Cheats Puff Pastry Recipe from The Great British Baking Show (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to puff pastry? ›

The trick is to work large pieces of cold butter into dry ingredients and hydrate it all with ice cold water (as if you were making pie crust). Sometimes bakers grate butter into the mix or use a food processor. There's lots of ways to make rough puff pastry.

"Nothing is staged on this show. There's no prize at the end of the day other than a plate," he said. "I kind of absolutely love it for that reason in that truly what you see is predominantly what you get." The baker continued, "It's just 12 or 13 people who really like baking and really like one another.

The formula for the number of dough layers is 2(3n-1)+ 1 where n is the number of half-turns. The four-fold method quadruples the number of fat layers each time the dough is folded. Like the half-turn method there is one more layer of dough than fat after each 'half turn'.

For the rough puff pastry, mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Rub in the chilled butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Gradually add enough water to form a dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a rectangle measuring 30cm x 12cm.

Adding an acid, the theory goes, stops the gluten in its tracks and rescues the crust from toughness. These same acid enthusiasts claim that stopping or at least hindering the gluten makes the dough easier to roll out, and may even prevent it from shrinking as it bakes.

Egg wash is the most reliable but it can be very thick and sticky. Milk wash will go on more evenly but it can soak into pastry and make it weaker. Melted butter works nicely after the crust has set but it can make the crust greasy and weaker.

Matt Lucas is leaving Great British Bake Off

From my view, Lucas's humor—which trended toward edginess and cringe—just wasn't compatible with what makes the show great. That is, wholesome vibes, lovable contestants, and tall gender-norms-defying waif Noel Fielding, who is blessedly remaining on the show.

#Bingate. Arguably one of the most controversial moments in the Bake Off tent ever; when Iain Watters ice cream melted after his fellow contestant Diana Beard removed his dessert from the freezer during the 2014 series.

The contestants are not paid for being on the show, though they are given a modest stipend so they can practice their bakes at home. But the stipend apparently doesn't go very far. If you need to practice your bake multiple times at home, the cost of ingredients can get surprisingly expensive.

Since each “fold” involves tripling the number of layers, the formula for the number of layers after n folds (we can call this L) is simply L = 3^n. The optimal number of layers is between 100 and 700 (depending on how much you want your pastry to rise).

What are the 3 types of puff pastry? ›

There are four commonly known types of puff pastry—'half,' 'three-quarter,' 'full' and 'inverted puff. The terms describe the amount of fat to the weight of flour. 'Full' denotes equal weights of fat and flour, 'three-quarter' means three-quarter of the weight of the fat to the flour, etc.

Always preheat your oven for a minimum of 15-20 minutes before baking, because Puff Pastry depends on even heat to rise and puff. Place pastries 1 inch apart. If you want a flaky thin and crispy pastry that's not very puffy, prick the unbaked Puff Pastry all over with a fork, which lets steam escape while baking.

Rough puff pastry is prepared by incorporating butter or fat in the form of golf-ball size chunks into the dough, instead of the entire slabs used in classic puff pastry. This is followed by sheeting and folding with minimum or no resting time between successive folds.

Temperature is a key factor in baking up puff pasty that actually puffs. Set the oven dial too low, and the pastry is likely to fall flat. Follow this tip: As a rule of thumb, a higher oven temperature (400°F is ideal) results in puff pastry with a higher rise.

Heat is the enemy of Puff Pastry—it handles best when cold. So avoid working with it on hot, humid days, in a stifling hot kitchen or next to your oven. Puff Pastry works best when cold. Your hands should be cold, too, when handling it.

Temperature is a key factor in baking up puff pasty that actually puffs. Set the oven dial too low, and the pastry is likely to fall flat. Follow this tip: As a rule of thumb, a higher oven temperature (400°F is ideal) results in puff pastry with a higher rise.

Your puff pastry may fail to puff for several reasons. Warm pastry: Your pastry should be cold, cold, cold going into the oven. It's worth reiterating: Cold butter equals flaky layers. If your pastry is warm, the butter can easily leech right out during baking.

Always cut Puff Pastry straight down, never on an angle, to prevent layers from sticking together and inhibiting the rise. Cut up and down, and don't drag the knife. You can brush an egg-wash glaze (1 egg plus 1 tsp. water) over the Puff Pastry to create a rich, golden sheen when baked.