Puff: what are its features
The main difference between puff pastry is a large amount of butter. Depending on the recipe, its amount ranges from 25 to 50% of the amount of flour. In some cases, butter is replaced with margarine, but it must be of very high quality. The necessary layers are obtained by properly rolling and folding the layers while simultaneously smearing them with new portions of oil.
Ready-made cakes can be purchased frozen in the store. However, many housewives consider purchased dough less tasty and use homemade dough for home cooking. There are many recipes, from classics to simplified quick options.
Cooking a classic puff takes 3-4 hours. For such a test, fresh or dry yeast is used, but puff pastry does not require long proofing. It is enough to leave it for 15 minutes after kneading and for half an hour before baking. Too much sugar must not be included in the composition, otherwise the puff will be heavy, damp and will not be able to rise properly. Sweet dough contains no more than 1 tbsp. spoons of sand, cream, jam and other filling options give the dessert the proper taste.
You need to cook the puff in a cool kitchen, excess heat will soften the butter. Products are baked in a well-heated oven; if necessary, the formed puffs can be frozen and taken out of the cold before baking. From puff pastry, you can bake a variety of pies, khachapuri, flat cakes, croissants, Danish puffs, cheesecakes, rolls, cookies and even multi-layer cakes. The products laid on a beautiful dish look very impressive in the photo.
Real puff pastry: a step by step recipe
Croissants with and without filling, puffs, buns and other types of muffins are baked from yeast puff pastry. The cooking process will take at least 3.5 hours, most of the time the dough will spend in the refrigerator.
Ingredients:
- 450 g of premium wheat flour;
- 200 g butter;
- 2 tsp salt;
- 250 g of milk;
- 50 g of sugar;
- 1 egg;
- 25 g fresh yeast.
Dissolve yeast in warm milk and leave for 15 minutes. Sift flour into a bowl, mix with salt and 25 g of softened butter. Grind the mixture, turning into crumbs. In a separate container, beat the egg with sugar, for greater uniformity, you should use a mixer. Pour in the yeast with milk, beat thoroughly. Leave the mass for 10 minutes. When it bubbles, pour the milk mixture into the butter-flour crumbs. Knead the dough for 15 minutes, it should become homogeneous, heavy and smooth.
Roll out the dough into a rectangle on a floured board. Approximate size – 45 by 15 cm. Divide a portion of the oil into 4 equal parts. Spread one of them evenly over a third of the dough, retreating from the edges by 1.5 cm. Fold the ungreased part in half and cover the oil layer with it.
Turn the resulting bundle 90 degrees to the right. Fasten the edges with a rolling pin or palms, roll out the dough to its previous size and repeat the procedure with lubrication and rolling. Layering will take the second third of the oil. Wrap the resulting bundle in cling film and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Take out the dough, roll it out again into a rectangle, brush with butter and fold. Pinch the edges, roll out again and repeat the greasing and folding. Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the refrigerator.
After an hour, you can begin to form products. To make croissants, you need to roll out the dough into a thin layer, cut it into triangles with sides of 10 cm. Then each blank is stretched by hand so that the sides are longer than the base.
Roll the triangles into a roll, lay on a greased baking sheet, bending in the form of a crescent. Brush the croissants with the beaten egg and let rise for 30 minutes. Place the baking sheet in the oven, preheated to 220 degrees. Bake 12-15 minutes on a medium level.
Yeast dough for Danish puff
From the indicated amount of products, 450 g of dough will be obtained. It is ideal for baking stuffed with almond or custard, jam, canned or fresh fruit.
Ingredients:
- 225 g of premium wheat flour;
- 7 g dry fast yeast;
- 25 g creamy margarine;
- 1 egg;
- 25 g sugar;
- 4 tbsp. l. water;
- 150 g butter;
- a pinch of salt.
Sift flour, grind with softened margarine, add salt and dry yeast. Beat the egg with warm water until smooth, pour into the flour mixture. Mix, knead the plastic dough with your hands. Cover with a towel and leave for 15 minutes at room temperature.
Place the butter between 2 sheets of cling film and roll out with a rolling pin into a 12 mm thick block. The approximate length of the sides is 11.5 cm. Roll out the dough into a square measuring 28 by 28 cm. Place the butter bar in the center, wrap it in the dough, connecting the opposite sides of the layer. Fasten the edges with a rolling pin.
Roll out the resulting package with a rolling pin, its length should be three times the width. Fold the resulting layer three times, expand so that the addition line is on the left. Repeat rolling and folding 2-3 times until the butter is soft. After each rolling, place the dough in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes. Before folding the dough, brush off excess flour with a dry brush.
