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Ummm see that flaky, buttery, delicious puff pastry dough up there? Yeah, that was all me. Ain’t no thing, as my friend Lauren would say.

Saturday, September 26, 2009. A momentous and hereby a holy day in my book. It marked the first – or the only, depending on your level of optimism – baking success in my entire life.

Let’s examine the reasons why I was successful this time, shall we?

1. The recipe includes copious amounts of butter and I wanted to consume said butter, therefore my dedication increased tenfold.
2. The directions are easy – mix dough, fold in butter, roll out, fold and roll out again.
3. See #1
4. There was pressure to get it right, as it would be served to my very first “dinner” party (which actually took place at 4:00 pm but let’s overlook our octogenerian tendencies for now, as it will be covered in another post.)

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That’s a lot of butter

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In the past, I’ve only had store-bought puff pastry… and I can’t even remember when I had that last. So this was definitely not only an adventure in making the puff pastry itself, but also tasting puff pastry for the first time in years. After many difficult moments of pondering the precise elements of pastry, the flaky layers so sought after in each bite, and the way that the delicate flavors of butter and flour came through in the final product, I realized…

It’s butter and flour, for pete’s sake! You can’t go wrong with those ingredients!

And oh dude, do you use a TON of butter in this recipe. A whole pound of butter, to be exact. I wasn’t aware of how buttery these little suckers would be. These are melt-in-your-mouth little bites of butter. They basically taste like butter. And butter is delicious, so I’m glad that works the way it does.

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Measuring the first roll

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I served these with some chilled peaches that had been marinating in wine, as well as homemade whipped cream. I had been eyeing this recipe from Orangette (do you read Molly’s blog? You really really should if you’re aren’t. She’s a genius) and peaches were on sale this week at the store. I tried to find the wine that Molly recommends, but apparently my local liquor/wine/beer depot doesn’t carry it. I just used a white wine that I liked, so that I was sure to like the flavor that it imparts to the peaches. The light flavor of the peaches were a great contrast to the richness of the puff pastry. And I added the homemade whipped cream, because it would be a light and fluffy element to the dish, and because… it’s really freaking delicious and should be added to every dish I’m making if possible.

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I see you, butter

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I was initially pretty scared of making puff pastry, because let’s face it – baking is not my strong point (this case in point). I did run into some snags in the process, however. My biggest problem was that butter tended to peek through the top or the bottom of my dough. I just tried to sprinkle a bit more flour of that part of the dough and be gentle with the rolling pin. I’m guessing that problem arose because the dough wasn’t chilled enough. Next time I make this (and there will be a next time) I’ll make sure to chill the dough between each turn. As you can see, the butter peek-a-boo problem wasn’t detrimental to the project overall. Now, of course, I’m part of the secret club of puff pastry makers. I’m in the inner circle. I feel special.

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Three turns down, three more to go

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The September 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

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Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough

From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan

Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

Steph’s note: This recipe makes more than you will need for the quantity of vols-au-vent stated above. While I encourage you to make the full recipe of puff pastry, as extra dough freezes well, you can halve it successfully if you’d rather not have much leftover.
There is a wonderful on-line video from the PBS show “Baking with Julia” that accompanies the book. In it, Michel Richard and Julia Child demonstrate making puff pastry dough (although they go on to use it in other applications). They do seem to give slightly different ingredient measurements verbally than the ones in the book…I listed the recipe as it appears printed in the book.

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour
1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)
1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water
1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter
plus extra flour for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:
Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.

Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)

Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that’s about 1″ thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:
Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10″ square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with “ears,” or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don’t just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8″ square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:
Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24″ (don’t worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24″, everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24″ and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:
If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you’ve completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

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Wine-Soaked Peaches

Adapted from A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes, via Orangette

4 ripe peaches, washed well and rubbed dry, cut into medium dice
2 tbsp. sugar, or more to taste
2 cups dry white wine

Toss the peaches and sugar together. Add the wine and stir to mix. Add sugar if necessary. Cover and refridgerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

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Homemade Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar

Combine cream and sugar in the bowl of a mixer (or a bowl of your choosing if you’re going with the manual method). Whisk on low speed at first (to minimize splatter) and then move to high speed until stiff peaks are achieved.

Note: If you make the whipped cream ahead of time, be sure to refridgerate it as it will melt at room temperature.

Assembling the dish:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

On the sixth roll out of the dough, roll it to a thickness of 1/2 to 1/4 inch. Let sit for 1 hour. Cut the rounds and assemble on a baking sheet covered in parchment. Refridgerate rounds for 10 minutes.

Combine 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water, mix throughly to get a smooth egg wash. Brush the egg wash over the pastry rounds. Lay a silicone baking sheet (such as Silpat) over the rounds, ensuring all rounds are covered (this will ensure that the rounds rise evenly). Bake for 12 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees, and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the tops of the rounds are crispy and just starting to brown. Serve warm with whipped cream and peaches.

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I hope that I have given you courage to try this recipe, or just something new in general. I mean, if I can do this, you know you can too! What would you like to make, that you haven’t yet?

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Playing today in the Kitchenette: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club / Suddenly

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