Pistachio Raspberry Napoleon

In high school, I had the privilege of traveling to France (and Monaco) for 17 days with my French class.  I did not so much enjoy high school, but I really, really loved that trip! We started in Paris & then traveled via motor-coach in a giant circle around the rest of the country.

For most of the trip, we ate lunch on our own in whatever city we happened to be visiting that day.   Even in high school, I knew that someday I wanted to study pastry.  I am not at all ashamed to say that most every lunch included dessert.  Sometimes, dessert was the only food group!  Luckily, the friends I made during the trip agreed with dessert for lunch :)

One day, towards the tail end of the trip when we were in the norther part of France, along the cost, I bought a “Mille-Feuille” (also known as a “Napoleon”) for lunch.  It was a beautiful pastry, layered with cream & strawberries, and topped with a healthy dusting of confectioners‘ sugar.  Somewhere in my boxes of France mementos at my parents’ house is a photo I took of the pastry...

While the napoleon may have looked exquisite & delicious, it only took one bite for me to realize that the pastry was burned.  Badly burnt.  Sadly, I ended up throwing out the pastry layers and just eating the cream & strawberries.  Even though this first napoleon experience was not-so-great, I knew that someday I would eat a better one.

That trip to France did really help further my palate, & it exposed me to new things within the culinary world . Pistachio, in particular, remains one of my all time favorite flavors.  As does red currant.  And, of course, I fell in love with croissants, pain au chocolat, jam & nutella for breakfast.

Fast forward just a few years (ha!) to my time in culinary school.  Laminated Doughs & Breakfast Pastries quickly became my favorite class.  We made our own puff pastry, laminated it with European butter, and one week we turned some of the finished puff pastry into amazingly delicious, yet challenging Napoleons.  Finally, I tasted a real napoleon that wasn’t burned!

Classical napoleons, topped with poured fondant & chocolate stripes, aren’t an easy task.  They require lots of work & also require the person making/assembling them to be on top of their “mis-en-place,” meaning that everything must be completely ready & in place before the assembly process begins.  I struggled with the napoleon as a student & while my pastry was delicious, it wasn’t nearly as beautiful as it should have been (or as beautiful as Chef Jeff’s was).  When I became an instructor & taught the Laminated Doughs class, I still was a little nervous on napoleon day when I had to demo this challenging item to 16 eager students (and then grade them on their results)....

While I love the classical napoleon, both for it’s flavor and for the skill it requires one to possess to execute flawlessly, I experimented with alternate presentations for the same components.  The squares were pre-cut to their serving size.  The vanilla diplomat cream filling was decoratively piped.  Fruit could be added.  The fondant & chocolate topping was exchanged for a pattern of powdered sugar.

I have a terrible habit of hoarding ingredients I deem “special.”  As I was brainstorming future posts & looking through my cabinets & freezer, I remembered the remaining piece of gluten free blitz puff pastry that needed to be used before it developed freezer burn.  And in the dark, back corner of the pantry, I discovered an even bigger gem: pistachio paste!  Ironically, I brought the pistachio paste back from my second trip to France .  I’ve been saving it for a special occasion, but really, that just means it’s just hiding in my pantry.  My aformentioned love of pistachio drove me to buy the paste three years ago, but allowing it to just sit in the back of the pantry really does no one any favors.  So, I cracked the can open, inhaling the wonderful fragrance of pistachios &  was inspired to make a pistachio napoleon with raspberries.  Not only are pistachios and raspberries visually pretty together, their flavors also are a great compliment.

I knew there wasn’t enough leftover blitz puff pastry to make very many napoleons, so in lieu of just eating the pistachio diplomat cream with a spoon (which it IS delicious enough to do), I bought a box of commercial puff pastry.  I used the regular puff pastry to make a couple napoleons to give as thank-you gifts.

In one bite of the napoleon, I’m transported both back to my trips to France, and also to my days as a culinary student & instructor.  Good memories :)


PISTACHIO RASPBERRY NAPOLEONS 

• In the above images, the larger napoleon was made with commercial, store-bought puff pastry. The smaller, individual size napoleon was made with gluten free blitz puff pastry.  
• The batch of pastry cream & diplomat cream will make enough to fill two sheets of regular puff pastry and all the gluten free pastry rectangles as well. 

