Jecky’S Best Puff Pastry? The 127 Detailed Answer

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Whether you make your own puff pastry or have the convenience of buying it packaged and frozen, this puff pastry bakes beautifully.

Whether sweet or savory, puff pastry can be used in a variety of recipes. Crispy and light, puff pastry should rise to many times its thickness when baked, creating many layers of fluffy dough.

But sometimes things can go wrong, either during the making of the pastry, when using it in a recipe, or during the baking process.

Let’s take a close look at why puff pastry didn’t rise and what you can do to make sure it rises and bakes perfectly next time.

Why puff pastry rises

How does puff pastry rise so beautifully? It’s the process of rolling and folding the dough that makes it rise so beautifully.

It starts with a simple dough recipe that is refrigerated until cold and stiff. A large amount of butter is then rolled and folded into the dough over and over again.

The fat in the butter ensures that the layers of puff pastry are waterproof, so as it bakes, heat is trapped between the many layers, forcing it to rise and lift.

rolls and folds

When making your own puff pastry, rolling it correctly makes all the difference in how much it rises. When you start rolling butter into the dough, both the dough and the butter need to be chilled to the same temperature.

If the butter isn’t cold enough when you roll it out, it will melt with the dough and the dough won’t rise nicely when you bake it.

Another way to ensure your puff pastry rises is to avoid letting it roll over the edge of the dough. Rolling over the edge will compress the layers of dough on the sides and prevent the dough from rising properly.

dough thickness

The thickness of the dough also plays a role in allowing the puff pastry to rise. If the dough is rolled out too thin, it will rise, but not enough to get that nice, crispy flake.

And if the dough is rolled out too thick, it will be weighed down and doughy instead of light and fluffy.

As a general rule of thumb, depending on the recipe, try to roll your pastry to about ¼ to 1/3 inch thickness.

Cut the dough

After rolling and folding the puff pastry, you can cut it. It’s important to cut with a sharp cookie cutter or non-serrated knife.

You want to cut cleanly and smoothly through the dough without pinching the edges. This way the layers will remain flaky and crispy during baking, which will help the pastry rise and bake a nice golden brown.

overhandling

Try to touch the dough as little as possible. The more you work with the dough, the more gluten will build up, resulting in a flat dough that won’t rise.

If you need to make a few pieces of dough and prepare them for baking, store some of the dough in the fridge until ready to use. Then switch and work with the new pieces of dough while you chill the ready-to-bake ones.

Defrosting frozen puff pastry

If you made your own puff pastry and frozen it for later use, or store-bought puff pastry, make sure you thaw it completely before using. If you take the dough out of the freezer and it’s not thawed enough, not only can the dough crack, it may not rise enough when baked.

The fat in the butter needs to thaw and collect between the layers of dough in order for it to rise in the oven. Allowing the dough to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes is just the right amount of time to defrost the pastry.

Tip: I take the puff pastry out of the freezer the night before and put it in the fridge to thaw slowly.

Refrigerate before baking

Another way to ensure your puff pastry rises nicely is to chill the pastry before baking. Once you’ve made your dumplings or puffs and have them on the baking sheet ready to go in the oven, place the pan in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Colder dough rises more because the butter takes longer to melt in the oven. This technique also ensures the pastry will hold its shape rather than tilting to one side if the butter melts too quickly.

Bake at the right temperature

One of the most common reasons your puff pastry won’t rise is the baking temperature. Puff pastry needs to be baked in a very hot oven, around 400 degrees. This high heat is necessary to generate enough steam in the oven for the dough to rise.

What happens if the temperature is too low? Low oven temperatures can cause the puff pastry to fall flat and collapse.

Always preheat the oven

Don’t be tempted to put the pan in the oven until it’s preheated and hot to the right temperature. Once the dough goes into the oven, the fat in the butter must conduct heat to turn the moisture in the dough into steam and puff the layers of dough.

Turn while baking

While you know your oven has an even temperature throughout with no cold or hot spots, I recommend rotating the pan halfway through the baking time to help the batter rise and brown evenly. This reduces the risk of part of the pastry rising while the other half doesn’t.

