Puff pastry is obviously quite popular in pastry preparations as it is ideal to make several flaky and crispy sweets. Despite containing only four ingredients – flour, water, butter, and salt – its preparation requires great care and a number of tricks. The preparation of this type of dough includes an initial base, rolled out with a rolling pin, and then other layers using a puff pastry machine. The folding is done by actually folding the same flattened dough over on itself several times. After each folding step, the dough is left to rest in the refrigerator for 20 to 60 minutes.
THE INGREDIENTS
Flour: normally medium-strong type (about 230 W) is used to get a very puffy and crispy final product. As a matter of fact, weak flour would give a nice crispness but poor layering while stronger flour would give good layering and lightness but poor crispness.
Water: initially used to dissolve the salt, it is then mixed with flour; during cooking, the steam helps the layers of the pastry rise. The amount of water depends on the quality of the flour used.
Butter: a high quality product is to be preferred as it improves the flavour of the final product.
Salt: added to improve the flavour of the dough. The recommended measurement is 20 g per kilo of flour.
THE “FOLDS”
There are different ways to add layers to the pastry, depending on the number of folds and thickness of the dough. The most common is the 3-layer technique (3 layers out of two folds), but there is also the 4-layer technique (4 layers out of three movements). For example, the dough can have 4 layers (out of 4 different folds), three layers (out of 5 folds) or 6 out of 3, etc. A different number of folds gives a different rise of the dough during cooking and a specific crispness: many folds give a very crumbly and slightly thick pastry; fewer folds give an irregular and somewhat more elastic dough.
VICENZI, 192 PUFF PASTRY LAYERS
Vincenzi is the Italian puff pastry specialist. Among its products are Savoiardi (ladyfingers) and Amaretti, however the company’s most famous product worldwide is Millefoglie (puff pastry, in Italian). This is a confectionery product that is the result of expertise, a careful selection of ingredients, tradition, and passion: the only product on the market that can boast 192 layers. This is a result that can only be guaranteed by an industrial production, one that has overtaken craftsmanship, without using any leavening, biological or chemical agents. Quality ingredients are a must: selected flour with a medium-high gluten content, top quality butter, as well as careful and fully monitored cooking process that keeps constant low humidity levels. During baking, the dough rises thanks to the heat. The dough becomes incredibly light and gives the finished product its characteristic crispness. Also the packaging is essential. It stops the product from losing freshness and crispness. Special aluminum wrappings protect the product from light and moisture. This is something important especially when Millefoglie is exported to hot countries, such as the Middle East, a strategic area for the company. Up to 35 million Millefoglie are consumed every year in Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E.