Bake 2.21: Laminated Pastry

For the showstopper in the patisserie episode (the semi-final!) the bakers were asked to make three pastries from the same laminated dough. I did a lot of reading in the books I have, my favorite blogs, and watching of videos and was feeling limited confidence in making a laminated pastry successfully. 

In the end I was half successful, and in the midst of being half successful my mixer died. So I will be remaking the dough next weekend after the already ordered new mixer comes in the mail in hopes of getting even closer to top notch pastry. 

In my practice I followed the tips in Claire Saffitz' book Dessert Person, and King Arthur Baking Company and used the recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Sally's Baking Addiction. There is a good video by Sally too if you are a learner who likes videos. The recipe is here.

When I first shaped the butter (by hand since the mixer died when making the dough) and put it in the fridge for the requisite 30 minutes I learned that my fridge is too cold. When I went to roll the dough the butter layer cracked into a bunch of pieces. I let it warm up and then continued with the turns and rather than refrigerating for 30 minutes again, I cut the time to 15 minutes. I was able to save the dough enough to still get some flaky layers. Next time around I will play with the temperature and how long to chill in the fridge. 

I decided to practice shaping so not to waste the dough, doing pinwheels, plaits, Danish, and croissants with half the dough. With the other half, I rolled it out into a large rectangle, sprinkled with 1 tablespoon cinnamon and a healthy dose of brown sugar (1/2 cup give or take), rolled it up into a log, cut into 12 pieces, and baked. Once finished baking I glazed them with a simple mixture of powdered sugar, milk, and pinch of salt that I whisked together until smooth. 

So even if your laminated dough doesn't work out perfectly, there are delicious options! YUM!

Easy Danish, twisted dough, filled with strawberry jam and glazed.

To ensure the rolls maintained their round shape I baked them in a muffin tin.

Stay tuned for another attempt at laminated pastry here soon!