How does puff pastry rise

Make sure the dough and the butter are both chilled and at similar if not the same temperatures. The butter can be soft but not enough to melt into the dough and become incorporated with it.

If that happens, then you will not get a puff pastry that has thin and flaky layers. Try to roll firmly but gently, and do not roll over the edges of the dough. Doing so can press the layers together and give you a puff pastry that is doughy on the edges.

You may feel tempted to roll the dough out thinly because you think it will give you a flakier puff pastry. On the other hand, a thicker dough will be too heavy to rise properly, and the texture of it, when baked, will be doughy. While there is some folding and rolling needed in order to make the perfect type of puff pastry, you definitely do not want to handle the dough too much. The more you handle the dough, the more you increase the gluten content. This will lead to the dough becoming stretchy and flat.

Once it reaches that stage, it will be impossible for it to bake into layered and crisp puff pastry. When cutting the dough after rolling it, you need to use a knife or pastry cutting tool that will not press the layers of dough against each other too much. Why does the puff pastry dough have white spots or ice crystals on it? Possible Causes. Dough was temperature abused. Work surface is tacky. Work surface or dough is too warm to handle.

Dough is rolled too thin. Roll dough thinner before using For a flatter pastry without much puff—like a Napoleon—prick the dough all over with a fork, place parchment paper on top, then place several sheet pans on top of that to weigh it down. Fat is melting and steam pockets cause the bubbles. Products made from puff pastry sheets, slabs and squares were not crimped properly. Dough was allowed to thaw and butter wept from dough. Keep thawed dough pieces refrigerated until ready to use.

Dough was proofed prior to baking. Dough was rolled out too hard and compressed the layers. Dough is too soft, causing layers to stick together. Egg wash has gotten on the edges of the dough. Dough is coming to the end of its shelf life.

For extra-thin, crisp Puff Pastry, set a second baking sheet on top of the filled pastry before baking. To create a tart with an extra puffy crust: take a knife and score two lines around the edge, then prick the area inside this border with a fork.

Puff Pastry fillings should be at room temperature. The kind of pan you use can affect baking times. Asked 11 years, 3 months ago. Active 7 years, 8 months ago. Viewed 46k times.

Improve this question. How hot was your oven? Did you preheat the oven? Yes I did. Also, I use an oven thermometer to be sure the oven temperature is true.

Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. Darin Sehnert Darin Sehnert 18k 55 55 silver badges 78 78 bronze badges. Now that you mention the egg wash, I used a sprig of sage to apply it thinking it would impart just a touch of extra flavor.