PUFF PASTRY BASIC DOUGH FOR LAMINATED DOUGHS
The recipe for making the base of all laminated doughs like croissants, pain au chocolat, and all other French pastries.
You know those perfect croissants, super layered with the scent of butter? French puff pastry is just that, FLOUR AND BUTTER, stop!
Well, let’s say this recipe isn’t my favorite; I always go for a middle ground with the Italian version, which instead includes eggs, flavors, and yeast.
Then there’s the INVERSE puff pastry where the butter block is on the outside and then you proceed with the folds… but I’ll explain everything slowly.
In this recipe, I made two three-folds and one four-fold, thus creating 108 layers of pastry.
You can also do 2 three-folds and two four-folds, increasing the layers which will be 432 in the end.
So let’s see how I make this preparation.
EMIMETTOAIFORNELLI advises:
- Difficulty: Very difficult
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Day
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Portions: 1
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 12 oz flour (w 400 for pastries)
- 3.5 oz flour (w 280)
- 0.5 cup milk
- 3.5 tbsp water
- 55 sugar
- 3.5 tbsp butter (soft)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- to taste lemon zest
- 8.8 oz butter (cold for block)
- 5 g dry yeast (10 g fresh yeast)
Tools
- Rolling Pin
- Stand Mixer
Steps
The first two steps should be done the night before as they need 12 hours of rest.
Take the cold butter from the fridge, a sheet of parchment paper, and form a 20×20 cm square, flattening it with a rolling pin: draw a square in the center of the parchment, turn to the unmarked side and place butter pieces, close and flatten.
In a mixer bowl, by hand or with electric beaters: pour in the two types of flour which need to have the strength indicated in the ingredients for the recipe to succeed.
Also add the egg and gradually all the ingredients, leaving the softened butter for last. Work the ingredients for a few minutes and add the butter one piece at a time.
Let both preparations rest in the fridge overnight.
The next morning, take out the dough and roll it out to 60 cm long and 20 cm wide:
place the butter sheet in the center and close into a square with the two ends of the dough that should match perfectly: it should be a perfect square (dough-butter-dough)
Turn the square horizontally with the closure line in the center and roll again to form a rectangle 40×20 cm: take the first flap and place it in the center.
Then place the second dough flap over the first, forming the first three-fold. Turn the dough with the opening on your right and let rest in the fridge for half an hour.
Take it out of the fridge and do another three-fold, again half an hour in the fridge.
After the time has passed, let’s make a four-fold:
roll out the dough 60×20 cm and starting from the bottom imagine dividing the pastry into four parts.
Close one flap to a quarter
Starting from the top, close by 2/4 until the two ends meet.
Finally, fold it again like a book by placing the top part in the middle and the bottom over it. Turn with the opening on your right.
Back in the fridge, but this time for an hour.
Once the dough has rested, you can proceed to create croissants, pain suisse, pain au chocolat, and much more.
Be careful with the temperatures, if the butter melts goodbye lamination, so when the warm season approaches you’ll definitely need to make pit stops in the fridge.
Storage
It keeps well in the refrigerator and is also perfect for freezing 🙂
