Make or Buy? Puff Pastry (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to make or buy puff pastry? ›

Homemade puff pastry, even if made with a few errors, is almost always going to taste better than anything shop bought. So stop beating yourself up that this needs the hand of pastry perfection.

The verdict: It's certainly cheaper to make your own pastry and I like the fact that most times, I'll have the ingredients to hand, no need for a special trip to the shops.

Traditional puff pastry – and the pastry we make at home – is made with all butter, while store-bought puff pastry like Pepperidge Farm's often contains vegetable shortening. Aside from being something that many of us try to avoid, puff pastry made with shortening just isn't as tasty as those made with butter.

Puff pastry is the trickiest of all pastries to master, but is also the most rewarding because most supermarket puff pastry is made with substandard ingredients such as margarine. Many top restaurants don't make their own, but all Jamie Oliver kitchens do.

Unfold or unroll the puff pastry: Most store-bought puff comes folded or rolled into smaller packages. Carefully unfold or unroll the puff on your counter, taking care at any seams or toward the center of the roll, which are prone to cracking.

A dull edge can cement layers together and prevent pastry from rising. Always cut Puff Pastry straight down, never on an angle, to prevent layers from sticking together and inhibiting the rise. Cut up and down, and don't drag the knife.

If you're making a tart or filled Puff Pastry, place it on the baking sheet before adding toppings or fillings. That way, you won't have to transfer the dough with the extra weight and risk tearing it. For extra-thin, crisp Puff Pastry, set a second baking sheet on top of the filled pastry before baking.

Water, however, is absorbed much less easily into flour proteins when the temperature is colder. That's why purists recommend cold ingredients, cold equipment and marble boards. Keeping the butter cold also helps when making short crust pastry because it doesn't melt into the flour when you are working it in.

First, you make a “lean” dough of just flour and water — it's considered lean because it contains no fat. Then you wrap this dough around a block of cold butter. Roll it out, fold it up like a letter, roll it out, fold it up, and repeat.

Puff pastry and phyllo dough have a lot in common: both are many-layered pastry doughs (unlike the traditional pâté brisée that we use in so many of our recipes), and both bake up with crispy, crunchy, flaky layers, but there are distinct differences.

Does Pillsbury make puff pastry? ›

Learn how to get the best results from your Pillsbury™ Puff Pastry Sheets and squares with proper handling and preparation.

Borg's Pastry Sheets help you create your own signature dish! Borg's pastry is so mouth wateringly delicious, light & flaky. Ready to use, ready rolled sheet pastry brings successful results every time!

Pastry should be at room temperature for rolling (to make it more pliable), but chilled before baking (so the buttery layers remain separate). A hot oven allows the layers to rise, but needs to be monitored to prevent burning. When handling, a floured worktop is essential, as is a sharp knife for cutting to shape.

Like puff pastry, phyllo is used for both sweet and savory dishes. Perhaps the most famous dish made with phyllo is spanakopita or the famed baklava found in Greece, Turkey, and other Middle Eastern countries.

If a puff pastry brand is called for specifically in a recipe, it's likely Dufour. This is because the brand uses simple ingredients (butter, flour, salt, lemon juice, and water) and is totally painless to work with.

Puff pastry is a light, buttery, flaky dough used in both sweet and savory dishes, from appetizers to main courses to desserts. It contains only three ingredients—flour, butter, and salt—yet it rises to a great height with no added leavening agent.