Once you know what to look for when working with puff pastry, it’s a lot easier to make sure the dough rises the way it should. Use my tips here and the next time you make a sweet and delicious apple strudel or a savory mushroom and sheep’s cheese tart, you’ll have a puff pastry that has risen to perfection.

Pastry … what’s with all the puff pastry?

Do you want to know what is the difference between sweet puff pastry and shortcrust pastry? And what can the dough be used for? We’ll cover you.

Puff pastry can generally be described as flaky, light and buttery, good for cakes and pastries, while shortcrust pastry has a more crumbly, cookie-like texture good for tart or quiche tins. Sweet puff pastry is literally puff pastry with added sugar, while sweet shortcrust pastry is not commercially available. When preparing a cake, many chefs use shortcrust pastry for the base and puff pastry for the top. Keep scrolling for a full breakdown of each type of pastry and their uses. READ MORE: What is the difference between double and thickened cream?

Confused about pastries? Keep scrolling to read our handy beginner’s guide. Image: Getty

puff pastry

Puff pastry works best for pastries, sausage rolls, sweet or savory pies, dumplings, and palmiers. It is usually made with canola or a vegetable oil. Butter puff pastry is a puff pastry made with butter instead of vegetable oil and no sugar. Whether you use normal puff pastry or butter puff pastry is entirely up to personal taste. Sweet puff pastry is puff pastry made with sugar. It is not readily available in Australia. It is used in sweet recipes that call for a flaky, buttery pastry like a sweet cake.

shortcrust

Shortcrust pastry has a slightly biscuit, crumbly texture that resists soaking up liquids, making it perfect for quiches, tarts, samosas and other savory delights with fillings that are wet or not served immediately. It’s surprisingly sturdy when taken out of its tin. Plain shortcrust pastry is typically used for savory fillings, but can also be a good counterpoint to very sweet fillings, making it an all-purpose option. Pate Sablee is a sweetened shortcrust pastry, although it’s more like a cookie dough in that the butter and sugar are beaten together before the flour and liquid are added. The word sablee means gritty or gritty, and this effect is sometimes enhanced with the addition of ground almonds.

filo

Filo is paper-thin and crispy and brown when cooked. Use filo when a light, crunchy pastry is needed, such as spinach tart, or if steeped well in a syrupy liquid, e.g. B. in the production of baklava. SEE BELOW: How to Make Profiteroles for The Australian Women’s Weekly. The story continues after the video.

Choux

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The dough is now ready to use. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Puff pastry can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 or 4 days and in the freezer for several weeks. Wrap it in cling film for optimal storage conditions.

You can use homemade puff pastry for many different applications. Although making puff pastry takes a lot of time, it’s not difficult as long as you follow the instructions above carefully. I guarantee you won’t want to go back to store-bought puff pastry!

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Pastries are basically made from flour, fat and water (or egg). These simple ingredients make something so delicious that the whole world is going crazy for delicious pastries. Pastries come in a variety of shapes, sizes, flavors, and textures. Don’t confuse pastry with bread, as pastry has a higher fat content, resulting in a flakier, crumblier texture. In different countries around the world, different types of pastries are baked in different ways, resulting in different flavors and textures. We’re here to shed some light on the different types of pastries. So dive below for delicious pastries.

Empanadas, Spain

Best depicted as little pockets of hot fillings, these are crescent-shaped puff pastry pies found throughout Latin America that are easy to bake, affordable, and delicious. The name of the dish comes from the Spanish empanar, which means really breaded or covered with bread.

Krapfen, Austria

Krapfen was most likely the most important European-style donut to emerge, followed by similar ranges in different nations. These delicious pastries are typically baked with risen dough that is fried until crisp and golden on the outside while remaining tender, light and fluffy on the inside.

Eclair, France

These long pastries with an appealing coating, a fresh, crunchy texture, a delicious, soft interior and a sweet, creamy center began in France in the early 20th century. Most food researchers in history believe that this pastry was designed by Marie-Antoine Careme, a well-known French culinary expert. It is believed that eclairs (lightning flash (in French)) got their name because the light would reflect off them after a confectionery coating was covered.

