This recipe is taken from The Silver Spoon. This is my go to book for Italian food and I am never disappointed…..except for the lack of pictures! This is an impressive but somewhat intimidating book! Definitely one worth having in your bookcase!

Speedy puff pastry is not to be confused with rough puff pastry. Both give great results, but this method, for me, produces something that bit closer to ‘real’ puff pastry. It takes about an hour and twenty minutes to make.

(By the way, in the pictures here, I was making a larger batch where I tripled the recipe. That is why it looks so big! It is actually easier to keep it neatly folded with a single batch).

Speedy Puff Pastry

Ingredients

100 grams of cold unsalted butter
150 grams plain flour
Pinch of salt
Small amount of cold water

Method

1. Mix together the butter with 25 grams of the flour. Use a knife to do this so you keep the butter cold. Work it until the butter has absorbed into the flour.
2. Then mix the remaining 125 grams of flour with a pinch of salt and enough cold water to form a dough. The dough should be soft, almost like play dough.
3. Shape the butter mix into a 5mm thick square on a lightly floured surface. Flour your hands and rolling pin to do this.
4. Shape the dough into a small round and place it on top of the square of butter which should be bigger.
5. Gently lift up the four corners of the butter to meet in the middle of the round and cover it completely.
6. Use a rolling pin to roll out a rectangle, with the short end facing you. The best way to do this is to flatten the dough with the rolling in the middle and then along the dough. This stops you rolling all the butter in one direction.
7. If your kitchen is very warm, pop it in the fridge for a few minutes to let it cool and dust with flour if it is still sticky.
8. Once you have a rectangle, it is time to fold!
9. Fold each of the long ends in to meet in the centre. Now fold the pastry in half. This is a pastry fold.
10. You’ll need to do this four more times, and chill in the fridge between each fold for ten minutes. (It’s no harm if you leave it a bit longer). Wrap it in cling film when you put it in the fridge.
11. To help me to keep count, I mark how many folds I have done with my finger.

You can store it in the fridge until you need it.

Puff pastry benefits from a really hot oven of about 220 degrees celcius.

Recipes using Puff Pastry