Baking Commercial Puff Pastry Sheets (large Napoleons) 

1. Allow the puff pastry to thaw at room temperature for approximately an hour.  Preheat the oven to 400 F. 
2. Open the package & separate the two pieces of puff pastry.  Save the second piece for later (or hold it in the refrigerator until the first pieces is done & then repeat the steps.) Gently open the folds of the pastry.  
3. Using a pastry wheel & a ruler (I like to use my quilter’s ruler), cut off the edges of the puff pastry pieces, just to expose the lamination.  Cut each piece into three equal pieces approximately 3 inches wide.  
4. Place the 3” wide pieces onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Use a fork to dock the dough (make little holes in it) all over the surface of the dough.  Top with a second piece of parchment & a second sheet pan.  The puff pastry should now be sandwiched between the parchment & the pans.  Add a heavy, oven-safe weight to the top pan--I like to use my cast iron skillet.  
5. Bake the skillet-topped pans for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven & remove the cast iron skillet (DON’T FORGET THAT THE PANS ARE HOT!!) Flip the pans with the pastry over & remove the top pan (which was previously the bottom) and the top layer of parchment.  Return the pan to the oven (the bottom pan will be upside down, but that’s OK). and continue baking until the pastry is golden.  Rotate as needed to promote even browning.  The finished pastry should be quite brown, but not burned. Mine took approximately 7 additional minutes to bake.  Allow the baked pastry to cool at room temperature.  
6. After the rectangles have trim with a small, sharp paring knife until all the pieces are the same size & the edges have been re-exposed. Save any scrap pieces to eat with leftover diplomat cream :)  Some of the rectangles may break, but just use those for the bottom or inside layers when assembling. Decide which piece is the prettiest & reserve that one for the top.  Set aside until ready to assemble.

Baking Gluten Free Blitz Puff Pastry (individual Napoleons)

1.  Allow the frozen blitz puff pastry to thaw at room temperature for approximately 10 minutes (for a flat sheet)
2. Use a ruler & pastry wheel to cut the dough into 2x4 inch rectangles.  
3. Place the rectangles onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Return to the freezer for 10 minutes. 
4. Preheat the oven to 400 F. 
5. Bake the rectangles for 25 minutes (or until lightly golden).  Remove the pan from the oven.  With an offset spatula, very carefully flip each piece over.  They do tend to ooze a bit of butter & that hot butter will burn!  
6. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 5 to 10 more minutes, or until the pastry is golden.  
7. Remove from the oven & cool to room temperature.  

Pastry Cream
Note: Cut the batch in half if you aren’t planning on assembling more than 1 napoleon (i.e. using more than 1 sheet of commercial puff pastry).  I bought my pistachio paste in France, but you can find several kinds here.  Alternately, unsalted pistachios can be steeped in milk & then pureed, but the flavor will not be as strong & the texture will be much more grainy.   

9.75 oz  Milk
1.5 oz  Pistachio Paste (similar here)
1 fl oz  cold Water
0.15 oz  Granulated Gelatin (approximately half a packet)
2 oz Egg Yolks (approximately 4 yolks, don’t worry if it goes a little over)
4 oz  Granulated Sugar
0.85 oz  Cornstarch
0.55 oz  Butter

1. In a medium sized stainless steel sauce pan, combine the milk and pistachio paste.  Heat over medium heat until it simmers, whisking often.  Remove from the heat, cover & allow to steep 10 minutes or so while the other ingredients are prepared. 
2. In a microwave safe small bowl, add the cold water.  Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water.  Stir lightly to ensure all the granules are moistened.  Set aside to bloom.  
3. Separate the cold eggs.  Reserve the whites for a different use. 
4. In a medium sized heat-proof bowl (glass, metal, etc.), Whisk together the granulated sugar & cornstarch.  
5. Return the pistachio milk to the stove top & heat over medium high heat until it begins to steam.  Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks into the granulated sugar/cornstarch mixture.  Place a damp towel or a silicone pot holder underneath the bowl if it moves around too much.  Do not allow this mixture to sit or the sugar may cause the egg mixture to chemically cook & create lumps in the final cream. 
6. Slowly temper the hot pistachio liquid into the egg mixture, while whisking constantly.  Once all the two are combined, return them to the sauce pan and heat over medium high heat, whisking constantly. 
7. Continue cooking & mixing until the custard boils.  Allow to boil for a minimum of 15 seconds (count slowly), then remove from the heat.  Whisk in the butter
8. Place the bloomed gelatin into the microwave & heat on high for 10 seconds (or until liquid).  Whisk the melted gelatin into the custard.  Pour the custard into a separate bowl & cover with plastic wrap touching the surface.  Refrigerate until ready to make the diplomat cream, just before assembly. 

