Page 47 - YC Cooking School

How it’s made:

Puff pastry is made by spreading a layer of fat (usually butter) in between a layer of pastry,
which is then folded together, and then rolled to incorporate the butter. This is repeated
numerous times until you have a butter-filled layered pastry. It is extremely fiddly and time
consuming to make at home so even the most avid bakers will tend to use store-bought puff
pastry.

Rough puff pastry

This is a simpler version of puff pastry that can quite easily be made at home.

How it’s made:

Rough puff pastry usually incorporates equal quantities of butter and flour that are mixed
together until the mixture is crumbly and you have pea-sized pieces of butter. Water is then
added until the dough comes together. The dough is then left to rest, covered, in the fridge
for about 20 minutes and then rolled out into a rectangle, which is folded into thirds and
rolled again. This process is repeated and then you have a basic buttery puff pastry to work
with.

Flaky pastry

How it’s made:

Flaky pastry is made similarly to puff pastry, but is layered with pieces of butter that are
dotted about the pastry sheets before rolling, as opposed to a neat layered spread of butter
which is used with puff pastry.

Choux pastry

This light, airy, fluffy pastry is used for making éclairs and profiteroles as well as numerous
other much admired French desserts. This pastry has a high water content, which creates
steam when baking, giving the pastry it’s ‘airy’ finish.

How it’s made:
Choux pastry is made by melting butter into hot water and then adding in flour and a little

castor sugar and stirring vigorously until you have one ball of dough that pulls away from
the sides of the pot. This takes just a couple of minutes. Eggs are then added to the dough
and mixed again until it is a lovely smooth paste. You can then pipe or spoon the pastry
onto a baking sheet (golf-ball sized dollops will give you profiteroles and longer ‘pipings’ will
give you éclairs) and are baked at about 200°C for approximately 30 minutes. Although it
might sound intimidating, choux pastry is actually very simple to make and is a great 'starter
pastry' to work with.

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