Puff Paste, Pies and Tartlets
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Sift the flour and set aside a handful for rolling out.
Add a pinch of salt to the flour.
Cut the lard into lumps the size of an almond and add to the flour without rubbing.
Gradually mix in cold water until the dough is soft enough to roll easily.
Form the dough into an oblong roll and cut into slices for tops and bottoms.
Roll and bake
Roll each slice on a floured surface until large enough to cover your pie dish.
Roll the top crust thin and bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure of the dough once mixed with water.
- Fresh lard
- Lumps of fat stay solid in the dough, creating flaky layers as they melt in the oven.
- Cold water
- Binds the flour and fat into a dough that can be rolled out.
The step that matters
Cutting the lard in without rubbing. Keeping the lard in distinct lumps rather than blending it into the flour keeps pockets of fat intact. As the fat melts in the oven, it leaves gaps that give the pastry its flakiness.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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