Boulangerie meet patisserie
This is the result of my youngest boy getting tired of baguettes so I promised we'd make croissants and pain aux chocolate together - he did a good part of the rolling but fell asleep during last night's lamination efforts which which started out disastrously. For the record I would not recommend kerrygold butter for vienoise pastries. Its melting point is way too low. In the past I have relied on lurpak which is much more plastic and contains the ideal butter fat content. I had this idea (after checking specs online) that kerrygold may be a better deal than lurpak but even after chilling the kerrygold, it immediately softened and splooshed everywhere. So there's a huge puffed up wasted dough in my trash can after rushing out late at night to procure some more butter. Ended up using plugras and got some decent result. As. For the baguettes - nice shapes, ok crumb. Still trying to figure out what the secret was to last week's epic crumb and thinking probably the extra hydration percentage point as I did 73% as opposed to the usual 71 or 72. Only more experimentation can tell :)
years running their US distribution operations, I can tell you that there is no better butter in this planet than KerryGold Butter. There is something about that Emerald Islands' green grass that make the milk one of a kind in the entire world, very rich in fat - and it makes the best butter and puff pastries if you know how. I have done hundreds of blind taste tests and KerryGold won every one of them against all comers - ho holds barred.
There is a trick though and it requires a slightly different process. First you shred the near frozen butter and then freeze it into a square to match your paste and you only do one turn at a time instead of two . You freeze it instead of refrigerating it between turns. All your problems are solved and your puff paste pastry is much better. Your technique looks fine but knowing the process is a big help when using KerryGold Butter. I can make it in the summer here in the AZ heat following this process. Making puff paste with the kids has to be a special treat since they love the output so much. You are blessed
Happy baking
Thanks very much for confirming what I was thinking. After thinking about it I figured it could be done with a modification of technique. I too am a huge fan of kerrygold as it reminds me of the butter I ate as a kid growing up in Sydney - Australian butter looks and tastes very similar so its a staple here and my boys are so very much acclimated to it often times complaining if their vegemite toast is made with American butter. Before I came here as a teen kids in school predicted I would reject the food here but, at the time I thought they were out of their minds considering the cornucopia of food-for-entertainment such as hot dogs with 20 toppings, ice cream with made with half the candy isle of 7/11 mixed in. Now however, I crave some of the simple things that were readily available and at the time, seemed rather boring like licorice ice cream, donner kebabs with barbecue sauce and the most of all the pedestrian meat pie.
Back to kerrygold and puff pastry however - I was thinking just that - of using the freezer - it obviously has a lower melting point (that was clear within minutes of prepping the slab). The key to laminates is ensuring the dough and butter have similiar malleability. Its been a long time since I have done laminates so on an excited to give it another shot and glad to here that you recommend it. Its incredible how much a little extra butter fat affects the block.
Btw are you originally from Ireland - if so when are you going to include a black pudding in one of your photo shoots ?
The output is already completely consumed. Was definitely a treat - having kids participate in food preparation is both fun and really educational. They have become sort of bored of bread - it's lost its charm (until one of their friends come over then they brag) but it is also a reminder to mix it up and keep it fun. Thinking now about rebooting the meat pie machine - we had a shop open up nearby that made great authentic pies completely from scratch and that was an excuse to find another challenge (obviously baguettes) but they unfortunately closed several months back and we now once again have a supply shortage (until at least they reopen or I can find my pie forms)
I'm a kiwi, so meat pies are part of my heritage too! you can't beat a good one but today there are all sorts that are lovely. I don't eat them often, or even make them but you have me craving one right now.... I don't know as I have never seen a commercial recipe, but was surprised by the nutmeg but totally agree re the soy sauce and/or worchester sauce - from where I sit, a classical combination used in many instances a few decades back.
loved the bake kendalm, wonderful to have your son's input.
Leslie