Diplomat Cream 
Wait to make the diplomat cream until just before assembly! It won’t pipe as well if made earlier. Cut the batch in half if you aren’t planning on assembling more than 1 napoleon (i.e. using more than 1 sheet of commercial puff pastry)

16 oz Pastry Cream (with the gelatin added) 
16 oz Whipping Cream
1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste (or substitute extract) 

1. Approximately 30 minutes before making the diplomat cream, remove the pastry cream from the refrigerator & allow to come to room temperature. 
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream until medium peaks form. Beat in the vanilla bean paste. 
3. Whisk the room temperature pastry cream to break it up a bit.  Add half of the whipped cream to the pastry cream & whisk to combine.  Pour the pastry cream/whipped cream back into the bowl of whipped cream & gently fold to combine.  
4. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.  
5. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip (I used an Ateco #808). Reserve any leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.  

Tri-layer Assembly
Baked Puff pastry pieces, trimmed (regular, not gluten free ones)
Diplomat Cream
1/2 to 1 pint Raspberries, unwashed 
Confectioners sugar 
Pistachios, finely chopped (optional garnish) 

1. Build the napoleon on a parchment lined sheet pan.  Pick through the raspberries & decide which ones are prettiest for the outside edges and which ones are not as beautiful that may be hidden on the inside.  Set aside a couple of extra pretty garnish berries, if desired. Lay out the raspberries on some paper towel.  Do NOT wash them. Due to their fragile nature, the raspberries may not hold up as well if they are washed & they risk bleeding into the pastry cream.  
2. On the base layer, pipe three large dots/rounds with the diplomat cream along the short side of the baked puff pastry.  Next to the dots, snuggly place 4 raspberries (or however many fit best), remembering to put the prettiest ones towards the outside where they will be seen.  Repeat the cream dots & raspberry rows throughout the remaining width of the pastry.  Top with a second piece of puff pastry & gently press to adhere, but not so hard that the cream and berries are squashed.  
3. Repeat the cream and berry layer process on the second tier of pastry.  Top with the prettiest piece of pastry. Lightly press. 
4. Place the pan into the refrigerator to chill the napoleon for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours. 
5. Just before serving, cut parchment paper into equal strips. Lay the strips diagonally across the top of the pastry.  Liberally sift powdered sugar over the top.  Gently remove the strips, being careful not to disrupt the sugar pattern.  On one corner, lay an extra line of chopped pistachios. Top with a couple additional fresh raspberries. 
6. Serve immediately.  Use a hot, but dry, serrated knife to cut the napoleon into pieces.  Because pastry will begin to get soggy, this dessert is best consumed within 24 hours of assembly.  Store any leftovers in an airtight container (or well wrapped) in the refrigerator.  Leftovers will become soggy, but will still still taste delicious.  

Individual variation (Gluten Free) 

1. Follow the same steps as before, only make the individual napoleons two layers instead of three.  

This post contains affiliate links, meaning Sweet Treats makes a small commission off items purchased 

after an Amazon link is clicked with no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support.

Gluten Free Plum Frangipan Tarts

Happy first official day of summer! It always seems, at least in the United States, that summer “begins” with Memorial Day at the end of May, but regardless of when summer actually begins, I’m glad that it’s here.  I love that many of our meals are filled with fresh, delicious fruits & vegetables.  I look forward to the many batches of jam & preserves I’ll be making.

This summer, I have been anticipating one fruit in particular: plums.

In the past, I’m not sure that I gave the humble plum the praise it is worth.  While I’ve enjoyed eating plums, they certainly were not at the top of my list of favorite summer fruits & I don’t think I had ever baked with them...

My opinion on plums changed drastically last summer/fall when, on a whim, I brought home a good amount of plums from a grocery store sale (don’t hate on the grocery store--we don’t have access to a farmer’s market! or a CSA, sadly).... I sliced & pitted the plums, & cooked them into the most delicious batch of jam I made all year.  Seriously. Possibly the best jam I’ve ever made!

