This Hairy Bikers rough puff pastry recipe cuts cold butter into strong bread flour, then rolls and folds it six times for flaky layers. Plus one Perfect Pies batch lids a pie for 4 to 6 in 90 minutes with chilling, and I estimate 360 calories per sixth.
They promise it “rises beautifully, is flaky and golden”, and they insist on strong white bread flour for its extra gluten. Whereas the rough puff in their Brilliant Bakes leaves out the lemon and gets folded far fewer times.
Cold fat decides whether it rises, because they warn in Perfect Pies that puff pastry softened too much won’t rise. So any pie filling must be completely cold before the lid goes on, and they chill the pie at least 30 minutes before baking.
Hairy Bikers Rough Puff Pastry Recipe
Description
A round-bladed knife does all the mixing here, chopping the butter through salted flour before lemon-sharpened water binds the dough. Then three shallow dents after every quarter turn keep the edges straight, before it chills for an hour or overnight.
Ingredients
For the pastry
Instructions
- Cut in the butter: Put the flour and salt into a large bowl and add the butter. Then cut it into the flour with a round-bladed knife, chopping it smaller and smaller and tossing until lightly coated.
- Bring it together: Add the lemon juice to the water and pour it into the bowl. Then keep working it with the knife until the dough comes together and the bowl is almost clean.
- Roll out: Turn the dough onto a floured surface and roll it out with a well-floured rolling pin. Then aim for a rectangle about 3 times as long as it is wide.
- Fold and turn: Fold the top third down, then the bottom third up, and press the edges with the rolling pin. Next give it a quarter turn, press 3 shallow dents across it to keep the edges straight, and roll it into a rectangle again.
- Repeat: Repeat the rolling, folding, pressing and quarter turn 5 more times, keeping the surface and pin well floured. If some softened butter escapes, just dust heavily with flour and carry on.
- Chill: Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for at least an hour, or overnight. Then let it stand at room temperature for a few minutes before rolling.
FAQs
Can you freeze rough puff pastry?
Yes, they say it freezes well for up to 2 months, wrapped in cling film and then foil. Then thaw it overnight in the fridge, or for 2 to 3 hours at room temperature.
How is their Brilliant Bakes rough puff different?
That version uses 225g each of plain flour and butter in 1cm cubes, rubbed or mashed just until flat, plus 125ml of iced water. Then it chills for half an hour before one roll, cut in half and folded twice into 4 layers.
They use it for spinach and lentil pasties and for apple turnovers, where a tablespoon of caster sugar goes into the dough.
Which savoury pies use this pastry?
In Perfect Pies, one batch lids their superb steak and ale pie and their chicken and wild mushroom pie. And both recipes offer a 500g block of ready-made puff instead, which gives a rough idea of one batch’s size.
Can you use shop-bought puff pastry instead?
Yes, they write that puff is harder than shortcrust to make at home, and that you can buy excellent all-butter puff now. For ready-rolled sheets, they take them out of the fridge about 5 minutes before unrolling, and use them soon after buying.
Then with a block, the same 3 shallow dents across the top help it roll out straight without stretching.
What other homemade flaky pastries do they make?
Their steak and Stilton pie uses a rough puff with 250g each of flour and butter, rubbed to breadcrumbs first. And the Mums Know Best sausage plait, from Lincolnshire chef Yvonne Langford, has lard and margarine stirred in with a knife, never rubbed.
Plus Perfect Pies has a flaky freezer pastry, with 250g of frozen butter coarsely grated into 400g of plain flour.
