Quickest Puff Pastry Recipes

ROUGH-PUFF PASTRY

Steps:

• Sift 250g strong plain flour and 1 tsp fine sea salt into a large bowl. Roughly break 250g butter into small chunks, add them to the bowl and rub them in loosely. You need to see bits of butter.
• Make a well in the bowl and pour in about two-thirds of 150ml cold water, mixing until you have a firm rough dough adding extra water if needed.
• Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 20 mins in the fridge.
• Turn out onto a lightly floured board, knead gently and form into a smooth rectangle.
• Roll the dough in one direction only, until 3 times the width, about 20 x 50cm. Keep edges straight and even. Don't overwork the butter streaks; you should have a marbled effect.
• Fold the top third down to the centre, then the bottom third up and over that. Give the dough a quarter turn (to the left or right) and roll out again to three times the length.
• Fold as before, cover with cling film and chill for at least 20 mins before rolling to use.

QUICK PUFF PASTRY

Steps:

• Mix flour and salt in a large, chilled stainless-steel bowl. Cut the butter into very thin pieces. Using a pastry blender, or working with your fingertips, cut butter into the flour until the butter is in small lumps, about 1/2 inch in diameter. (A food processor will not work for this pastry because it cuts the butter too finely.)
• Stir in the water, a little at a time, pressing the dough together. Turn dough out onto a well-floured board and roll it into a rough rectangle. The dough will be very crumbly. Fold into thirds and rotate it a quarter turn to the right. Roll into a large rectangle and fold into thirds again. This completes the first double turn. Remove excess flour with a wide brush. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
• Repeat this rolling and turning process twice more, chilling well between double turns. With each turn the dough will become smoother and easier to handle. This puff pastry, like the classic version, requires 6 turns (accomplished as 3 double turns) before it is complete.
• Store the dough, wrapped well in plastic, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for future use.

QUICK PUFF PASTRY FOR FIG AND RASPBERRY CROUSTADES

Steps:

• Cut 1 cup (2 sticks) butter into 1/4-inch cubes. Place in an even layer on a plate and transfer to refrigerator to chill.
• Mix flour and salt together in a large bowl. Cut remaining 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter into thin slices and add to bowl. Rub in the butter, squeezing it with your fingertips, rubbing the butter and flour mixture between the palms of your hands and reaching down to the bottom of the bowl. Repeat process until flour and butter are evenly mixed; this should only take a couple of minutes and the mixture should remain cool and powdery. Alternatively, pulse flour, salt, and 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter in the bowl of a food processor until no visible pieces of butter remain; transfer to a large bowl.
• Add chilled butter cubes to bowl and, using a rubber spatula, fold them into flour mixture.
• Reserving 2 tablespoons of the cold water, pour remaining water into bowl. Using a spatula, fold water into flour mixture, scraping from the bottom of the bowl upward. If the mixture still has a lot of dry, unmoistened flour, add reserved water, 1 tablespoon at a time, repeating folding process.
• Scrape dough from bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. Lightly flour dough and, using your hands, squeeze and shape dough into a cylinder. Press down to flatten into a rectangle.
• Starting at the narrow end furthest away from you, use a rolling pin to press the dough firmly in parallel strokes close to one another. If there are sticky pieces of butter on the surface, cover with a large pinch of flour and press with the rolling pin to combine. Clean off the rolling pin as you go to make sure nothing sticks to the dough. Continue pressing with the rolling pin, working toward the narrow end closest to you.
• Press the dough once along the width; it should now be a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Flour under and on top of the dough and roll dough away and back toward you in the length and once in the width, without rolling over the ends, to make a rectangle about 18 inches long and 8 inches wide.
• Fold the two 8-inch ends in toward the middle of the rectangle, leaving a 1-inch space in the middle. Fold the bottom up to the top to form 4 layers of dough. Turn the dough so that the folded edge, which should resemble the spine on a book, is on your left.
• Repeat rolling and folding process (steps 6, 7, and 8) two more times. Wrap dough and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, and up to 3 days, before using.

QUICK PUFF PASTRY

Steps:

• Beat the flour with the water and salt in an electric mixer just to mix a little. Add the butter, broken into pieces, and beat to mix a little. Do the rest of the mixing by hand.
• Press out the dough and fold into a piece about 5 inches by 7 inches. Flour a board, rolling pin and top of the dough and roll out to a rectangle about 8 inches by 21 inches, about 1/8-inch thick.
• The folding: Fold one-third of the dough over the other two-thirds and then fold the remaining third so that you have three layers. Press down, turn, flour and roll again into a 21-by-8-inch piece.
• Fold in thirds again and refrigerate for a half hour.
• Roll out again on a floured surface to form a piece 21 inches by 8 inches. Fold into a double fold. (Fold over dough so that the ends meet in the middle, then fold in half.) Repeat rolling and folding. Refrigerate for a half hour before rolling out to bake.
• Beat the dough with the side of a rolling pin to about a thickness of 1/3inch. Roll out as thin as possible, about 1/32 of an inch thick, and place in a 10-by-15-inch baking pan, lined with parchment or wax paper. Trim any dough hanging over the edges. Prick all over with a fork and refrigerate for one or two hours, or overnight.
• Transfer to a second 10-by-15-inch pan (pan cannot be chilled or pastry will not bake properly).
• Bake at 250 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden. Cool and cut off edges, crush the trimmings and set aside.
• Cut into three lengthwise pieces.

QUICK PUFF PASTRY

Steps:

• Sift together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt into a large chilled bowl. Cut in the pieces of butter using a pastry knife until the butter is in very small lumps, about 1/2 inch in diameter.
• Combine the ice water and the lemon juice, and stir into the flour mixture, a little at a time, pressing the dough together with your hands until it comes together.
• Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and roll it into a 1/2-inch-thick rough rectangle, approximately 12 × 18 inches. The dough will be very crumbly. Fold the bottom of the rectangle toward the center, then the top of the rectangle toward the center, overlapping the bottom third, like a letter, and give the dough a quarter-turn to the right. Roll the dough into a large rectangle, 1/2 inch thick, and fold into thirds again. This completes the first double turn. Using a dry pastry brush, brush any excess flour from the dough.
• Repeat the rolling, folding, and turning process 2 more times to execute another double turn, refrigerating the dough for a few minutes if the butter becomes too warm. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and put in refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Repeat the rolling, folding, and turning process again to execute 1 more double turn. There will be 6 turns in all. The dough needs to be rolled out to a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle each time. With each turn, the dough will become smoother and easier to handle. Store the dough, wrapped well in plastic, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months (thaw in the refrigerator).