Homemade puffs with or without filling are a real delicacy that can be served on a festive table or baked for a family tea party. The easiest way for them to buy dough is in the store, but baked goods made with their own hands will be much tastier. A simplified version of the test is suitable for novice housewives, experienced ones can try a more difficult way and make a real lush puff.
Early maturing puff pastry: step by step preparation
According to this recipe, you can make a dough for homemade puffs with filling: pieces of fruit, cream, jam. It is also suitable for baking puff pastries with hearty fillings: meat, ham, fish, cheese or herbs.
The main component for the dough is butter or high-quality butter margarine. An important condition is to strictly observe the proportions, this guarantees splendor, friability and delicate taste of the dough. All products should be chilled, the dough is prepared in a cool kitchen, and after repeated rolling, placed in the refrigerator.
Ingredients:
- 150 g butter;
- 1 cup flour (plus 1 tbsp. L. For rolling out the dough);
- 1 egg yolk;
- 2 tbsp. l. water;
- a pinch of salt;
- 8 drops of lemon juice.
Sift the flour into a deep bowl. Mash the butter until soft and put in flour. In a separate container, mix the egg yolk with water, lemon juice and salt, combine the egg mixture with the flour mixture. Knead the dough for 3-4 minutes, it should become plastic and homogeneous. Form a brick out of it.
Place a block of dough on a floured board. Pour some more flour on top. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin into an even layer about 10 mm thick, fold it in four, and roll it out again. Repeat folding. The dough is ready for cutting. Before you start forming the puffs, it can be wrapped in plastic and placed in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Classic puff: a phased approach
Making dough using this recipe is not difficult. The main thing is to stock up on time and accurately carry out all the points indicated. The food should be well cooled, and the rolling pin and board should be placed in the refrigerator for a short while before rolling. This will save the dough from melting, it will turn out to be flaky, fluffy and very tender. In addition to the products necessary for kneading the dough, you will need 2 tbsp. l. flour for rolling. From the indicated amount of ingredients, 12 medium-sized puffs can be baked.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups high quality wheat flour
- 300 g butter;
- salt on the tip of a knife;
- 1 tsp 3% vinegar;
- 0.75 glasses of water;
- 2 eggs.
If there are no eggs, you can exclude them from the recipe. To make the mass more airy, only yolks are used instead of whole eggs. The proportions of salt can be changed to taste, but you should not completely abandon it. Salt and vinegar not only improve the taste of the dough, but also make it more pliable, making it easier to roll out. You should not save on oil either - the fatter the dough, the more tender the puffs will turn out.
Pour water into a deep bowl, break eggs there, add salt and vinegar, mix well. When the salt crystals are completely dissolved, add the pre-sifted flour. Knead the dough with a wooden spatula, when it thickens, continue working with your hands. If the mass turns out to be too liquid, add a little more flour. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes, until smooth, elastic and homogeneous.
Gather the dough into a lump, cover with a napkin or an inverted bowl and leave to rest for half an hour. This is necessary so that the mass becomes more elastic, and subsequently, many air layers form during baking.
Rolling the dough: how fluffy puffs are made
In a separate container, knead the butter, it should become completely homogeneous, without lumps. To prevent the oil from melting, it is important to keep the kitchen cool, for example by opening a window. Pour 1 tbsp into the mass. l. sifted flour and mix well. Flour additive to improve the flakiness of the dough. Form a rectangular bar.
In the middle of the dough ball, make a cross-shaped incision, pour a little flour into it and roll out the layer so that the edges are thinner than the middle. Put the prepared block of butter in the center, cover with the edges of the dough layer and pinch the joints well. Place the resulting envelope on a floured board and roll it into a layer 10 mm thick.
Brush off excess flour from the dough with a brush or brush. Fold the workpiece in four, wrap it in a napkin and put it in the cold. After 10 minutes, return the workpiece to the board, sprinkle with flour, roll out and fold again 4 times. Put the dough in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Repeat rolling and folding again, after which the dough is cooled for 30 minutes, rolled out and folded again. As a result, there will be more than 200 thinnest layers in the formation. Further rolling and folding is impractical, too thin layers will tear, the baked goods will settle and lose their airiness.
Homemade dough should be refrigerated until it puffs. The ideal temperature for cutting is 15-17 degrees. Roll out the puffs with a chilled rolling pin, put on a baking sheet, lightly sprinkled with water. Before baking, small cuts are made on the products with a sharp knife. In order to form a ruddy shiny crust on the surface, the puffs can be greased with a beaten egg.
Bake products in a well-heated oven (230-250 degrees). The puffs will be ready in 25 minutes. During baking, the oven must not be opened, the slightest shaking contributes to the settling of the baking and the formation of heat - a hard layer inside the baking.
The finished puffs are immediately removed from the sheet and cooled on the board. Then the products can be sprinkled with powdered sugar, laid on a dish and served.
