Makes: About 2½ pounds, enough for about 4 dozen small pastries
Time: 1 day, largely unattended
This is the buttery and flaky dough you see in French tarts, turnovers, and pot pies. It goes equally well with sweet and savory fillings and works as a pastry or as a crust for a pie or tart. Making it is a bit of an undertaking, but if you take your time and keep everything from getting too warm, it’s surprisingly straightforward, with not much hands-on work and a rhythm that feels meditative as you get used to it. It also makes a lot of dough that freezes perfectly. For something simpler but still flaky, try Shortcut Puff Pastry.
1. Combine 3 cups of the flour with the salt in a large bowl or a food processor. Cube 4 tablespoons (½ stick) of the cold butter and work it into the flour mixture with your fingers or by pulsing with the food processor until it resembles cornmeal. Cut the remaining butter into chunks and set it aside for now. Add ¾ cup of the ice water and stir or pulse until incorporated, adding the remaining ¼ cup ice water a little at a time as needed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl but is still a bit shaggy.
2. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead it until smooth, about 2 minutes, sprinkling more flour on the surface as needed. Shape it into a disk using a rolling pin and your hands, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. The remaining butter should still be cold and firm but not frigid. Put it between 2 large pieces of parchment paper or plastic wrap along with the remaining flour and pound it with a rolling pin to make a smooth, pliable sheet, pausing occasionally to fold the butter back on itself so the flour incorporates and the sheet doesn’t get too thin. If at any point the butter starts to look or feel greasy, put it back in the fridge for a few minutes. Shape it into a rectangle about 8 × 4 inches; trim the uneven borders, put them on top of the butter, and roll them in to incorporate. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes or until it’s firm.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an approximately 14 × 12-inch rectangle; it should be about ¼ inch thick. Put the butter slab in the center of the dough and fold the short sides of the dough rectangle over it, then fold in the long sides so that the butter is fully enclosed (see illustrations, page 463). Pat gently to seal the edges (you can dab them with a little water to help seal). If it still feels cool and smooth, you can roll it out right away; if not, or if you’re uncertain, wrap it in plastic and chill for at least 15 minutes, until it’s cooled down but still pliable.
5. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and gently roll it out to a roughly 20 × 10-inch rectangle, rotating it occasionally for even thickness. Take your time and lightly sprinkle on more flour as needed to prevent sticking. If the dough ever starts to feel oily, stick it back in the refrigerator for a few minutes before proceeding.
6. Brush off any excess flour and make a book-style fold by bringing each of the short ends of the rectangle together in the middle, rolling lightly to press it together, then folding in half along the seam in the center to make a 10 × 5-inch rectangle. Rewrap and refrigerate for another 30 minutes. This is your first turn. Use your fingertip to make 1 shallow indentation in the dough to keep track; make 2 indentations after the second turn, and so forth.
7. Repeat Steps 5 and 6 at least twice more and preferably 3 more times; this makes the pastry even lighter and finer. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour—or wrap well and freeze for up to 2 months, then thaw completely in the fridge—before rolling and shaping. You may want to divide the dough into 1-pound pieces before wrapping and storing so you can quickly grab and use. This leaves you with an extra ½ pound, but since baking with puff pastry is just a matter of shaping and filling, you can easily halve any of the following recipes.
WHOLE WHEAT PUFF PASTRY This has a complex, nutty flavor with the same irresistibly tender consistency: Combine 2 cups each all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour in a bowl. Proceed with the recipe, using 3 cups of the mixture for the dough and incorporating the rest into the butter package.