Brioche, France

This delicious pastry is a French style of viennoiserie, a combination of bread and pastry, with high percentages of milk, butter, and egg, making it soft, rich, and flaky. It has long enjoyed great popularity both as a delicacy and as a status symbol.

Baklava, Turkey

The special baklava is a delicious treat made with layers of thin phyllo dough topped with chopped nuts, all drizzled with a delicious, gooey syrup. The fame achieved by baklava surpassed the nation and is now famous around the world.

Cannoli, Italy

These delicious, crispy fried dumplings filled with delicious ricotta cheese cream are perhaps one of Italy’s most popular sweets, known around the world. Cannoli are believed to have originated in Palermo in the ninth century, when Sicily in Italy was under Arab rule.

Croissants, France

These golden, flaky, crescent-shaped pastries are best made with fresh and pure butter and a slightly sweet yeast mixture. When properly baked, the yellow and white interior should be just a tiny elastic band when pulled from the center, good for topping with a spoonful of butter or fresh jam.

So these were the different types of pastries around the world. You can easily try these and many more types of pastry cakes at home by ordering them from bakeries or bake them at home by following some internet recipes.

“Processed right, puff pastry is the ultimate shortcut to delicious baked goods,” says Digital Grocery Editor Dawn Perry. With a claim like that, it’s worth checking out how you can make better use of this rockstar freezer. From thawing to stuffing to baking, there are a few rules you need to follow to make the flakiest, butteriest puff pastry this side of the Mississippi (and maybe even the other).

1. Don’t bother making it from scratch

Making your own puff pastry is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Sure, it’s worth doing once, but Perry admits it’s a task she hasn’t willingly taken on since graduating from culinary school. For everyday pies, cakes and treats, simply buy a pack of frozen goods. But beware: not all puff pastry is the same, which brings us to the next point.

Spinach is a lot more fun in a puff pastry wrap. Photo: Romulo Yanes

2. Look for all-butter varieties

Many brands of frozen puff pastry cut their butter with vegetable oil. It’s worth finding and buying the pure butter brands (our favorite is Dufour). “This applies to both the flakiness and the flavor,” says Perry, explaining that plain butter puff pastry results in those gorgeous layers of dough, similar to those in a pie crust. Vegetable oil-based puff pastry can have an oily mouthfeel and “open” taste.

3. Use immediately after thawing

Thaw your puff pastry in the refrigerator or on the countertop according to package directions and use as soon as it’s malleable and malleable. Didn’t come to your baking project? Don’t put it back in the freezer and refreeze. Just keep it in the fridge and grab it tomorrow. (But definitely don’t wait until the day after, it’s best fresh.) One of the biggest mistakes you can make is leaving it on the counter for too long. A room temperature atmosphere will cause the puff pastry to collapse and become limp. This in turn makes the layers stick and almost impossible to work with. If your puff pastry gets too soft, place it in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes before proceeding.

4. But freeze briefly before baking

Once you’ve achieved your desired shape (puffs, envelopes, cutouts, etc.), Perry recommends placing the pastry on a parchment-lined baking sheet in the freezer. The cold temperatures will make the dough firmer, which means the butter in the dough will melt more slowly. Slower melting butter means the pastry will hold its shape instead of weeping and becoming crooked.

Viennese:

To store

If you eat pastries the day after you buy them, keep them in the fridge overnight. For longer storage, wrap individual pastries tightly in aluminum foil and store in the freezer until ready to eat. (We recommend using frozen pastries within a month and refrigerated pastries within three days).

To warm up

Preheat the oven or toaster to 350 degrees. Bake a foil-wrapped pastry until it springs back when you press lightly on the top (about 10 minutes). Peel the foil to reveal the top of the pastry and bake until crisp to the touch (about 5 minutes).

Baking while sealed in foil will steam the pastry, allowing the interior to reabsorb moisture, and baking with the foil open will crisp the outer shell.

Vegan Galettes:

To store

For best results, eat galettes on the day of purchase. If eating the next day, refrigerate overnight. We do not recommend freezing galettes as the process affects their quality. (We recommend consuming chilled pastries within three days).

