PASTRIES - TIPS ON MAKING PUFF PASTRY

Puff pastry works best in cool, dry weather, because if the fat becomes too warm, it melts and breaks through the dough layers.  
 

Best-tasting puff pastry is made with butter but the best-textured puff pastry is achieved with vegetable shortening. 

Butter with low water content is best.  Too much water may appear as spots on the surface of the final pastry.

Unbleached all-purpose flour is better because it has more gluten-forming proteins than bleached flour.

The acidity of the added lemon juice relaxes the dough makes rolling easier.

The ideal temperature for butter is 60F/15.5C.

If the butter is too hard, it will break through the dough and if the butter is too soft, it will be absorbed into the dough.  The layers will be destroyed.

Marble is the preferred surface for working with puff pastry because it maintains a cool temperature.

If the pastry starts to soften, quickly slide it onto a flat baking sheet, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes or until it is firm and cool again.

Decrease the pressure as you roll toward the edges to avoid flattening the edges and compressing the layers.

Evenness of rolling is essential for even rising. 

Use a tutove rolling pin for better result. 

For most purpose, pastry is rolled 1/8-inch thick.  For tarlets, 1/16-inch thick, and for larger pastries, 3/16-inch thick.

There is always shrinkage with puff pastry so cut a circle of ½ to 1 inch larger than the desired baked size. 

It is important to rest the pastry after shaping it.  The ideal is to cover it and refrigerate for 6 hours to overnight and up to 2 days, before baking.  Or to bake it from the frozen state or partially frozen for 30 minutes to 1 hour in the freezer.  The dough should be relaxed in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. 

When cutting the pastry, the object is to create edges that leave the layers of pastry open and able to rise freely, as opposed to edges that are stuck together or sealed.  Use a sharp knife, and an up-and-down motion or an unfloured biscuit cutter pressed firmly down, straight through the pastry.  DO NOT twist the cutter, and be sure to wipe it clean after each cut.  Never use pastry with an uncut edge, because the layers will be sealed.

To attach one piece of puff pastry to another, use an egg wash made from one egg yolk lightly beaten with one teaspoon water.  This acts as glue, so it is important that it be applied carefully and not allowed to drip onto the sides, sealing them shut.  NEVER pinch the edges together.  Only press lightly from the top.  The same egg wash can be used as a glaze.  It should be applied just before baking.  A second coat can be applied after a minute.

Avoid nonstick and black-bottomed baking sheets when baking puff pastry because nonstick surface does not provide the necessary traction to enable puff pastry to keep its shape as it rises, and the black bottomed baking sheets cause the bottoms of the pastries to brown too quickly.  

A pastry wheel is good for thinly rolled doughs – 1/16 or 1/8 inch thick – but thicker pieces (1/4 inch) should be cut with a sharp knife.  

When the cut is made, the wheel or the knife will press the layers down somewhat.  So to get the maximum lift or spring in the oven, turn the pieces upside down on the baking sheet AFTER they have been cut.  This will allow the bottom layers, which were least disturbed, to lift first and lift higher. 

From The Complete Book of Pastry – Sweet & Savory by Bernard Clayton, Jr., The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum, and Perfect Pastry by Nick Malgieri.