Puff pastry

Some of you may or may not know that this year i auditioned for a place in GBBO .. I got all the way to the final round which involved a filmed technical trial. Unfortunately I didn't get through to this year BUT I will re apply for next year.

For one of the rounds I had to make my own puff pastry which I'd never done, but now 3 months on i can say i absolutely love making my own & I thought I'd share the basic recipe

To make 300g of puff pastry you will need:

° 300g bread flour
° 300g salted butter - cold but not rock hard 
° 1 tsp lemon juice
°  135-140 ml cold water

In a bowl add the flour and 50 grams of the butter, rub the butter into the flour to get a breadcrumb consistency, alternatively you can blitz them in a food processor

Add in the lemon juice, then the water a little at (a time as you may not need it all) using a knife  to mix together till you get a soft ( but not wet ) dough

Knead it together for no more than about a minute as you don't want to over work the dough & develop the gluten- other wise you'll end up with bread dough. Cover with cling film & chill the dough in the fridge for about 15 minutes

Take the remaining butter, sprinkle a bit of flour all over it, place between 2 sheets of greasproof paper and roll it out till it's about 1/2 It's origional thickness

Remove the paper, fold the butter in half , cover again and roll out again to half its thickness .. then roll out to a square roughly 10cm

Take out the dough and roll out onto a lightly floured surface to almost double the length of the butter, with the short  side at the bottom facing you (The butter should be pliable and still cold. If it starts to soften or melt, pop it back in the fridge for a few minutes )

Place the slab of butter width ways on to the bottom third of the dough. Seal the butter starting with the edges then fold the top onto the butter. You shouldn't be able to see any of the butter.

Brush off any excess dough with a pastry brush, and then turn the dough upside down so the sealed edges are now on your work surface.

Gently press the dough with your rolling pin, to flatten out the dough away from you till you get a rectangle double in the origional length

Fold the bottom 3rd to the middle of the dough,  then fold over the top third so the edges meet and make a neat square, and lightly press the edges with your fingers to seal the dough

Lift up the dough and turn it one quarter anti clockwise so the sealed edges are to the sides

Pop into the fridge for 15 mins then roll out the dough once more, fold it again into 3, give it a quarter turn wrap and chill again .

Give the dough 3-4 more ' turns ' remembering to chill between each turn

Once all the turns have been done, leave the dough to completely chill before using as required. I leave for a minimum of 2 hours, and a maximum of over night and use as required