Rough Puff Pastry
Photo by Mark Weinberg
MAKES
About 600 g / 1 ⅓ pounds dough
TAKES
Prep time: 2 hours 30 minutes (including chill times)
Cook time: 0 minutes
Total: 2 hours 30 minutes
✻ ABOUT THIS RECIPE
Rough puff pastry is truthfully, almost as light, flaky, and delicious as traditional puff pastry, but with much less stress and effort. It’s incredibly versatile—great for free-form pies and mini pies especially. The tightly wrapped dough will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or it can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw the pastry in the refrigerator before using.
INGREDIENTS
302 g / 2 ½ cup all purpose flour
2 g / ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
226 g / 1 cup (8 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch / 1 cm cubes
75 g / ⅓ cup cold water, plus more as needed
I Really Love Pie - Here’s Why:
METHOD
1. In a medium bowl, stir the flour and salt together to combine. Add the cubes of butter, tossing them through the flour until each individual piece is well coated. Cut the butter into the flour by pressing the pieces between your fingers, flattening them into big shards. As you work, continue to toss the butter through the flour, recoating the shingled pieces. The goal is to flatten each piece of butter only once, leaving the pieces very large (they will get smaller/more dispersed through the process of folding the dough).
2. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the ice water to the well and, using your hands, toss the flour with the water to start to mix the two together (this begins to combine them without creating too much gluten). As the flour begins to hydrate, you can switch to more of a kneading motion—but don’t overdo it, or the dough will be tough. Then add more water, about 1 tablespoon / 15 grams at a time, until the dough is properly hydrated. It should be uniformly combined and hold together easily, but it shouldn’t look totally smooth. Divide the dough in half and form each piece into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. On a lightly floured surface, working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out the dough to about ½ inch / 1 cm thick (the exact size/shape of the dough doesn’t matter here, just the thickness). Brush off any excess flour with a dry pastry brush, then fold the dough in half. Fold the dough in half again into quarters. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill for 15 to 30 minutes, until firm.
4. Repeat step 3 three more times: rolling out the dough, folding it, and chilling it each time before continuing. If you work quickly, you can sometimes do two rounds of folds back to back, but if the dough is soft or sticky, don’t rush it.
5. Once the final fold is completed for each piece of dough, tuck the edges of the dough under to help form it into a rounded shape, then wrap again and chill at least 30 minutes before using.
✻ HAVE YOU BAKED IT?
Tag @emcdowell on Instagram or use #happybaking. I’d love to see your bakes!
