Puff Paste

Ingredients

• one quart of flour
• one pint of butter
• cup of ice water
• Mix the salt with the flour

Method

1. 1

   Scald the bowl, fill with cold water, and dip hands in hot and cold water.

2. 2

   Wash the butter in cold water until soft.

3. 3

   Divide into four parts and wrap in a napkin.

4. 4

   Prepare three shallow pans with ice.

5. 5

   Mix salt with flour, then rub in one quarter of the butter.

6. 6

   Pour in ice water slowly, mixing with a knife.

7. 7

   Roll out the paste, incorporating the butter in layers.

8. 8

   Keep the paste cold and avoid softening the butter.

9. 9

   After rolling, place the dough on ice to harden before baking.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Mrs. Lincoln's Boston cook book (1884) by Lincoln, Mary Johnson Bailey "Mrs. D. A. Lincoln,", page 188. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

cup of ice water. By measure, use one quart of flour and one pint of butter. Scald the bowl, then fill with cold water. Dip the hands into hot and then into cold water ; tills makes bowl and hands smooth, and keeps the butter from sticking. Wash the butter, by working it in the cold water, till soft and waxy. Divide into four parts ; pat each part into a long and narrow piece, and wrap in a clean napkin. Have three shallow oblong pans that will fit the one into the other. Fill the largest and smallest of the pans with broken ice. Put the butter, covered with the napkin, into the other, and place it between the two pans of ice to harden. Mix the salt with the fiour, then break in one quarter of the butter. Rub with the tips of the fingers, and keep plenty of flour between the fingers and the but- ter. Many prefer to chop it, that the warmth of the hand may not soften the butter. When the butter and flour are well mixed, and fine and dr}^ like meal, pour in the cup of ice water slowl,y. Mix with a knife, and cut, rather than stir. Wet only part of the flour at first and toss it to one side of the bowl, then wet another part ; and when it is all of the proper consistency^ cut and mix it together till it can be taken up clean from the bowl with the knife. Add the last of the water cautiously, wetting only the dry flour, and use less or more than the cupful as the flour may require. If the butter be softened by the heat in rubbing, it will moisten the flour, and less water will be required. But it should not be allowed to soften. The mixture should be light and dry, like separate minute crumbs of butter coated with flour. Use a large smooth rolling-board and a glass rolling- pin. Put half a cup of flour in the dredger, and sprinkle the middle of the board with a light coating of flour. Toss the ball of paste in the flour with a knife until floured all over, then pat with the rolling-pin into a flat cake an inch thick. Have the end of the board next you, that 3'ou may roll the paste the required length. Hold the handles of the pin firmly, and roll with a light quick stroke as far as 3i8 The Boston Cooh Book. your arms will allow, — the whole length of the paste, if possible, at every stroke. Do not attempt to roll the paste when it is in a ball or a cubical form, but pat it lightl}^, to make as large and flat a surface as possible before rolling. Roll out to the thickness of one third of an inch, and to a rectangular form. Lay one of the quarters of butter in a little flour on the corner of the board, and roll quickly into a long thin piece ; scrape it up with a knife, and along the middle of the whole length of the paste. Fold over one side of the paste, then the other, letting the edges just meet in the middle of the butter. Do not pat it down. Then fold each end to the middle and double again. Pound into a flat cake and roll again one quarter of an inch thick. Eoll another piece of butter thin, lay it on the paste, fold the sides over, then the ends over, and then together, and repeat the process with the remaining pieces of butter. When the butter is all rolled in, the paste may be folded, patted, and rolled out, two, three, or seven times, as your strength will permit. Twice is enough for pies, three or four times for patties ; but more are needed for a vol-au- vent. When the butter is of the right texture, fine, smooth, and firm, not dry and crumbl3s and the mixing and rolling are done so quickly and deftly that the butter does not soften, the paste will not stick, and ver}^ little flour will be required in rolling. Do not strike a hard blow in rolhng, nor press the paste down to the board, but roll with a light gentle stroke. When the paste does not slip along the board, you may know it is sticking, and it must be lifted at once, the board scraped clean, and floured slightly. Should the paste become soft and stick}^, fold again, and pat it out to the size of the pan, and put it in the napkin between the two pans of ice. It will harden in ten minutes, and then may be rolled easily. After all the but- ter is in the dough, cut in two pieces, then roll and fold one, while the other is in the ice pan. Keep the board and pin wiped drj^, and use only a little flour, but use enough to keep the paste from sticking. The Boston Cook Book. 319 Keep the edges even while rolling, and fold evenly, that there may be an equal number of layers in all parts. Each time the paste is folded over the butter a small amount of air is enclosed and is retained, unless the fold be patted down and allow the air to escape at the end. These bub- bles of air may be plainly seen when the ball of dough is patted and rolled out, and care must be taken not to let the air escape. For this reason roll lightly and always from you^ as a hard motion back and forth is more liable to break the bubbles. Roll with a fan-like sweep, a little to the right and left, to widen it and keep the rectangular shape ; then roll gently on the edge nearest 3'Ou, to make it of uniform thickness. The more of the bubbles 3'ou can retain in the paste, tlie lighter and more puffy it will be. The number of folds or layers of butter and paste makes the paste flak}^, but the amount of air in it makes it rise and puff in baking. The paste should be folded and rolled till no streaks of butter can be seen. After the last rolling, place it on the ice to harden, as it may then be cut and shaped more easily. To Bake Puff Paste

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.