Pastries in the morning:

Save

If you eat pastries the day after you buy them, keep them in the fridge overnight. For longer storage, wrap individual pastries tightly in aluminum foil and store in the freezer until ready to eat. (We recommend using frozen pastries within a month and refrigerated pastries within three days.)

To warm up

Preheat the oven or toaster to 350 degrees. Bake a foil-wrapped pastry until it springs back when you press lightly on the top (about 10 minutes). Peel the foil to reveal the top of the pastry and bake until crisp to the touch (about 5 minutes).

Baking while sealed in foil will steam the pastry, allowing the interior to reabsorb moisture, and baking with the foil open will crisp the outer shell.

Donuts:

To store

For best results, eat donuts the day you bought them. If eating the next day, refrigerate overnight. We do not recommend freezing donuts as the process affects their quality. (We recommend consuming chilled pastries within three days).

Cookies:

To store

If you eat cookies the day after you buy them, keep them in the fridge overnight. For longer storage, store in the freezer until ready to eat. (We recommend using frozen pastries within a month and refrigerated pastries within three days).

To warm up

Thaw frozen cookies by placing them in the fridge until tender and then removing them at room temperature. We do not recommend reheating cookies in the oven as the process affects their quality. (We recommend consuming chilled pastries within three days).

Bread:

To store

If you eat bread the day after you buy it, keep it in the fridge overnight. For longer storage, wrap individual pastries tightly in aluminum foil and store in the freezer until ready to eat. (We recommend using frozen pastries within a month and refrigerated pastries within three days).

To warm up

Preheat the oven or toaster to 350 degrees. Bake a foil-wrapped pastry until it springs back when you press lightly on the top (about 10 minutes). Peel the foil to reveal the top of the pastry and bake until crisp to the touch (about 5 minutes).

Baking while sealed in foil will steam the pastry, allowing the interior to reabsorb moisture, and baking with the foil open will crisp the outer shell.

Puff pastry can be difficult to work with and must be treated with care and respect to achieve good results. By following a few simple guidelines, you can have perfect puff pastry every time.

The keys to ensuring you get crispy, flaky layers out of your pastry involve temperature and handling. The pastry should be at room temperature to roll out (to make it more pliable) but chilled before baking (to keep the layers of butter separate). A hot oven will cause the layers to rise, but must be monitored to prevent burning. A floured worktop is essential when handling, as is a sharp knife for trimming. Overexerting will make the dough tough, but if the dough stays too thick, it will be difficult to bake all the way through.

Here we share a guide on how to roll out and cook puff pastry; If you’re using it as part of a recipe (e.g. in a pie) you may need to change the cooking instructions to match the recipe, but the principles of preparation remain the same.

Always preheat your oven for at least 15-20 minutes before baking, as puff pastry relies on even heat for it to rise and rise. Space pastries 1 inch apart.

If you want a paper-thin and crispy dough that isn’t very puffy, prick the unbaked puff pastry all over with a fork, which will allow steam to escape during baking.

For a flatter dough without a lot of puff pastry — like a Napoleon — prick the dough all over with a fork, line it with parchment paper, then place 1-2 baking sheets on top to weigh it down.

If you are making a pie or filled puff pastry, place it on the baking sheet before adding any toppings or fillings. This way you don’t have to transfer the dough with the extra weight and risk tearing it.

For extra thin, crispy puff pastry, place a second baking tray on top of the filled puff pastry before baking.

To create an extra fluffy crust cake: Take a knife and score two lines around the edge, then prick the area inside that edge with a fork.

Puff pastry fillings should be at room temperature. When hot, they can begin to melt the layers of dough, affecting the dough’s ability to rise and puff.

The type of pan used can affect the baking time. A non-stick or dark glazed baking sheet may bake faster, so adjust your time and check the pastry as it bakes.

When baking puff pastry, remember that it’s done when it’s golden and puffy, not wet and doughy. Use the baking time in the recipe as a guide and also trust your eyes.

You can bake puff pastry on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Also place a sheet of parchment paper on top of your dough for a more even rise.

How can you tell if puff pastry is baked? Take a sharp knife and snip off a tiny piece to test for crispiness and flakiness.