Usually each batch of jam I make has a little left over that does not fit into all the canning jars.  That leftover jam goes into the fridge & we enjoy it on toast (or whatever we feel like spreading jam on).  As the first taste of the plum jam hit our tongues, we looked at each other in amazement at how good it was.  And then my husband insisted we go to the store to get MORE plums, just to ensure there would be enough jam to last us through the winter.

I have yet to make a new batch of plum jam (and we are dangerously close to running out), but I recently saw a few black & red plums on sale in the grocery store.  It felt a little early in the season for them?  But then I do need to remind myself that the growing season in Texas is much, much earlier than what I have previously been use to in North Dakota.  I decided to buy a few of the plums  to test out their flavor & also to try my hand at baking with them.

Stone fruits always pair well with almond, in my opinion.  And I also needed to make a test batch of frangipan (an almond pound cake batter) to use in some croissants I was making for a baby shower.  So, paring the plums with the frangipan was a no-brainer for me.

After making & laminating two delicious, albeit gluten filled, batches of croissant dough, I took the leap into making a batch of gluten free blitz puff pastry so that I could taste some laminated dough goodness.  I had not intended on doing a whole post on gluten free blitz puff pastry, but I realized while writing this post, which utilizes the gluten free blitz puff pastry, that many (if not most) people have never made their own laminated doughs & that the process warranted it’s own post. So, if you want to make your own gluten free laminated dough, check out my previous post.

I cut the finished blitz puff pastry into squares, egg washed the tops to help them stay shiny & become golden, dabbed on a little frangipan, and topped it with a few slices of red and black plums.  I love the color contrast between the two plum varieties!  Even though making the pastry crust was a labor of love, the rest of the tart assembly came together really quickly.

After a 30ish minute bake in the oven, and a little brush of glaze post glazing, the plum frangipan tarts were ready to eat!  The pastry was crisp & crumbly (like a good puff pastry should be), the plums provided a bit of tartness, and the frangipan (which lets be honest, I could just eat all on it’s own, raw or baked) added a sweetness to compliment the tart plums.  I ate one all on it’s own--quality control, you know. But the real stars were the ones we ate later that evening with a scoop of ice cream.

I wonder what other baked items I can make with plums? My brain is humming with possibilities of this new-to-me ingredient.


PLUM FRANGIPAN TARTS (gluten free) 
yields 6 individual tarts 

Frangipan
This recipe will make more than you need to for the six tarts, but it is difficult to scale it any smaller. Store any leftover frangipan in the refrigerator. Or bake it in greased ramekins with more sliced plums on top.

55 g Butter, at room temp 
55 g Granulated Sugar
55 g Almond Flour (see note below) 
1 egg
1/2 tsp Almond Extract 

1.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and granulated sugar, on medium speed, until the mixture is fluffy & has lightened in color.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  
2. Add the almond flour & mix, on low to medium speed until combined. Add the egg and almond extract.  Mix on low speed until just combined. Scrape the bowl as necessary.  
3. Store in the fridge until ready to use.  The batter will keep in the refrigerator for several days.  

Note: if you don’t have almond flour, can use whole almonds (skins on or off) & pulse them in the food processor with the butter & granulated sugar. The texture will be more grainy, but the batter will still be delicious & work just fine. 

Assembly
2 ripe Plums, red & black, sliced thin
1/2 batch Blitz Puff Pastry (or substitute regular store bought puff pastry, which is not gluten free) 
1 egg
1 batch Frangipan
Apricot Glaze (2 Tbl Apricot Jam & 2 tsp to 1 Tbl Water), optional 

