15 MINUTE HOMEMADE PUFF PASTRY

Before I begin with the post, I have some news for you. I am participating in a scholarship challenge held by the Institute of Culinary Education in New York for their Pastry & Baking Arts course. If you could take a moment to cast a vote for me,click here. It will help me a lot! You can vote everyday till March 28.If everything goes well as planned, I should join school this year.

A few days ago I was searching the internet for a quick puff pastry recipe a.k.a rough puff pastry. I have made both of them previously and I never tire from making them. Who doesn't like Chicken Puffs & Egg Puffs? When I made them earlier, I reused my chicken curry to make the filling. This time I was aiming for an Egg Puff but I made some Palmiers with it. They are just like the Britannia Little Hearts. So addictive!The Rough Puff Pastry I made earlier was for the famous Bangalore snack called Dilkhush.

Clotilde's recipe is so quick that you can make them in the last minute's notice.There is no chilling in between the rolling of the dough,which saves a lot of time. The end product was super flaky and buttery. Do not substitute butter for anything else as the flavour will alter if you do so. The bakery puffs we get back home is definately made with Dalda/Margarine. They taste greasy after a while. These,when made with pure sweet butter smells and tastes so good!

I would suggest an egg wash to give them a golden colour but make sure you don't let the egg wash drip down the cut sides as it will prevent the pastry from rising to it's maximum. We do buy our puff pastry,occasionally. The convenience is great but the price isn't,especially when you have to entertain a crowd with it. Now that I have found the quickest and the best one, I don't think I would return to the frozen packaged ones for convenience sake. You can wrap it well and store in the freezer for upto a month. Thaw and use as needed.

15 MINUTE PUFF PASTRY
Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter,cubed
1/3 cup ice cold water

Method: In a medium sized bowl, add the flour and salt. Stir to mix.
Add the cubed butter to the flour and work it in using a pastry blender or knives till they are crumbly and when the butter is in uniform pieces all about the size of peas. Make a hole in the centre of the flour mix and pour in the water. Work it in using a fork to form a dough.

Dump it onto a floured cutting board and pat to form a rough square. The dough might look crumbly,that's just the way it should be. Using a rolling pin,roll out the dough into a 10 inch long rectangle.Fold the bottom third of the dough over the middle of the dough. Fold the upper third of the dough over the middle of the dough.Rotate the dough one-quarter turn and repeat. Use additional flour to prevent sticking. Repeat the process atleast 6 or 7 times more. Wrap the dough well in plastic and chill for a minimum of 1 hour in the fridge. Use as needed.

This was well recieved by everyone who tried it. I made Ian some plain puffs and he loved it! You can use this for every recipe which calls for frozen puff pastry.

So, don't forget to vote for me! Here's the link!