Rough Puff Pastry

This is a basic you simply cannot do without if you want to get serious about baking. Incredibly versatile, it can be used in sweet dishes as a main feature or to add a crunchy element to a deconstructed dessert. Without altering a thing, you can also use it to make pasties, a beef wellington or a pie top on a stew.

MAKES ABOUT 620 G (1 LB 6 OZ) PASTRY

INGREDIENTS

250 g (9 oz) unsalted butter, chilled

250 g (9 oz/1 ²/₃ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

1 teaspoon salt

120 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) cold water

BY MACHINE

To make the rough puff by machine, cut the butter into 2 cm (¾ inch) dice. Combine the butter, flour and salt in a food processor. Pulse for 1–2 seconds until you see the butter has broken down into roughly 1 cm (½ inch) chunks. Tip the mixture into a medium mixing bowl. Drizzle the cold water evenly in concentric circles over the mixture, then gather the crumbs in a circular motion, squeezing them together until you have a rough mass that is mostly sticking together.

BY HAND

To make the rough puff by hand, the butter should be at room temperature. Mix the flour and salt roughly in a large mixing bowl, and break 2 cm (¾ inch) chunks of the butter into it. Grab handfuls of the mixture, and rub between your hands so the chunks break down a little, but marble-sized pieces of butter still remain. Make a well in the centre, pour in the water and gently gather the mixture into a single, crumbly lump – do not knead; instead use a circular gathering motion.

LAMINATING

To laminate the dough, flour your work surface well, place the dough on it and shape into a rectangle, with the longer part placed vertically in front of you. Don’t be concerned if the dough looks a crumbly mess of wet and dry bits, as long as it’s generally holding together. Begin to roll the dough, so it’s just over double in length than it is wide, then fold into thirds. Always pat the sides inwards to make sure you have a nice, uniform rectangle to work before you start the next ‘turn’. Turn the dough 90 degrees clockwise, and repeat this process another two times. Rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, and you have just made rough puff pastry!

THINGS TO BEAR IN MIND

Before you start rolling, some tips: Work quickly. If you find your pastry is turning room temperature and getting limp, pop it back in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. If the butter softens too much, it will be absorbed by the dough and the layers won’t separate or puff properly when baking.

Watch out for a marbled effect as the dough is rolled. If it’s not noticeable, you might have overhandled the dough and inadvertently made shortcrust pastry – but don’t fret. Keep going. Sometimes it will still turn out; if not, it will still be delicious, just not the exact texture we want. Try again.

The cooking times and temperatures for cooking puff will vary depending on what you’re using it for, so follow individual recipes from this stage onwards.