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Pâte feuilletée
Puff pastry
Pâte feuilletée: classic French puff pastry folded with butter into hundreds of layers
Pâte feuilletée is the queen of French pastries, the flaky dough behind galettes des rois, mille-feuilles, vol-au-vents and palmiers, still made by hand in pâtisseries all over France. A simple dough is wrapped around a flat block of cold butter, then rolled and folded six times, so that in the oven the water in the butter turns to steam and lifts hundreds of layers. It takes time rather than skill. The common mistake is letting the butter get warm and soft, which smears the layers together. Chef's tip: chill the dough for 30 minutes after every two turns, and work in a cool kitchen.
- Total time
- 300 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 10
Ingredients
For the dough
- 9 oz plain flour
- ⅛ oz salt
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 ⅜ oz unsalted buttermelted and cooled
For the butter block
- 7 oz cold unsalted butter
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Mix the 9 oz plain flour and ⅛ oz salt, add the ½ cup cold water and 1 ⅜ oz unsalted butter and bring together into a rough dough. Do not knead. Cut a cross on top, wrap and chill for 1 hour.
5 minStep 2: Put the cold 7 oz cold unsalted butter between sheets of baking paper and beat and roll it into a 13 cm square, about 1 cm thick. Chill until firm but still pliable.
5 minStep 3: Roll the dough into a 20 cm square with thicker centre and thinner flaps. Put the butter in the middle at an angle and fold the dough flaps over to enclose it completely.
5 minStep 4: Roll into a 45 x 15 cm rectangle, fold in three like a letter and turn a quarter turn. This is one turn. Roll and fold again for a second turn. Wrap and chill 30 minutes.
5 minStep 5: Repeat: two more turns, chill 30 minutes, then the last two turns, chill 30 minutes. That makes six turns; the dough should look smooth with no butter breaking through.
5 minStep 6: Roll out to 3 mm and use as the recipe asks. Bake hot, at 200–425°F, until deep golden. The dough keeps 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 24 g
- Fat
- 25 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pâte feuilletée take?
- About 300 minutes in total.
- How many people does it serve?
- 10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of unsalted butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
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