Very Good Puff-Paste

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861

Source: The Book of Household Management
Yield: 1.0 lb
Status: success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe: No

Ingredients (8)

1205. INGREDIENTS.—To every lb. of flour allow 1 lb. of butter, and not quite 1/2 pint of water. ↝ Flour, 00 [Cereal Grains and Pasta]
1205. INGREDIENTS.—To every lb. of flour allow 1 lb. of butter, and not quite 1/2 pint of water. ↝ Butter, stick, unsalted [Dairy and Egg Products]
1205. INGREDIENTS.—To every lb. of flour allow 1 lb. of butter, and not quite 1/2 pint of water. ↝ Water, tap [Tap water]
break 4 oz. of the butter into small pieces ↝ Butter, stick, unsalted [Dairy and Egg Products]
sift over it a little flour ↝ Flour, 00 [Cereal Grains and Pasta]
put another 4 oz. of butter ↝ Butter, stick, unsalted [Dairy and Egg Products]
dredge a little flour over that and the rolling-pin ↝ Flour, 00 [Cereal Grains and Pasta]
Brushing the paste as often as rolled out, and the pieces of butter placed thereon, with the white of an egg, assists it to rise in leaves or flakes. ↝ Egg, white only, raw [Eggs and omelets]

Instructions (14)

Carefully weigh the flour and butter, and have the exact proportion.
Squeeze the butter well, to extract the water from it, and afterwards wring it in a clean cloth, that no moisture may remain.
Sift the flour; see that it is perfectly dry, and proceed in the following manner to make the paste, using a very clean paste-board and rolling-pin.
Supposing the quantity to be 1 lb. of flour, work the whole into a smooth paste, with not quite 1/2 pint of water, using a knife to mix it with.
Regulate the proportion of water by the discretion of the cook; if too much be added, the paste, when baked, will be tough.
Roll it out until it is of an equal thickness of about an inch.
Break 4 oz. of the butter into small pieces; place these on the paste, sift over it a little flour, fold it over, roll out again, and put another 4 oz. of butter.
Repeat the rolling and buttering until the paste has been rolled out 4 times, or equal quantities of flour and butter have been used.
Do not omit, every time the paste is rolled out, to dredge a little flour over that and the rolling-pin, to prevent both from sticking.
Handle the paste as lightly as possible, and do not press heavily upon it with the rolling-pin.
The next thing to be considered is the oven, as the baking of pastry requires particular attention.
Do not put it into the oven until it is sufficiently hot to raise the paste; for the best-prepared paste, if not properly baked, will be good for nothing.
Brushing the paste as often as rolled out, and the pieces of butter placed thereon, with the white of an egg, assists it to rise in leaves or flakes.
As this is the great beauty of puff-paste, it is as well to try this method.

Original Text

VERY GOOD PUFF-PASTE.

1205. INGREDIENTS.—To every lb. of flour allow 1 lb. of butter, and not quite 1/2 pint of water.

Mode.—Carefully weigh the flour and butter, and have the exact proportion; squeeze the butter well, to extract the water from it, and afterwards wring it in a clean cloth, that no moisture may remain. Sift the flour; see that it is perfectly dry, and proceed in the following manner to make the paste, using a very clean paste-board and rolling-pin:—Supposing the quantity to be 1 lb. of flour, work the whole into a smooth paste, with not quite 1/2 pint of water, using a knife to mix it with: the proportion of this latter ingredient must be regulated by the discretion of the cook; if too much be added, the paste, when baked, will be tough. Roll it out until it is of an equal thickness of about an inch; break 4 oz. of the butter into small pieces; place these on the paste, sift over it a little flour, fold it over, roll out again, and put another 4 oz. of butter. Repeat the rolling and buttering until the paste has been rolled out 4 times, or equal quantities of flour and butter have been used. Do not omit, every time the paste is rolled out, to dredge a little flour over that and the rolling-pin, to prevent both from sticking. Handle the paste as lightly as possible, and do not press heavily upon it with the rolling-pin. The next thing to be considered is the oven, as the baking of pastry requires particular attention. Do not put it into the oven until it is sufficiently hot to raise the paste; for the best-prepared paste, if not properly baked, will be good for nothing. Brushing the paste as often as rolled out, and the pieces of butter placed thereon, with the white of an egg, assists it to rise in leaves or flakes. As this is the great beauty of puff-paste, it is as well to try this method.

Average cost, 1s. 4d. per lb.

BUTTER.—About the second century of the Christian era, butter was placed by Galen amongst the useful medical agents; and about a century before him, Dioscorides mentioned that he had noticed that fresh butter, made of ewes' and goats' milk, was served at meals instead of oil, and that it took the place of fat in making pastry. Thus we have undoubted authority that, eighteen hundred years ago, there existed a knowledge of the useful qualities of butter. The Romans seem to have set about making it much as we do; for Pliny tells us, "Butter is made from milk; and the use of this element, so much sought after by barbarous nations, distinguished the rich from the common people. It is obtained principally from cows' milk; that from ewes is the fattest; goats also supply some. It is produced by agitating the milk in long vessels with narrow openings: a little water is added."

Notes

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