How to make perfect puff pastry | Features | Jamie Oliver (2024)

FAQs

How do you get the best results with Puff Pastry? ›

Tip #2: Roll it Out

Most puff pastry comes folded. Never try to unfold a pastry sheet unless it is thawed or it will crack. I dust my work surface very lightly with all-purpose flour, then dust my rolling pin. I run the rolling pin very lightly over the puff pastry crease to remove it.

Always preheat your oven for a minimum of 15-20 minutes before baking, because Puff Pastry depends on even heat to rise and puff. Place pastries 1 inch apart. If you want a flaky thin and crispy pastry that's not very puffy, prick the unbaked Puff Pastry all over with a fork, which lets steam escape while baking.

Egg wash is the most reliable but it can be very thick and sticky. Milk wash will go on more evenly but it can soak into pastry and make it weaker. Melted butter works nicely after the crust has set but it can make the crust greasy and weaker.

Since each “fold” involves tripling the number of layers, the formula for the number of layers after n folds (we can call this L) is simply L = 3^n. The optimal number of layers is between 100 and 700 (depending on how much you want your pastry to rise).

Always bake Puff Pastry Shells in a preheated 425° F oven. Bake Puff Pastry Cups in a preheated 400° F oven for 20 minutes.

Scotch or Rough Puff: In this method, the butter, margarine, or fat is chopped into cubes about (2.5 cm) and mixed into the dry flour. To this the water added and a dough made, keeping the cubes of fat intact. Proceed to give turns in any of the conventional ways.

The first golden rule of making pastry; keep the ingredients, the bowl and the hands as cool as possible.

What things should we avoid with puff pastry? ›

Heat is the enemy of Puff Pastry—it handles best when cold. So avoid working with it on hot, humid days, in a stifling hot kitchen or next to your oven.

Puff pastry does need some gluten development but, because of the amount of rolling out that will happen during lamination, it is very easy to overwork a dough which makes it incredibly hard to use and can cause a lot of shrinkage.

Give yourself a smart head start

Prick the base with a fork to help steam escape, cover with foil or parchment, and weigh it down with ceramic baking beans, uncooked rice or white sugar. Then bake at 220°C (425°F) for 15 minutes.

Handling the dough too much.

Yes, the pastry usually needs to be rolled out, cut, and shaped, but when handled too much, the cooked pastry can turn out tough instead of light and crisp.

Water, however, is absorbed much less easily into flour proteins when the temperature is colder. That's why purists recommend cold ingredients, cold equipment and marble boards. Keeping the butter cold also helps when making short crust pastry because it doesn't melt into the flour when you are working it in.

Partially cooking your pastry before adding moist fillings will seal the surface and result in a crisp pastry case – it's necessary, because it means your precious pastry won't turn soggy when it's filled and baked.