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. 
2. Remove the puff pastry from the freezer & allow to thaw slightly. (only slightly).
3. Slice plums into 1/4” thick pieces, but keep the skin. 
4. Scramble the egg in a small dish to make egg wash.
5. Using a pastry wheel/pizza cutter or a very sharp knife, cut all the edges of the dough, so that the layers are all exposed & the dough will puff more in the oven. Cut the pastry into squares that are between 3.5 inches & 4 inches, depending on the size of the dough. Place each pastry square onto a parchment lined baking sheet. 
6. Brush the tops of each square with a light layer of egg wash, taking care not to egg wash the sides (or else the layers will not be as visible.  
7. Spoon one tablespoon of the frangipan onto the center of each square & spread out slightly.  
8. Top with thin slices of plum, alternating between the red & black plums. 
9. Immediately place the baking sheet into the oven & bake for approximately 30 to 35 minutes, or until the pastry & frangipan are golden. 
10. While the tarts are baking, make the optional glaze.  In a small microwave safe dish (such as a ramekin), microwave the jam & water for 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Stir to make sure the water & jam combine. Reheat as necessary to keep a liquid consistency. 
11. Once the tarts are removed from the oven, allow them to cool for a few minutes before brushing the tops with the jam glaze.  Or simply dust them with confectioners’ sugar. 
12. Serve warm or at room temperature.  Top with ice cream, if desired.  
13. Store any leftovers at room temperature & re-crisp in the oven before serving (DO NOT EVER MICROWAVE LAMINATED DOUGHS! Microwaves suck all of the love out of the layers of laminated doughs).  Enjoy within two days. 

Gluten Free Blitz Puff Pastry

This post is a little out of the normal for me. I usually like to show the pretty end product, rather than the process of getting to that end product. But today I'm going back to my teaching roots on a subject I dearly love: laminated dough.

Puff Pastry, Croissant Dough, Danish Dough... these are the three great categories of laminated doughs. They begin with two components: dough & fat (European-style butter is best, in my opinion).  The dough is wrapped around the butter & the lamination process begins.  Think about how paper is laminated: the paper is sandwiched between two layers of plastic. Laminated dough is similar, only butter & dough are used instead of paper & plastic.

Once the butter is encased in the dough, the whole thing is rolled out & folded many times until there are hundreds or thousands of alternating layers of dough & butter...and dough and butter...and dough and butter, etc.  Those layers are what causes the product to puff in the oven.

Regular laminated doughs, made with wheat flour, are a bit challenging & rather time consuming. They're a topic that I really have not been willing to attempt to make gluten free, partially because of the time they take to make.  But lately, I've been working on a couple of batches of regular wheat, gluten-filled croissant dough (for an upcoming baby shower I'm helping to host), and I was inspired to finally attempt a gluten free laminated dough.

For my first foray into gluten free laminated dough, I cheated a little bit... Instead of attempting a classical puff pastry, I went with a "blitz" version instead, which may also be known as "fast" or "rough."

Instead of making the two distinct components of dough & butter, you simply start with a dough full of large butter pieces.  That dough is rolled out & folded a series of times, similar to puff pastry. Blitz puff also will not rise quite as much as classical puff pastry, but it still has more rise than a regular pastry crust.

Baking gluten free requires me to really think about the classical baking processes & make some adjustments.  For instance, gluten free doughs are often more crumbly, partially because they do not have the strength of gluten to help hold them together & aid in elasticity.  So, I needed to anticipate & expect some cracking.  Also, because gluten free doughs are not as elastic, they cannot be rolled out under as cold conditions as I would roll out a regular laminated dough.  Usually, I store my dough in the freezer between folds, but for the gluten free dough, I used the refrigerator.

Here's how I made my version of Gluten Free Blitz Puff Pastry.  In the next post, I'll show a recipe for how to use the finished dough.  

One initial note, make sure your kitchen is not hot during this whole process. Butter melts at 80˚ F, so your kitchen needs to be below 80˚ F for the dough to be successful.  Otherwise, the butter might melt (or fuze with the layers) and all your hard work is for nothing!

Gluten Free Blitz Puff Pastry Process: 

Start by taking two sticks of butter (8 oz) and cutting them into small cubes.  I started by cutting each stick into 4 pieces, length wise, then chopping the four pieces into small squares.  Break up the chopped butter into individual pieces & place them onto a plastic-wrap lined plate.  Set the plate into the freezer while you prepare the rest of your ingredients and equipment.  

While the butter is chilling,  Prepare the rest of the ingredients and equipment. Scale into the metal bowl of a stand mixer: 8 oz of gluten free flour  (Jeanne's AP Gluten Free Mix, or another mix that contains xanthan gum), 1 Tablespoon of granulated sugar, and 1 teaspoon of fine grain sea salt. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment & turn on the mixer to the "stir" function for approximately 10 seconds to just combine the ingredients.  Scale  5 oz of water into a liquid measuring cup & set it into the fridge to stay cold.  Finally, line a baking sheet with parchment paper & setting it off to the side.

