Classic Puff Pastry

Does it 243 or 2187 layers ? I don't count.. :) But it's so much flaky and buttery in this. As the recipe, that brought by Mae and Rachma for the 9th KBB challenge, is meant to be puff pastry, the croissant was a bit dry than usual croissant made with yeast. But boy... I heart this flaky croissants.

Well.. I bought 4 packet of danish butter on my grocery shopping on December 2008, and planned to strengthen my upper-arms muscle ^__^ to make homemade croissant, it was just plan, as I did make cookies instead... cookies...cookies and left for traveling. And in the end of December KBB gave us this challenge, what a nice coincident.

This recipe is ridiculously easy for how elegant it looks when it comes out of the oven. Even though it took me times to understand as the recipe mixed up in English and Indonesia ^__~. This is so much different from pastry recipe I used to work with.

As soon I started touching the flour and butter, things were sorting out. Tell the truth I didn't employed much of my muscle to do this, as after making the flour mixture and butter mixture I left for cuppa, and back again do some works and left again on the fridge for "the Australian Open" another folding until 4 turn and left on fridge and started again the next morning, finished the 6th turn then shaped and whacked (soo.. Jamie Oliver hah !) in the oven for about 45 minutes starting with 210°C and down to 180°C and after 30 minute I turned down to 150°C, it all depends to your oven though.



KBB#9 – Classic Puff Pastry (Pate Feuilletee)
Source: King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook

1 pound (4 cups) unbleached all purposed flour/plain flour (or 3 ½ cups all-purposed/plain flour + ½ cup cornstarch/cornflour)

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter,½ stick chilled the rest at room temperature

1 – 2 tsp salt(1 for sweet, 2 for savory)

1 ¼ cups cold water (or substitute it with 1 Tbs lemon juice for 1 water if you wish to further temper the gluten in the flour)

Dough:
Measure the flour into a mixing bowl. Remove ½ cup and set it aside in
another bowl.

Take the half stick of chilled butter, cut it into small pieces and
drop it into the flour. With two knives, a pastry blender or your
fingertips, cut or rub the butter into the flour until it resembles
cornmeal.

Add the salt (and optional lemon juice) to the water and add this to
the flour. Mix gently with a fork until you have a rough dough that
pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If you need to add more water,
do it a tablespoon at a time until the dough holds together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it
is smooth and the gluten has been somewhat developed, about 2-3
minutes. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Butter
Take the remainder of the butter and the reserved flour and mix the
two together until they're well blended and smooth. You can do this
with a mixer, a food processor or with a spoon, by hand.

Pat this butter/flour mixture into an 8-inch square on a lightly
floured piece of waxed paper. Cover it with second sheet of waxed
paper and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. By mixing the butter
with flour, you stabilize it somewhat so it won't decide to 'flow'.

Rolling-Folding
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and put it on a lightly floured
surface. Gently roll it into a square about 12 inches on a side. You
don't have to be obsessive about the dimension but be pretty close.

Put the butter square in the centre of the dough square but turn it so
that the corners of the butter square point toward the sides of the
dough square. Fold the corners of the dough over the butter until they
meet in the middle. Pinch and seal the edges of the dough together.

Turn the square over and tap it gently with your rolling pin or by
hand into a rectangular shape. Rolling the dough into a larger
rectangle 20 inches long and 10 inches wide.

When the dough is the right size, fold the bottom third of the dough
up to the centre and the top third over and turn the dough package ¼
turn to the right so it looks like a book ready to be opened. If the
dough is still nice and cold and still relaxed, do another rolling and
turning the same way. (If it begins feel too soft or wants to resist
being rolled, cover it, put it on a small baking sheet and refrigerate
it for 15 minutes).

If you've successfully rolled it out and folded it twice, you've
completed 2 turns. Classic puff pastry gets six. Continue
refrigerating it after each 2 turns (or more often if necessary) until
all 6 turns are completed.


Chill
When all 6 turns are done, put the dough in the refrigerator for at
least an hour (and preferable overnight) before shaping.

Shaping
After being thoroughly chilled, the dough can be shaped into
croissants, patty shells, twists, straws, etc. Scraps can be chilled
and rerolled.


Freezing
Like other pastry doughs, you can freeze puff pasty in a non-self
defrosting freezer for up to a year if it's well wrapped. It can also
be frozen at any time during rolling, folding, turning process.
Defrost it thoroughly before you use it, just to make sure it does not
get too soft.