QUICK AND EASY FLAKY PASTRY

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup or 175 g butter at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups or 225 g Plain / All purpose flour, sieved
• pinch of salt
• 1/4-1/2 cup or 100 ml of cold water
• 2 tablespoons sugar if making a sweet dish.

• Instructions

  1. Mix the sieved flour and salt in a bowl. (add sugar if using)
  2. Weigh out the butter and divide into 4 amounts.
  3. Add one portion of the butter to the flour and using a round bladed knife, incorporate the butter and flour, whilst slowly adding enough cold water until the mixture comes together to form an elastic dough.
  4. Dust the rolling surface with flour, and turn the dough out. Roll out the dough into a rectangle shape (see photo) and keep rolling, adding more flour if necessary to stop from sticking, until the dough is about 4 mm thickness.
  5. Rub any excess flour from the surface and using the next portion of butter, dot the butter (about 1 cm dots) on two thirds of the rolled out pastry evenly. (see photo).
  6. Fold the pastry into three portions, bringing the end without butter to the centre, then folding down the other third. (see photo)
  7. Press together pastry edges with your fingers, give the pastry half a turn and roll out lightly again until the pastry is 4 mm thick (same size before you dotted with butter).
  8. Repeat steps 5 – 7 twice more, then fold into three, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.