla or chocolate icing.
Refrigerate until well chilled and then slice into 2-inch lengths and serve.

Cheese straws.
Roll your leftover dough into a ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Brush the pastry with a lightly beaten egg and sprinkle liberally with grated Parmesan cheese. Use a pizza wheel or a sharp paring knife to cut the rectangle into ¾-inch-thick strips. Twist each strip into a corkscrew shape and place on a parchmentlined baking sheet, at least ½-inch apart. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Mini palmiers.
Roll your leftover dough into a ¼-inch-thick rectangle measuring 9 by 12 inches. Brush the dough with beaten egg and sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar. Fold the long sides of the rectangle to the middle of the dough. Then fold the dough in half lengthwise along the middle line (as when making a double turn). Wrap the dough in plastic and freeze until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 2 weeks. Cut the dough into ¼-inch slices and transfer the slices, cut-sides down, to a parchmentlined baking sheet at least ½ inch apart. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Q
In a bakery, I saw a beautiful double-crust puff pastry tart in the shape of a flower. How do pastry chefs make decorative patterns like this on their puff pastry?

A
One of the most fun things to do with puff pastry is to cut it into a shape (round, square, heart) and make decorative cuts in the top. When the pastry is baked, the cuts in the dough will open up, making a beautiful design.

To get a nice, shiny crusty with a clear design, cut out your shape and then place it on a parchmentlined baking sheet. Brush it with lightly beaten egg and refrigerate it until it is firm (if your puff pastry is too soft, it will be difficult to make clean cuts). Use the tip of a sharp paring knife to lightly sketch your design on the surface of the puff pastry. Then, hold the knife at a 45-degree angle against the dough and cut into it, but not all the way through it, along the sketched lines. You can cut leaves, scallops, crosshatching, or any other number of patterns this way.