About Commercial Puff Pastry
Sure, you can make your own puff pastry, but why bother? I’ve done it, just to prove to myself that I could, but it is a great big pain in the euphemism and it isn’t any better than the commercial stuff.
Commercial Puff Pastry is made by several companies, and is usually sold frozen. It comes in a long slim box containing two sheets of dough. Puff pastry should not be confused with Philo Dough, which comes in the same size box. Philo dough is totally different and although some recipes say it can be used interchangeably with puff pastry, the end result will be totally different.
When using commercial puff pastry, remove the box from the freezer and allow to thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator over-night. DO NOT attempt to hasten the thawing by putting it in a microwave. When thawed, remove one sheet from the box and gently unfold. If you are not going to use both sheets of pastry, wrap the remaining one in plastic, return to its box and re-freeze. Lightly flour a work surface. Unfold the thawed sheet of pastry lay on the foured work space. Very lightly dust the top of it with flour. Gently roll with a rolling pin to somewhat eliminate the creases made by the folds. Cut into needed size or shape and bake as directed by your recipe.
If your recipe calls for sheets of puff pastry, read the box carefully before buying to make sure you get “sheets,” not shells. Puff pastry shells come in the same size and shape box. They are very useful for a number of things like the classic, Bousch a la Renn.
Using commercial puff pastry is fun and easy and will open a whole new world of baking to you, both sweet and savory. Pastry Wrapped Baked Pears, Banbury Cakes and Strudel being just a few.