Friday, January 06, 2012

Making flaky pastry

This is the season of the galette des rois. It's the kings' cake, named for the three kings of the epiphany. In France, on the epiphany, it's traditional to eat a cake made from pâte feuilletée (flaky or puff pastry) and filled with frangipane (almond paste). Hidden inside the cake is a little prize, and the one who gets the prize in his slice is king for the day.

Getting ready to make the détrempe.

Since I've lived in France, I've noticed how expensive these little kings' cakes can be. At one point I decided that I could make one and not have to pay the price for the bakery version. And I have succeeded to such a point that I don't even think of buying one in a bakery any more.

The flattened butter goes on the rolled out dough.

Flaky pastry is not at all difficult. It just takes a little time. First, you start off with a détrempe. That's a fancy French name for a mixture of flour, salt, and water. My recipe calls for 250g flour, 120ml water, and a half a teaspoon of salt. Mix that up until you get a dough, then roll it out to about an eighth of an inch thick.

The dough is folded over the butter to make a rectangular "envelope."

At that point you layer some butter on top. Before the dough is made, take 250g of cold unsalted butter (about 2 sticks in the US) and flatten it between two sheets of plastic wrap, roughly in the shape of a rectangle. Stick that in the fridge until the détrempe is ready. Roll the détrempe out so that it's larger than the flattened butter. At that point, put the butter on top of the dough, then wrap the dough around it, being sure it forms a perfect rectangle.

The dough is folded onto itself twice. Make two "dimples" in the dough to remind yourself.

Roll it out again, then fold it on itself in thirds. Roll it out once again, maintaining the rectangular shape, then fold it again. At this point you've done what's called two "turns." Wrap the dough in plastic and stick it in the fridge for an hour to rest.

The first step of a double turn. The next step is to fold the dough on itself once more.

After the hour of rest, take the dough out, roll it again, then fold it in what's called a double turn. That is, fold one end of the rectangle into the middle, do the same on the other end, then fold the whole thing onto itself. Wrap it again and put it back into the fridge for another hour.

Repeat this several times. Every time you do, you are making thinner and thinner layers of butter and flour, and that will make your puff pastry. In my next post, if I'm lucky, I'll show you how to make the kings' cake itself.

24 comments:

  1. Or you can 'cheat' like I usually do and coarsely grate frozen butter into a bowl of flour then add enough water to make it hang together as pastry, mixing with a fork until the last minute when you have to get your hands in to squish it together. Put it in the fridge for a while before rolling out and using.

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  2. Great master class :-) Must say I don't make flaky pastry very often but when I do I have usually 'cheated' like Susan.

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  3. Thank you, W.
    Now I won't feel so bad when I am called FLAKY.

    Wishing the 4 of you all the best of everything in 2012!

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  4. Way to go, Walt! This is one of the things worth doing the classic way. It takes longer but produces the characteristic layers. This will be good!

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  5. Susan, doesn't your quick method make pâte brisée (short crust) instead of pâte feuilletée ? Both are good, but they are different things.

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  6. good lord, isn't there a Betty Crocker frozen pie shell in your grocer's freezer section??

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  7. Walt, what fève will you put in your galette? From watching the news on France 3 this week I gather that these charms can take the form of pretty well anything, for example there was a baker putting miniature classic cars in his. And there was a woman who collects fèves - she has 2000 of them!
    Maybe you should add a tiny black cat or a scaled-down collie dog. Could start a trend!
    Bonne cuisine!
    Catherine

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  8. One of my ultimate dreams is to one day have the time to make my own puff pastry.

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  9. And i wanted to tease you yesterday into making one galette whilst the weather is bad outside but didn't post my msg.

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  10. And i wanted to tease you yesterday into making one galette whilst the weather is bad outside but didn't post my msg. Well enjoying your baking :-)

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  11. I find it interesting that "someone" chose to use a pagan rite to honor the birth of Christ, and the entire Christian world bought it.

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  12. This looks and sounds delicious. Very different from the roscón de reyes here. Can't wait to see the next stages and the finished product.

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  13. Mitch, did you know that in some areas of France (especially the south, I think), the king day cake is a brioche ring similar to the rosca de reyes? I just learned this recently from my colleague, who is from the Lyon area.

    Does anyone know why the cake for Spanish speakers is sometimes referred to as rosca and sometimes as roscón? I'm wondering if it is a Mexico vs Spain issue?

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  14. P.S. Oh HOLY COW! I just saw the new banner heading!!!! Gorgeousssssssssssss!

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  15. Ken: no, not at all. It makes what is known as 'Quick Flaky Pastry'. I use it a lot for savoury pies constructed in the same way you make a galette du roi. You have visible lumps of butter and they work in the same way as classic puff. The difference is you do get flakes rather than sheets because the butter is not in sheets. My guess is that it would make a perfectly reasonable galette du roi, although I have never tried it. Better put it on the list I suppose.

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  16. Pâte brisée also has pieces of butter in it. Just not layers. Your process of making Quick Flaky Pastry sounds exactly like the process of making pâte brisée. I'm sure it's good.

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  17. Ken: no, trust me they are different. Pate brisée is what you would line a tart with. It is a much smoother mix. My flaky pastry is visibly lumpy and would not work well as an ordinary tart base. I can see I will have to blog it.

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  18. I'm glad you all enjoyed this! Your assignment is to make some. And report back. Except for susan, who will make the quick flaky pastry so we can see what it looks like. :)

    arnie, they do have ready-made crusts in the supermarket. But, hey, I'm retired and have the time. I have used the supermarket doughs a time or two, but not for this cake.

    mitch, judy talked about the cakes down south (near the Spanish border) that are like the ones you get in Sevilla. Sounds good, too. I'll have to try that one of these days.

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  19. Susan, I hope you do blog about it. It's unfamiliar to me. I see web pages about "rough puff" pastry and I guess that's what you are talking about.

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  20. Seine Judeet (Judith):
    I'm curious about the difference between rosca and roscón, too. I think you're right that it's a Latin America vs. Spain thing, but I plan to ask a friend about it this week because one of our neighbors referred to it by both names (before I had a clue what it was and didn't know to ask).

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  21. I recall seeing Julia Child prepare pastry the same way when I used to watch her show "The French Chef" back in the Sixties on PBS TV. Last year I visited the Smithsonian Institution and saw the actual kitchen where she performed her magic. Now I see the same magic again on your blog! Il est merveilleux !

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  22. ron, Julia is my inspiration. I love mostly everything she's done. I have DVDs of most of her tv shows and many of her cookbooks. I have to adjust her recipes now that I live in France because, as you know, she was adapting French recipes for American ingredients. But she's still one of my most favorite tv chefs. I actually got to see her live when she did an interview show in San Francisco ten or fifteen years ago. Magic!

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  23. Grew up with a mother who swore by Julia child's recipes. I remember watching her shows on TV as a kid.

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