If the idea of making your own puff pastry feels way too time consuming and discouraging, with the numerous turns and hours of chilling, I have a solution for you: a recipe of express puff pastry using the snail folding method. The snail what, you are asking? No worry, I will show you how to do it. With that method, you will get your flaky pastry dough in minutes, and be able to use it in countless delicious ways.
Don’t expect your dough to rise as much as with a classical puff pastry, but I promise you will still have nice layers, a perfect crispiness and taste. Below you can see the baked rough puff pastry as I used it for my Epiphany galette this year. You can compare it with the galette I did previously with homemade classic puff pastry in this recipe of French galette des rois.
For this recipe you will need a blend of gluten free flours, namely brown rice, chickpea and potato starch, a pinch of salt and xanthan gum, which helps with the dough structure. You will also need ice cold water and very cold butter. I usually dice the butter and place it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before use. Your success depends on how properly chilled your ingredients are!
The first step is to mix the cold butter cubes into the flour blend for about one minutes until they are mixed together with still big lumps of butter. Then I add the ice-cold water and keep mixing shortly until the dough comes together. There should be chunks of butter left. I use a stand mixer, alternatively you can do it with the tip of your fingers, working quickly so as not to warm up the mixture.
Next drop the dough on a lightly floured parchment paper and get ready to roll. I recommend you would use film paper on top of the dough so it doesn’t stick to the rolling pin.
Now roll the dough on itself (here from left to right) flattening it at every turn Then roll it up into a snail shape.
Your puff pastry dough is ready! See how easy it was?
To roll it out, for example as a base for a pie, turn it as shown on the picture below, the snail should be upright in front of you.
It is January, so my puff pastry will be used to prepare a French Epiphany cake, or galette des rois. This puff pastry is enough for two circles of dough, approximately 26 cm, which will become the top and bottom of my galette. To do so, cut the snail into two pieces horizontally, meaning your knife would be in the same direction as the rolling pin in the above picture.
You can use a plate to cut neatly each of the two circles, simply by placing it on top of the rolled dough and using a sharp knife. Did you watch Caliméro animations as a child? This year my fève is a ninja Caliméro, my son being very much into ninjas nowadays. ^^
With the back of a knife I draw patterns to decorate the top of the galette. Time to be creative! Have a look at my French Epiphany Cake or Galette des rois recipe for all the instructions how to do the filling, the eggs wash and how to bake the galette.
Bon appétit!
- 100g brown rice flour
- 20g chickpea flour
- 130 potato starch
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp xanthan gum
- 150g ice cold water
- 200g very cold butter
- In a stand mixer bowl, mix the flours, starch, salt and xanthan gum.
- Pour the cold butter cubes into the flour blend and mix for about one minute until they are mixed together in a rough dough, with still big lumps of butter. Add the ice cold water and keep mixing shortly until the dough starts to get together. There should be chunks of butter left. (if you don't have a stand mixer, use your fingertips, working quickly so as not to warm up the mixture).
- Drop the dough on a lightly floured parchment paper and roll it out, using film paper on top of the dough so it doesn't stick to your rolling pin.
- Roll the dough on itself flattening it at every turn. Then shape it into a snail, by rolling up one end.
- Chill for 20 minutes before rolling it out for its final use.
- 100g farine de riz brun
- 20g farine de pois chiche
- 130 fécule de pomme de terre
- ½ cc sel
- ½ cc gomme de xanthane
- 150g d'eau glacée
- 200g de beurre très froid (placé au congélateur 15 minutes avant utilisation)
- Mélangez dans le bol de votre robot les farines, la fécule, le sel et la gomme de xanthane.
- Versez les cubes de beurre et mixer maximum une minute (Si vous n'avez pas de robot, utilisez le bout de vos doigts pour malaxer.). Ajoutez l'eau glacée et mélangez brièvement pour former une boule de pâte. Il ne faut pas obtenir de pâte homogène, il doit encore rester des morceaux de beurre.
- Versez la pâte sur le plan de travail recouvert d'un papier sulfurisé et saupoudré de farine. Placez du papier film sur la pâte pour l'empêcher de coller à votre rouleau, puis étalez-la.
- Repliez la pâte en la roulant sur elle-même et en l'aplatissant à chaque tour. Puis formez un escargot en roulant la pâte à nouveau sur elle-même.
- Réfrigérez la pâte pendant 20 minutes avant de l'étaler pour son utilisation finale.
This was my first attempt at a rough puff and it was definitely a good result! I will use this as my go-to recipe. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad to hear it, thank you Susan!
I would like to know though, can the unworked dough also be kept in the freezer until ready to use? Love this recipe!
Yes absolutely, you can wrap it well and keep in the freezer! What I would recommend is to flatten the snail with a rolling pin into a rectangle before freezing, so it will be easier to roll out afterwards.
This is a fantastic recipe. Thank you so much for developing it and then sharing it. I thought my normal rough puff recipe was good but this is much better. I also tried your khachapuri recipe. It worked perfectly, even the timings. Was so exciting to try as it looks so delicious in all the food magazines. What a treat. The bread base is great and I’m looking forward to experimenting with different fillings and shapes. I do hope you are considering writing a recipe book.
So happy these were helpful and successful for you Kirsten! Thank you for taking the time to write your feedback, it’s always great to hear how my recipes turn out in other people’s kitchen! 🙂