Quick Chocolate Puff Pastry
Ingredients:
-
3 1/4
cups all-purpose flour
-
3/4
cup cocoa powder
-
1/4
cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
-
2
teaspoons salt
-
3
cups (6 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into rough 1/2-inch cubes, chilled
-
1
cup cold water
preparation:
-
Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in
the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add all the
butter to the bowl at once and mix for 30 seconds on low speed. You want
the butter to just start to break up and incorporate into the flour.
Add the cold water and mix for 15 seconds. At this point the “dough”
will look shaggy, crumbly and quite dry. (If you don’t have a stand
mixer, you can do this by hand. Rub the cold pieces of butter between
your thumb and forefinger to partially flatten it. This helps to
encourage the butter layers.)
-
Roughly shape the mess of “dough” into a rectangle.
Fold the right third of the dough over to the center. Now fold the
remaining left third over the center (kind of like you're folding a
letter), so that you have a stack of three layers. Rotate the dough 90°.
This was your first turn. (A bench scraper comes in handy during this
process. The dough will likely fall apart at some point during the first
3 turns; when it does, simply use your hands to press the dough back
together.)
-
Using the palm of your hands, push the dough back into
a flattened rectangle and repeat the process 2 more times for a total
of 3 turns. If at any point the butter gets soft or the dough becomes
too difficult to work with, just place it in the fridge to rest for at
least 30 minutes.
-
After 3 turns, wrap with plastic wrap, then let rest
in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour. If time is an
issue, you can leave the dough overnight, well wrapped in the
refrigerator—just let it rest on the counter for 10 minutes to remove
the chill from the butter slightly before starting the turning process
again.
-
Once the dough has rested, the water will have
hydrated much of the flour and it should resemble a dough. Continue with
3 more turns, this time using a rolling pin. Let the dough rest again
in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. At this point, your dough is ready
to use!
-
You can use the chocolate puff pastry in any desserts
or pastries where you would use regular puff pastry. Bake the cold dough
in a hot oven (400° F) for the first 15 to 20 minutes, then turn down
the oven to 350° F and continue to bake until the dough is set, about 15
to 20 minutes more. Brush the edges with cream or egg wash for a shine.
I like to sprinkle the dough with a good bit of sugar before sending it
into the oven.
