I come from a family of exquisite puff pastry makers starting with my maternal grandmother who was known for her incredibly delicate mille feuille (pastry of a thousand leaves) and this skill was then taken on by my own mother and sister but not me!
Scared and cowed by their obvious prowess, I spent many years buying puff pastry from all good supermarkets, as I could, at least, make a decent shortcrust.
So off to the cook book shelf!
My very first cook book was 'Floury Fingers' by Cecilia Hinde, given to me by my Mum and Dad, in 1971, but I've progressed since then (!) and took down 'Eggs' by Michel Roux.
Don't be alarmed, it's a pretty straight forward cook book!
Now I have to admit I make a rough puff pastry which is more stable to work with, less time consuming to make, more rustic to look at but equally delicious whether it's made with butter or the vegan alternative, Naturli.
To get that lovely rich buttery taste, with a crisp bite, is all about the ratio of butter / Naturli to flour. To make a pound of pastry (450gms), I use 12 ounces (350gms) of butter to 16 ounces (1lb/450gms) of flour, a pinch of salt and about a half pint of water (275mls) allowing the pastry to come together. It likes to rest at this stage, then after about 30 mins, I roll the pastry to incorporate the butter, then rest it again for about an hour before using it to make my pies.
Keeping the pastry cold is paramount, as is, not playing with it with warm hands!
Now, I wouldn't think to buy a supermarket pastry, although they're very useful when there's no time or you're just too tired and want something quick and easy, so why
not, when you fancy a small challenge, give it a go!
Like bread making it can be quite therapeutic too.
So there's my pastry story, don't worry if it doesn't work the first time, it will the second and as far as my sister is concerned.. she thinks it tastes great....high praise indeed!
