This recipe was adapted from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu1UwtFDz30&feature=share
Be sure to check out this video for additional advice, and
for visuals of how the dough should look at each stage.
Let me start by telling you, I resisted using a scale in my baking. I didn't want to. I bake more like a cook (often measuring by sight). I can tell you, this recipe took me months and multiple trials to get it. Weighing the ingredients was key to making it work.
Also, the suggestions regarding plastic wrap/waxed paper have saved me from accidentally over rolling or tearing the dough and having the butter "peek" out. I have tried to make this recipe as user friendly as I possibly can. These tips are to help you have the best chance at success in your own kitchen. If you have other advice or suggestions, feel free to let me know. Gluten Free Baking is not easy, but it is possible.
I have frozen this dough for a week, defrosted it in the fridge, then let it come to the appropriate temperature/texture on the counter top to roll it out and use it. It worked wonderfully. Again, when rolling it out, be sure to surround the dough. When I'm rolling it out for use, I roll it out on parchment paper so I can transfer the finished product onto a cookie sheet or a baking stone.
Ingredients
- 1 pound gluten free flour (about 3 1/4 cups), plus more for dusting
- Need to measure to ensure accuracy. 1lb=16oz=458 grams
- Flour blend is:
- 2/3 parts garfava flour
- 1/3 part sorghum flour
- 1 part constarch
- 1 part tapioca starch
- 1 pound (4 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces. European style butters work great for this recipe – higher fat content.
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Directions
Measure
your flour into a separate container, and be sure to blend it well before beginning
to weigh it.
Weigh the
flour accurately. For this recipe, you need to weigh your ingredients. This is one recipe that can’t simply be measured
in cups.
In a
stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter smooth. Add 1/2
cup of the flour. This is okay to measure out with a half cup. Mix until
smooth. Scrape this dough into a flat square about 1 inch thick, it should
measure about 5 inches by 5 inches. Check out the video to see how to use the
plastic wrap to help shape this butter square.
Wrap well in plastic, and chill for up to 30 minutes.
In a
large bowl, combine remaining flour with the salt and put into the bowl of a
mixer. While the mixer is running, gradually add the cream and mix until a rough,
shaggy dough is formed; it should not be sticky (see video for visual example).
Do not over mix. Roll the dough into a rectangle, about 12 by 7 inches, wrap in
plastic, and chill, about 30 minutes. You want the butter and the dough to be
the same consistency.
Remove the flour dough from the
refrigerator. For rolling out my gluten
free puff pastry, I use a piece of plastic wrap on the bottom, and a sheet of
waxed paper on top. Lightly dust the
plastic wrap with flour, or lightly flower the dough, lay it on the plastic wrap.
Do not flour the top side of the
dough.
Place the
butter square at the bottom edge of the rectangle, and fold the flour dough
over to completely encase the butter, sealing the edges by pinching them
together and forming tight hospital corners at the edges (see video for visual
of this step). Wrap well in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes. You want
to be able to press about a quarter inch indentation into the dough.
If it’s too hard or too soft it won’t work.
This
completes the first turn. Pound across the dough, again in regular intervals,
and roll out again to a 20-by-9-inch rectangle, rolling in the same lengthwise
direction. Fold dough again into thirds. This completes the second turn. Wrap
dough in plastic and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour.
This image is of my dough,
immediately following folding it into thirds.
It is hard to see in this image, but it is folded into thirds. There is
no visual butter. If you can see
blotches of butter, the dough is not likely to turn out. Keeping the dough and butter chilled is key
to preventing the butter from peeking through the dough. At this point, I need to remove the dough
from the plastic wrap, lightly dust the bottom of the dough, and turn it 1/4 turn
to roll it the next direction.
Repeat
the rolling, turning, and chilling process for a total of six turns; always
start each turn with the opening of the dough to the right, and always make
your trifold in the same manner, that is, by starting from either the top of
the dough or the bottom each time. By the sixth and final turn, the dough
should be very smooth, with no lumps of butter visible. Use as little flour as
possible for the rolling, and brush off any excess before folding the dough. If
the dough becomes too elastic or too warm to work with, return it to the
refrigerator until firm.
Wrap the
finished dough in plastic and refrigerate until ready to use, at least 2 hours
after your final turn, or freeze for future use.
Suggestions for
working with plastic wrap
Using a damp cloth, wipe the counter top so it is damp. You can then stretch the plastic wrap onto
this surface and press it down. The
plastic wrap will adhere to the counter top, so that it does not shift around
while you roll dough on it. When you
fold and turn the dough, be sure to wipe the counter underneath the plastic
wrap again if needed to help it adhere to the counter top.
