Trials and Tribulations in Puff Pastry (Pre-SHF 5)

There’s something enormously satisfying about jumping off a cliff, and figuring things out as you’re falling down.  Such was the case when I chose puff pastry as the theme for February’s Sugar High Fridays event.  I had never made or used puff pastry before, but I had read so much about the wonders of this legendary dough that I couldn’t wait to try it out.  And so I chose it as the theme for SHF 5 on the basis that it would be fun and challenging, and with the belief that I would be better off jumping from this cliff alongside everyone else.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been slowly learning the intricacies of puff pastry by trying out three basic recipes.  My first attempt involved a classic puff pastry preparation from Sherry Yard’s The Secrets of Baking.  As with all puff pastry recipes, this one began by making the détrempe (the dough) and the beurrage (the butter block) separately, before enclosing the beurrage inside the détrempe, and proceeding through a series of six turns.

While the pastry was deliciously rich and flaky, its appearance was uneven, and parts of the pastry were completely hollow.  My guess was that uneven rolling, and the fact that I didn’t square and line up the sides during my folds caused the lumpiness.  But nevertheless, it was a good first try.

My second attempt at classic puff pastry came from Pascal Rigo’s The American Boulangerie.  While the recipe was similar to the previous one, my results were much worse.  As you can see, the pastry came out completely hollow, as all the layers had melded together to form a firm crust.  My suspicion is that I didn’t lock in my folds well enough and may have subsequently squished out much of the butter while I was rolling.  I’m quite certain, however that the recipe isn’t at fault, as I’ve had good success with other recipes from the book.

After trying two versions of classic puff pastry, I thought I would take a chance at Pierre Hermé’s famed inside-out puff pastry.  Essentially, this is dough wrapped in butter instead of butter wrapped in dough - which might sound a bit gross, but it’s the lightest, flakiest and most tasty puff pastry I’ve had thus far.  The pastry also rose evenly, with no large holes in between layers.

So there you have it.  At least for me, inside-out puff pastry was my favourite.  And it’s actually not any harder to make than classic puff pastry. 

Comments

[ACM]

ooh, that's a handsome Detrempe.
Sadly, my puff pastry didn't have the steam to get over the hump (note, after the many hours of prep, sad doesn't quite state my mood). I was planning to use Sherry Yard's very good Secrets of Baking, the classic mille-feuille napoleon recipe to be exact, but once the puff fell I was left with only hulled and quartered strawberries and a a heavily whipped pastry cream. I drowned my sorrows in the cream.

[Mariko]

Your photos always make my mouth water! Your puff pastry attempts look great. I have been planning to make my own puff pastry, too. I was going to use the recipe in Baking with Julia, but now maybe I'll try the Pierre Hermé!

[Sam]

Clement
I am so sorry
I am out of time and I keep reading about everyone elses failures, and I just don't have time right now to fail right now :)
I have the idea for what I want to put in my puff pastry, I have all the ingredients, but I haven't done it.
If I get round to it this weekend, I will post late.
Sorry not to be a proper part of it this time round.
Thanks for sharing all your results with us!
Sam

[dexygus]

Clement, I also wanted to participate, but was just too damned lazy. I intended to make Herme's puff, and incorporate it in a Frederic Bau dessert.

Thanks for taking us on your puff pastry journey. As always, an engaging read.

One, question, when you cut your finished puff, was the dough well-chilled and firm, and was your knife (or other cutting instrument) sharp? If you don't have a clean cut, the layers will mash together where it was cut. It looks like that might be what happened with your first two attempts. I actually like to cut my puff partially frozen.

[Clement]

Andy - Sorry to hear about your results. Did you use Sherry Yard's master puff pastry recipe? I found it somewhat difficult to follow since there weren't any diagrams or photos. I hope you do give it another try. Or check out Hermé's inside-out puff pastry - I found it easier to work with.

Mariko - Thanks for visiting - your macarons from a few weeks ago looked so delicious! You should definitely give puff pastry a try sometime, it's well worth the time and effort.

Sam - I hope you can make your puff pastry dessert sometime. If you do, please let me know and I'll add it to the round-up.

Renee - Wow. I'd really like to see that Frederic Bau dessert sometime - I've heard so many good things about his creations. I probably used a fairly new Victorinox 10" serrated knife to cut the puff pastry, so it should have been okay. But I'll definitely keep that in mind the next time I make it. Thanks for the tip.

[Isabella]

I used to have a method of making puff pastry from Bon Appétit, but lost it . Do you have it? It also have Detrempe .