Easy 4-Ingredient Rough Puff Pastry
Having a reliable rough puff pastry in your repertoire is a game-changer. It yields flaky layers and a luxuriously buttery mouthfeel without the rigmarole of repeatedly chilling the pastry. This recipe comes together quickly and is super versatile. Just remember the golden rule of pastry: keep your ingredients as cold as possible.
Ingredients
200 g plain flour
200 g cold butter, diced
¼ tsp salt
115 ml ice-cold water
Method
1 Combine the ingredients
By hand:
In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour and salt, and mix together.
Add the diced cold butter to the flour. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the dough until the butter is in pieces the size of peas. The mixture will be quite crumbly.
Make a well in the centre of the dough and pour in all of the ice-cold water. Stir gently to combine.
By food Processor / Thermomix:
Add the flour, salt, and diced cold butter to the bowl.
Pulse in very short bursts just until the butter breaks down into pea-sized pieces. Do not overmix: you want visible pieces of butter left in the mix.
Pour in all of the ice-cold water and pulse 2 to 3 times in short bursts just until the dough starts to clump together.
2 Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a rough square. You will still be able to see visible pieces of butter and the dough may seem a bit sticky, but don't worry, it will come together.
3 Flour your rolling pin, and roll the dough out into a rectangle about 3cm thick (or slice it into two pieces and make two rectangles if, like me, you’re planning on making two different things).
4 Fold the bottom third of the dough over the middle. Fold the upper third of the dough down on top of that. Rotate the dough one-quarter turn, roll out into a rectangle again, and repeat the folding pattern. Use a little extra flour as needed to stop the dough from sticking.
5 Roll out, fold, and turn the dough at least 6 or 7 times in total.
6 When done, wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least one hour, or overnight. At this point you may also freeze the dough to keep on hand for future use – pop it in a ziplock bag first.
7 Roll out on a floured surface when you are ready to use the pastry.
