I’ve been playing with flour and butter for some time now. I had recently attempted a take on blue cheese and raisins gougères, it was quite a disaster honestly, don’t tell anyone. What you can tell everyone is that boiling some water, melting some butter and adding some flour while stirring really really fast can get you a very quick pie crust of sorts.
Yes, this is the base for making pate au choux, prior to adding the eggs and stirring in the cheese if making gougères. The whole process will take less than 10 minutes… I know I said 5, I’m sure if you move really fast you can make it happen, but less than 10 minutes for a quick flaky pie crust? no mess too, no flour all over the kitchen, you dont even use your hands, that ain’t so bad, right? I used this flaky pie crust to encase a delicious beef stew, should do a decent job at beef wellington too:
and to make quick palmieres which I’ll cover in somewhat more detail here or you can visit my previous post if you want to experience the pain of making them for real. The ratios I’ve given could be adjusted. I would like to invert the water and butter ratio for a richer product that bakes faster. I’ll report back when I have a test worth sharing. Enough talk, here’s how you make this:
Gear:
small or medium pot
silicon spatula
stove
oven at 375f
cutting board
knife or pastry cutter
parchment paper
baking rack
Ingredients:
100% water
40% butter
60% AP flour
pinch of salt
Method:
01: boil water
02: melt butter in the boiling water, keep the butter emulsified, stir
03: remove from heat and add flour and mix with spatula until a paste forms
04: should pull away from the pot, let cool
05: wrap in plastic and place in fridge
06: best if used the next day, but a good 20 minute rest should do
07: roll out into thin sheets 2mm think and you are in business
hope you enjoyed it and found this useful in your future pie baking adventures.
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4 comments
I can see the attraction, Paul. A wonderful pastty dough, of sorts, in less than 10 minutes? Why not give it a try? Not being able to come up with a good reason, I think I just might. If the result is that I can finally master palmieres, it will be well worth the effort. Thanks for sharing the recipe and link to your palmieres recipe.
you’re welcome John! if you try it, leave the dough rest in the fridge for at least an hour, my best results seem to be after an overnight rest, the flour is fully hydrated and easier to roll out and shape. Let me know if you try it how it goes please!
Very interesting! I’ve never heard of this method for pastry making. I adore pastry, I could live on pies! However, I have a bit of a love/hate (ok, only hate) relationship with my rolling pin. It never seems to do what I want it to. I will have to give it another chance with this quick and easy recipe. Thanks!
Ah thanks! I love making pastry as well and I have had my fair share of disappointing moments with my rolling pin, but I keep telling myself to persevere! hahhah Thanks for checking my post, i have a few more on baking and pastry if you are interested, Id love to know what you think!