Once the butter had been freezing for approximately 15 minutes, remove the butter from the freezer. With the mixer running on stir, begin dropping the cubes of cold butter into the dry ingredients. Paddle the butter with the dry ingredients for a total of 60 seconds, just to begin the incorporation of the butter into the flour mixture.

Next, remove the measured water from the refrigerator, turned the machine back on to stir, & gradually drizzled in the water.  Continue mixing on stir for approximately 60 seconds, or until the dough just begins to form, but very large butter pieces were still visible.

Dump the prepared dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Pat the dough into a rectangular shape.

Cover the dough  with some plastic wrap & placed into the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.

After the 30 minute chill, remove the dough from the refrigerator & place onto a tapioca-floured surface.  Dust the top of the dough & the rolling pin with additional tapioca flour.

Gently roll the dough out, keeping the rectangular shape, until the dough is approximately 11"x13" and about 1 cm thick. The dough may crack, especially around the edges.  Make sure the top of the dough & counter stay well floured. 

Move the dough around periodically to ensure that the dough is not sticking at all!  Especially take note to flour any large spots of butter.  

Once the dough has reached the size of 11"x13", use a dry pastry brush to brush off any excess flour from the top of the dough.  Use a second brush to lightly brush the top of the dough with a little water--not enough water to form puddles or drown the dough, but just enough to act as glue during the folding process.

Visualize dividing the dough into three pieces, like you would a piece of paper for a letter.  Fold the bottom up & press lightly to adhere.

On the flap that was just folded up, brush off any additional flour, then fold the top down over. 

Turn the dough 90˚ so that the fold line is on the left & the open ends (not folded ends) are at the top & bottom. Re-flour the counter slightly, if the dough is sticking.  Use the rolling pin to tap down the dough to ensure the fold is secure.

Place the dough back onto the parchment lined sheet pan. Cover the dough with plastic wrap & chill again for 30 minutes.  Make a notation on the parchment that the first fold is complete (so that you don't forget how many folds have been done).

After the dough has had a 30 minute "nap," remove the dough from the refrigerator & place it back onto the floured counter.  Make sure that the fold is to the left and that the open ends are at the top and bottom.  Gently roll out the dough, rolling only in the direction of the open ends.  Do NOT roll across the fold. The dough will be much longer and skinnier this time, but that is ok.

Also, the edges may continue to crack (regular gluten dough does not do this), but do not be alarmed! Roll the dough until it is approximately 1/4" to 1/8" thick (don't worry about the length of the dough).   Dust off the flour & lightly brush with water.  Fold into thirds again.

Turn the dough 90˚ again & press lightly with the rolling pin to adhere.

Place the dough back onto the parchment lined baking pan, cover again with plastic & chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.  Make a notation that the second fold is complete.

After 30 minutes, repeat the whole process a third time, making sure to roll only with the open ends. When the third fold is completed, chill the dough in the refrigerator for an additional 30 minutes.

At this point, the folds are all done & the dough is ready to be rolled out to it's final thickness, which does depend on how you plan to use the dough.  I rolled mine out to approximately 12"x15" and a thickness of 4mm.  I did have one section that cracked a little, but I just used some water to help patch it back together.

I cut mine into two pieces (using a pastry wheel/pizza cutter) & stacked them on a flat sheet pan with parchment paper between the two pieces.  Wrap the sheet well & place into the freezer.  Be careful  with moving the finished puff to the sheet pan--it is rather fragile! (and you don't want to break all your hard work!)

Even if you plan to use the finished pastry very soon after it is finished, it still needs to freeze for at least 30 minutes (an hour would be even better) before use.

In the next post, I'll be showing some tarts made from this blitz puff pastry :)


Here's a more condensed recipe, but use the above pictures to reference, especially if you are not accustomed to laminating dough.  

