So I wanted to make a rough puff pastry. I knew no matter how much I cheat, the taste will beat the ready-made puff pastry from the store.

I chanced upon Paul Hollywood’s cheat puff pastry and made it, with no regret. Probably one of the most rewarding experience ever!

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Cheat Puff Pastry

Ingredients

Dough

300g plain or bread flour

60g cold butter

150ml (or thereabout) cold water

A pinch of salt

Laminating

170g grated butter and then frozen

Method

  1. All ingredients must be very cold when being handled.
  2. In a blender, add the cold butter, salt and flour, and pulse until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
  3. Stream in the water and stop when the mixture starts to form lumps. Add just enough water for the dough to come together.
  4. Roll out the dough and top 2/3 of it with 1/2 the grated butter.
  5. Fold up from the side without butter, like folding a letter.
  6. Turn the dough 90 degrees, and roll out again.
  7. Cover 2/3 of the dough with the remaining grated butter and then fold up from the side without butter like a letter again.
  8. Roll out a third time, and fold like a letter.
  9. We have created a puff pastry with 27 layers.
  10. Use with your favourite puff pastry recipe.
https://recipe.mei.kitchen/cheat-puff-pastry/

Here’s Paul Hollywood’s directions. Note that I changed the recipe, and added an extra fold at the end, so instead of 9, I have 27 layers, which I thought was optimal in a family setting. The layers are finer than if there were only 9 layers.