subject: The benefits of working with puffed pastry [print this page] The benefits of working with puffed pastry
Autumn desserts often revolve around fruit that's in season such as apples and pears mixed with the warming flavours of cinnamon and cloves. Adding a few cranberries for a hint of tartness and some nuts for crunch results in an autumn dessert that is inspired and delicious. Using frozen puff pastry keeps things simple.
Working with Puff Pastry
The key to working with frozen puff pastry for this recipe is to make sure it's still cold when it's rolled out. Puffed Pastry that is too warm will tear and leak. Leave the frozen pastry on the counter to thaw at room temperature for about 45 minutes to one hour. The pastry can also be thawed overnight in the fridge. Work quickly to roll the dough out and place the filling inside. The filling can be made in advance and refrigerated until ready to use. Using a bit of egg to seal the pastry will keep it from leaking while baking.
History:
Puffed Pastry seems to be a relative of the Middle Eastern phyllo, and is used in a similar manner to create layered pastries. While traditionally ascribed to the French painter and cook Claude Gele who lived in the 1600s (the story goes that Gele was making a type of very buttery bread for his sick father, and the process of rolling the butter into the bread dough created a croissant-like finished product), references appear before the 1600s, indicating a history that came originally through Muslim Spain and was converted from thin sheets of dough spread with olive oil to laminated dough with layers of butter, perhaps in Italy or Germany.
