Puff Pastry

Gallery: making puff pastry with Julie Clark

Ingredients

• 225gm flour
• 1/8  teaspoon salt
• 30gm butter
• 150mls iced water
• 150gm butter for folding in

Method

Put the flour, salt  and butter into the food processor and whizz until fine breadcrumb consistency.

Add the water and allow the dough to come together in the processor then turn out on to the bench and kneed lightly to bring together

Lightly flour the bench and turn the pastry out onto it.

Press into a rectangle

Place on a tray covered with cling film and refrigerate for 10 minutes to relax

Roll the dough into a rectangle 13 by 25cm (template)

Slice and arrange the butter on the dough to cover an area 10cm by 8cm

Fold both ends over to enclose the butter and press the sides together to stop the butter escaping.

Roll out until the pastry is three times as long as it is wide

Even the shape with the palms of your hands on their sides so you have a neat rectangle.

Fold the pastry evenly into three

Turn 90 degrees clockwise

Press the edges together and roll again until the pastry is three times as long as it is wide. And fold as before evenly  into three . This is two turns Put two finger prints in the dough.

If the butter is soft refrigerate again for 30 minutes.

Do this until you have a total of six turns.

You now have delicious puff pastry  that you can use to make a vast number of items including tart tartin, pastries vol au vent , rolls, palmiers, pies, pot pies and cheese straws.