Gluten Free Blitz Puff Pastry 

Equipment needed

• A Timer 
• Baking Sheet
• Parchment Paper
• Plastic Wrap
• Pastry Brush (two, if possible)
• Rolling Pin
• Bench Cutter/Bench Scraper 
• Ruler 
• A small dish of water 
• A small dish of tapioca flour for dusting 
• Pastry Wheel or Pizza Cutter

Ingredients
8 oz Unsalted Butter, cold, cut into small cubes
8 oz Gluten Free Flour (I used Jeanne's GF AP Flour mix) 
1 Tbl Granulated Sugar
1 tsp Fine Grain Sea Salt
5 oz cold water {NOTE: if you live in a humid climate, you may only need 4 oz of water!}
additional tapioca flour for dusting
additional water for brushing 

1. Cut each stick of butter into small cubes. Place the small cubes onto a plastic-wrap-lined plate & freeze for 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of your ingredients.  
2. Into the bowl a of a stand mixer, scale the flour, sugar & salt.  Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment & turn the machine on to "stir" for approximately 10 seconds to combine the dry ingredients. Scale the water into a liquid measuring cup & hold in the refrigerator until ready to use. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
3. Once the butter is cold, turn the mixer back on to "stir" & begin adding the butter cubes to the dry ingredients. Mix approximately 60 seconds, or until the butter is just beginning to be incorporated into the dry ingredients.  
4. Remove the water from the refrigerator, and with the mixer running on "stir" begin drizzling the water in to the flour/butter mixture.  Mix approximately 60 additional seconds, or until the ingredients just begin to form a dough, but there are still very large butter pieces visible.  
5. Dump the prepared dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Pat the dough into a rectangular shape. Cover the dough  with some plastic wrap & placed into the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.  
6. After the 30 minute chill, remove the dough from the refrigerator & place onto a tapioca-floured surface.  Dust the top of the dough & the rolling pin with additional tapioca flour. 
7. Gently roll the dough out, keeping the rectangular shape, until the dough is approximately 11"x13". The dough may crack, especially around the edges.  Make sure the top of the dough & counter stay well floured. Move the dough around periodically to ensure that the dough is not sticking at all!  Especially take note to flour any large spots of butter.  
8. Once the dough has reached the size of 11"x13", use a dry pastry brush to brush off any excess flour from the top of the dough.  Use a second brush to lightly brush the top of the dough with a little water--not enough water to form puddles or drown the dough, but just enough to act as glue during the folding process.  
9. Visualize dividing the dough into three pieces, like you would a piece of paper for a letter.  Fold the bottom up & press lightly to adhere.  On the flap that was just folded up, brush off any additional flour, then fold the top down over. 
10. Turn the dough 90˚ so that the fold line is on the left & the open ends (not folded ends) are at the top & bottom. Re-flour the counter slightly, if the dough is sticking.  Use the rolling pin to tap down the dough to ensure the fold is secure.  
11. Place the dough back onto the parchment lined sheet pan. Cover the dough with plastic wrap & chill again for 30 minutes.  Make a notation on the parchment that the first fold is complete (so that you don't forget how many folds have been done). 
12. After the dough has had a 30 minute "nap," remove the dough from the refrigerator & place it back onto the floured counter.  Make sure that the fold is to the left and that the open ends are at the top and bottom.  Gently roll out the dough, rolling only in the direction of the open ends.  Do NOT roll across the fold. The dough will be much longer and skinnier this time, but that is ok.  Also, the edges may continue to crack (regular gluten dough does not do this), but do not be alarmed! Roll the dough until it is approximately 1/4" to 1/8" thick (don't worry about the length of the dough).   Brush the flour off & lightly brush with water & fold into thirds again.  
13. Turn the dough 90˚ again & press lightly with the rolling pin to adhere.  Place the dough back onto the parchment lined baking pan, cover again with plastic & chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.  Make a notation that the second fold is complete.  
14. After 30 minutes, repeat the whole process a third time, making sure to roll only with the open ends. When the third fold is completed, chill the dough in the refrigerator for an additional 30 minutes.  
15. At this point, the folds are all done & the dough is ready to be rolled out to it's final thickness, which does depend on how you plan to use the dough.  I rolled mine out to approximately 12"x15" and a thickness of 4mm. I cut mine into two pieces (using a pastry wheel/pizza cutter) & stacked them on a flat sheet pan with parchment paper between the two pieces.  Wrap the sheet well & place into the freezer.  Be careful  with moving the finished puff to the sheet pan--it is rather fragile! 
16. Even if you plan to use the finished pastry very soon after it is finished, it still needs to freeze for at least 30 minutes (an hour would be even better) before use.  
17. The frozen dough will keep, well wrapped, for several months in the freezer. Allow to thaw slightly before use. 
18. When ready to bake, bake at a 400 F oven (or higher) to ensure optimal puff.  

Inspired by "Art of Gluten Free Baking" & by my teaching materials from the Culinary Institute of Charleston