Yeast-free puff pastry
For homemade cakes with cream or cookies, you can make a quick dough that does not require constant rolling and folding according to the scheme. From the indicated amount of products, about 700 g of dough will be obtained, what is not needed for fresh baking can be frozen immediately after cooking.
Ingredients:
- 250 ml of water;
- 1 egg;
- 1 st. l. odorless vegetable oil;
- 1 tsp Sahara;
- 1 tsp salt;
- 200 g butter;
- 3.5 cups of wheat flour;
- 1 st. l. 9% vinegar.
Heat water, dissolve salt and sugar in it. Add a slightly beaten egg, mix well. Pour in the vinegar and mix again. Add pre-sifted flour in portions to the liquid. Constantly mix the mass, first with a spoon, and then with your hands. If the dough sticks to your palms, add a little more flour. The finished dough should be smooth, heavy, glossy.
Divide the butter into 4 parts, and divide the dough in the same way. Roll each piece into a layer and spread some of the butter on it with a silicone spatula or a wide knife. Lubricate the rolling pin with vegetable oil and wind the resulting layer onto it. Make a longitudinal cut with a sharp knife, remove the rolling pin, fold the dough in half, butter inside.
Wrap the workpiece in cling film and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. Do the same with the rest of the dough. After they have cooled well, you can proceed to the formation of baking.
Quick puff on kefir
This dough is suitable for homemade pies with sweet or hearty fillings, khachapuri, tortillas, rolls, cheesecakes, simple cakes. Kefir is better to take fat, butter can be replaced with creamy margarine. The dough is airy and light, the products keep their shape well and do not get stale for a long time.
Ingredients:
- 250 ml of kefir;
- 1 egg;
- a pinch of salt;
- 200 g butter;
- 500 g flour.
Pour kefir into a deep bowl, add egg and salt. Mix everything, pour in the sifted flour in portions, continuing to beat. When the dough is firm enough, knead it with your hands.
Cut the cooled butter into slices, roll each in flour. Roll out the dough into a layer, cover with a third part of the butter, laying the plates in the center. Fold the edges into an envelope and pinch them. Roll out the resulting bundle, put the butter in the center again and wrap. Repeat the rolling and folding process one more time using the remaining oil.
After rolling out the dough for the last time, fold it into several layers, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour. After that, you can start cooking pies or buns.
Puff on beer: original and fast
For the preparation of delicious pies with sweet or hearty fillings, a simple beer dough is suitable. It can also be used for baking multilayer cakes, the cakes are tender, layered, crispy.
Ingredients:
- 500 g wheat flour;
- a pinch of salt;
- 400 g of creamy margarine;
- 250 ml light beer.
Sift flour, mix with salt, pour on a wooden board, collecting a slide. Frozen margarine grate on a coarse grater, grind it with your hands into crumbs. To prevent margarine chips from sticking to your palms, constantly dip them in flour.
Once again, collect the mass in a slide, pour chilled beer into the recess in the center. Knead a soft dough with your hands. You can’t knead it for too long, otherwise the margarine will begin to melt. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. You can leave it in the cold all night.
Starting to cut the muffin, take only the right amount of dough from the refrigerator. After baking one batch, proceed to cutting the next. If the dough in the refrigerator becomes wet, remove the film and put the mass on a plate to dry.
Chopped puff pastry
For homemade cookies or cakes with cream, simple chopped dough is suitable. It is prepared on the basis of butter or margarine, adding acidified water and alcohol. The cakes are multi-layered and airy, bake quickly and retain their shape well.
Ingredients:
- 400 g butter or margarine;
- 650 g wheat flour;
- 2 eggs;
- a pinch of salt;
- 1 st. l. 9% vinegar;
- 150 ml of ice water;
- 3 art. l. cognac or brandy.
Before cooking, all ingredients are kept in the freezer for at least half an hour. It is advisable to cool the utensils as well: bowls, whisks, spoons, bowl and food processor screws.
Cut well-frozen butter into cubes. Sift flour into a bowl, add butter and chop everything with a knife into small crumbs. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, pour in ice filtered water, mix. Add cognac and vinegar.
Collect butter and flour crumbs in a slide, make a hole in the center. Pour in the egg mixture and stir quickly. Knead the dough with your hands, adding flour as needed. Gather into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Divide the finished dough into the required number of parts, roll into layers and bake in a very preheated oven for 15 minutes. You will get the perfect cakes for homemade “Napoleon”.