Always use a preheated conventional oven to bake puff pastry, never a microwave or toaster as these cannot achieve the right golden puff effect.

When baking puff pastry, if bubbles appear on the surface, prick them with a fork to pop them out.

Always turn the puff pastry over and place cut-side down on the baking sheet.

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The ability to create a perfect pastry is a coveted culinary skill. But for a technique this important, it can be surprisingly difficult to get it right. Never be afraid! For every pastry problem there is an answer. Here’s our comprehensive troubleshooting guide.

General problems

Heavy handling and overworking of the dough are two common mistakes that result in pastries with an inferior, coarse – or heavy – texture.

Another general success factor for sheeted dough is to pay attention to the processing temperature of the ingredients, the environment and the hands.

Poor quality pastries can be the result of cooking in conditions that are too hot (or using ingredients that are not cool enough); However, sometimes fats that have been refrigerated for too long can make the pastry difficult to handle, causing the dough to be overworked.

The following specific errors relate to different types of pastries.

shortcrust

Hard and/or Chewy Dough: Usually occurs due to too much liquid and too much flour when rolling out, too little fat, overhandling or insufficient rubbing.

Soft and crumbly pastries: The cook used too little water or self-raising flour instead of natural flour.

Shrunk Dough: There was excessive stretching when rolling out and the dough was not allowed to rest or cool before baking.

Speckled Pastry: If you encounter undissolved grains of sugar in a fortified pastry crust, it’s usually caused by using coarser granulated sugar instead of caster sugar.

Soggy, undercooked crust: Unless the crust was blind baked before adding the filling to your flan or tarts, fruit juices will cause the bottom of a double crust pie to become soggy. If the pie plate conducts heat well, the pastry should not taste raw.

Brushing the base with a little egg white helps, but it’s best to use a metal (enamel) cake stand or glass ovenproof dish.

Here is the perfect shortcrust pastry recipe

hot water crust

Cracked Dough: This can be caused by liquid not boiling when added to flour, not kneading dough together until smooth, or letting the dough cool before rolling out or using.

Dry, difficult-to-shape pastries: Often occurs when the liquid did not boil when added to the flour, or the dough needed to cool before use.

Very soft dough that is difficult to shape: either too little flour or too much water or fat was used, the dough was not kneaded smoothly, or the dough was still too hot and soft to roll out (let it rest for a while to remedy this). Leave to stand for 1-2 minutes or knead lightly).

Hard dough when baking: Not enough fat or liquid was used, or it was caused by heavy handling or repeated shaping and rolling.

Suet pastries

Heavy baked goods: Too little baking powder, too little tallow, or too much flour may have been used. Alternatively, the water may not have been kept boiling during cooking.

Tough Dough: The dough has been overworked and rolled out too much.

Soggy Pastry: The paper and cloth covering over the filled cake may have been too loose and the water did not continue to boil during baking. Foil is the best choice of cover.

Choux

Flour doesn’t form a dough and the pan stays clean: This can be due to the liquid not fully boiling when adding flour, adding flour gradually instead of all at once, or using too much water or fat.

Greasy Flour, Fat, and Water Paste: The mixture may have been whipped before the eggs were added, causing the fat to settle.

Mixture too soft: either too much water was used, the liquid did not boil when water was added, or the eggs were too big.

The dough didn’t rise: self-raising flour wasn’t used, dough wasn’t beaten enough after adding the eggs, or the oven was too cold.

Sink after removing from the oven: The pastry was not sufficiently baked, the oven temperature was too high, the browning paste was baked through before baking, or the oven temperature was not reduced during baking.

Flaky, coarse puff pastry and puff pastries

Too few layers: the rolling, resting, and chilling may have been insufficient, the rolling may have been over-rolled, causing the fat to break through and mix with the pastry, or the fat may have been too soft.

Fat leaks out when baking: The oven was too cold.

Hard and tough pastries: In addition to handling that was too difficult, there could also have been too little fat, too few rollers and an oven that was too cool.

Shrinking pastry: The culprit here is overstretching when rolling out the pastry and insufficient rest.

