QUICK PUFF PASTRY

MAKES 1 BLOCK (20 ounces, 500g)

Puff pastry is laminated dough, a reference to the layers folded into a buttery mass. Traditional puff pastry uses nothing but flour and butter, the butter beaten flat and then folded and rolled and folded and rolled and reworked four times, each called a “turn.” Here, in the quick version of traditional puff, the dough is made in the mixer, the folds and turns happen all at once, and it’s much less work. (If this seems difficult, it’s worth making real puff pastry once to see what a joy this version is.) I like to make a double recipe, and then cut it into two portions, freezing one for later.

I make puff with regular American-style butter because that’s what is usually in my freezer, but you can use lovely fancy butter if you wish. This pastry is all about buttery flake and flavor. In the recipes on pages 157 to 163, you’ll be most successful rolling and portioning if you remain obsessively diligent about keeping the dough very very cold, never never never smeary, and the edges of the dough block and the rolled dough very squared and even. Use the bench scraper to make those crisp edges. Be obsessive.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

16 tablespoons (226 g) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice and refrigerated at least 1 hour

1/2 cup (120 ml) cold water

1/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, add the butter a few cubes at a time until the dough is a collection of little bits about the size of jelly beans. It should seem dry-ish and pebbly. With the mixer still running, add the water and lemon juice in a steady stream. Mix for 30 seconds. Turn out the crumbly dough onto the work surface and, using your hands and a bench scraper, press and shape the dough into a long firm rectangle 10 by 5 inches.

Use the bench scraper to fold the dough in thirds, like a business letter, so it is about 5 by 3 inches. Turn the dough 90 degrees and reroll the dough into a rectangle 10 by 5 inches. Repeat the folding and rotating three times for a total of four turns. If the dough becomes too sticky to work with, place it on a baking sheet and chill until firm, then resume your rolling and turning.

Form an X with two long pieces of overlapping plastic wrap and lightly flour the surface. Place the tidy rectangle in the center of the plastic wrap. Wrap the dough in the plastic and, at the same time, use a bench scraper to form the squared sides of the 5- by 3-inch block. Once wrapped, use a rolling pin to gently press across the surface of the block, smoothing the top. Flip it over and do the same on the other side. Square it up again. Now let it rest: Refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. Quick Puff Pastry will keep refrigerated for 3 days or in a ziptop bag in the freezer for 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.