Quick Puff Pastry

Traditional puff pastry is one of the trickiest recipes in the pastry world, so I was glad that Mushet offered a “Quick” Puff Pastry version. Quick Puff Pastry is made by cutting 3/4" cubes of butter into chilled flour, similar to making a piecrust. This recipe started with a whopping 4 1/2 sticks of butter (sorry Mom!) that I cubed, added to flour, and chilled for 30 minutes. Next, I used the paddle attachment on my mixer to cut the butter into the flour, creating flattened pieces of butter that would c0ontoirute to the flaky layers in the finished pastry. Next, a mixture of ice water and cider vinegar was added until the dough just pulled together. I dumped the dough onto a floured counter and mounded it into a large rectangle, At this point, I was a little worried because it just looked like a big mess, but the book said not to panic. After rolling out the dough and doing a letter turn, the dough was left to chill in the fridge for an hour. After two more letter turns the dough had come together quite nicely. After chilling overnight it was ready to go. Although I wouldn't call this recipe "quick", it was much easier than traditional puff pastry and I am confident it will provide a delicious, buttery, flaky base for the next few recipes!

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