Puff pastry

by Ed Halmagyi

Ingredients

  • 500g baker's’ flour
  • 1 tsp fine salt
  • 200ml water
  • 25ml white wine vinegar
  • 50g butter, melted
  • 400g unsalted butter

Instructions

1 Combine the flour, salt, water and vinegar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat with the dough hook until a rough dough forms. Add the melted butter and continue mixing until the dough comes together.
2 Turn out onto the board and knead until smooth. Flatten into a rectangle 15cm x 30cm, wrap tightly, then refrigerate for 1 hour. Meanwhile, pound the butter between sheets of freezer plastic into 25cm square.
3 Roll out the dough to a rectangle 30cm x 60cm, then place the butter square on one half and fold the dough over. Crimp the edges to seal. Roll out to a rectangle 30cm x 60cm, then fold the ends in to meet almost at one end. Fold over again to form a four-layer stack, then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4 Repeat the rolling out and folding up again twice more. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours before using.