In this week's We Cook Books Recipe, we decided to bring you a Traditional Puff Pastry Recipe from The Pie Room Cookbook.
A classic butter puff pastry is a laminated dough that rises due to the power of steam. When making the dough, many thin, alternating layers of fat and dough are created so that, when cooked at a high enough heat, the fat melts to leave a pocket of air in the dough.
This recipe creates a large batch of dough - if you're going to spend an afternoon making puff pastry, you may as well make plenty - so divide it into smaller amounts based on the recipes you plan to make before wrapping and freezing for later use.
350 g (2 3/4 cups) strong flour
200 g (1 1/4 cups) plain flour
15 g (1 tablespoon) table salt
115 g (1 stick) butter, softened and diced
250 g (1 cup) ice-cold water
500 g (4 1/2 sticks) chilled butter, diced
50 g (6 1/3 tablespoons) strong flour