This may be my year of making things I didn't think I'd ever attempt to make! From bagels to English muffins (both of which I've now made several times), I moved on to...puff pastry. At least, it's a simplified, easy puff pastry recipe - what's been called the "rough puff".
Incidentally, I can't stop saying "rough puff" after hearing the term. So what makes it a rough puff? Well, rather than having to go through the intricate and very time-consuming process of rolling out a butter packet and incorporating it into the dough, folding, rolling, and repeating the process several times between refrigeration (reasons I've never been tempted to try making puff pastry), this dough starts off a bit like pie dough and comes together in no time. We're talking 15 minutes if you're efficient and maybe more like 30 minutes if you're not, like me!
This recipe is another I learned about from the fabulous site, Dessert for Two. As you can gather from the photos above, cubes of butter are cut into the flour, then brought together with ice water to form a rough dough. You roll the dough out into a rectangle, fold it like a letter, give it a quarter turn, then roll it out again. Repeat this process of folding, turning, and rolling 6-7 times (no refrigerating in between) and you have your rough puff pastry dough.
You don't need me to tell you there are so many uses for puff pastry. I decided to take my rough puff and use it to make some shortcut chocolate croissants (or pains au chocolat) and chocolate-almond croissants. I've done it before using store-bought puff pastry.
True croissants involve leavened dough. It's basically a cross between a yeasted dough and butter-layered dough like puff pastry. The result is a stretchy, chewy, yet flaky texture, that's, of course, encased in buttery richness. For a shortcut, puff pastry alone will due here. I filled the dough generously with chopped dark chocolate, and for the almond version, I tucked in a bit of almond paste as well.
The rough puff I made may not have boasted tons of layers but the result was very similar to what I get when I use store-bought puff pastry for this purpose. My family really enjoy my endeavor and the rough puff was truly surprisingly easy. This experience may help me work up the courage to branch out even further...maybe try my hand at actually making a small batch of homemade croissants (or chocolate croissants) one of these days!
This recipe is another I learned about from the fabulous site, Dessert for Two. As you can gather from the photos above, cubes of butter are cut into the flour, then brought together with ice water to form a rough dough. You roll the dough out into a rectangle, fold it like a letter, give it a quarter turn, then roll it out again. Repeat this process of folding, turning, and rolling 6-7 times (no refrigerating in between) and you have your rough puff pastry dough.
True croissants involve leavened dough. It's basically a cross between a yeasted dough and butter-layered dough like puff pastry. The result is a stretchy, chewy, yet flaky texture, that's, of course, encased in buttery richness. For a shortcut, puff pastry alone will due here. I filled the dough generously with chopped dark chocolate, and for the almond version, I tucked in a bit of almond paste as well.