Still problems? All your pastry questions answered

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I only keep two types of things in my freezer: ice cream and shortcuts. The ice cream is because I’m a woman who eats a scoop every day; Butter pecan is right below batteries on my emergency preparedness list. But push those pints aside and you’ll see that everything else in the icy depths is a quick mealtime pass, quick and efficient dinner fixes in a time crunch. We’re talking concentrated Japanese curry that turns into a creamy sauce in no time; Cookie dough already portioned into balls, ready for one-time baking; Pint containers with soup, marinara and chili. To the side is a box or two of frozen puff pastry, the undisputed king of shortcut cooking, ready to use at any time.

You can of course make puff pastry from scratch if you like. Amidst the tide of bakebooks out late 2020, there are plenty of helpful, detailed, and easy-to-access guides with pretty photos that you can follow from the block of butter to the envelope fold (and fold, and fold, and fold). I wish you so much success in your homemade puff endeavors! I hope you have the time of your life mastering lamination. But I’ve watched enough Great British Baking Show to know that the lengthy and rather complicated process isn’t for me. It’s hard to sign up for a project when I know the frozen stuff is just as good.

With frozen puff pastry, you’re five minutes away from a cheese straw anytime. Photo by Joff Lee

What can you do with frozen puff pastry? Honestly, I’m not kidding, all good. Tarts of all kinds that would benefit from a flaky crust, like savory quiche-esque, cheesy vegetable numbers, and varieties that showcase the best of summer. Easy one-bite appetizers like figs in a blanket and mushroom palms. Lids for pot pies, casseroles for breakfast casseroles, the base for any type of tarte tatin. And of course lots of sweets – galettes, napoleons, cinnamon rolls and apple turnovers and pandowdy to name a few. With a little forethought (aka defrosting time), you can turn a sheet of pastry from your freezer into an impressive and delicious dish in minutes. All the hard work is done for you, but somehow the finished product never feels like cheating. For last-minute cravings or busy weeknights, there’s no better (or flaky) secret weapon.

There are only two brands of frozen puff pastry nationwide: Dufour and Pepperidge Farms. Local and seasonal you might find a regionally produced product and of late some gluten free and vegan brands have also entered the scene. But in terms of what you’re most likely to find in your grocery store’s freezer section, there’s really only two competitors. In an effort to further maximize my shortcut space, I ran a side-by-side test between Dufour and Pepperidge Farm to see which should be my freezer of choice.

Always preheat your oven for at least 15-20 minutes before baking, as puff pastry relies on even heat for it to rise and rise. Space pastries 1 inch apart.

If you want a paper-thin and crispy dough that isn’t very puffy, prick the unbaked puff pastry all over with a fork, which will allow steam to escape during baking.

For a flatter dough without a lot of puff pastry — like a Napoleon — prick the dough all over with a fork, line it with parchment paper, then place 1-2 baking sheets on top to weigh it down.

If you are making a pie or filled puff pastry, place it on the baking sheet before adding any toppings or fillings. This way you don’t have to transfer the dough with the extra weight and risk tearing it.

For extra thin, crispy puff pastry, place a second baking tray on top of the filled puff pastry before baking.

To create an extra fluffy crust cake: Take a knife and score two lines around the edge, then prick the area inside that edge with a fork.

Puff pastry fillings should be at room temperature. When hot, they can begin to melt the layers of dough, affecting the dough’s ability to rise and puff.

The type of pan used can affect the baking time. A non-stick or dark glazed baking sheet may bake faster, so adjust your time and check the pastry as it bakes.

When baking puff pastry, remember that it’s done when it’s golden and puffy, not wet and doughy. Use the baking time in the recipe as a guide and also trust your eyes.

You can bake puff pastry on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Also place a sheet of parchment paper on top of your dough for a more even rise.

How can you tell if puff pastry is baked? Take a sharp knife and snip off a tiny piece to test for crispiness and flakiness.

Always use a preheated conventional oven to bake puff pastry, never a microwave or toaster as these cannot achieve the right golden puff effect.

When baking puff pastry, if bubbles appear on the surface, prick them with a fork to pop them out.

Always turn the puff pastry over and place cut-side down on the baking sheet.

Comments