The Top Tip You Need To Know When Shopping For Frozen Puff Pastry
One of the trade-offs of choosing the daunting task of making any food by hand instead of opting for the store-bought stuff is that you get to choose the ingredients. But that doesn't mean you must relinquish control when strolling down the grocery store aisle. It pays to be picky and selective, even if you've outsourced some of your food prep. One case where this rings true is with frozen puff pastry. Not only is it a handy, time-saving product, but you don't have to sacrifice quality just because you've chosen to skip out on one of the most challenging baking tasks. That's why you should always go with a frozen puff pastry that contains only butter.
The brands that contain shortening or other fats just can't hold up to the classic taste of butter stacked between thin sheets of tender dough. The luscious dairy product will also provide an overall richer and flakier texture. Besides, it's this fat that defines the puff pastry in the first place.
Different doughs, different fats
There are many different types of pastry dough available in the world of baking. They all have varied characteristics that set them apart, but one of the most defining is the use of butter.
Butter, and how it's incorporated, is what separates a croissant dough from puff pastry, or rough puff, and certainly from phyllo dough. While phyllo dough is folded over and laminated so that it puffs up similarly to puff pastry, it's commonly made with oil rather than butter. This gives it a slightly different flavor and appearance.
The same goes for puff pastry; just because you're choosing the frozen stuff doesn't mean it shouldn't live up to this baking ingredient's decadent reputation. The use of butter is essential to this, and shortening or another substitute just won't deliver the same kind of boldness that you're looking for from a puff pastry. But it's not just incorporating butter that's important. You'll also want to consider the amount and type of butter used.
The best butter for puff pastry
If you want to go a step further than just finding a frozen puff pastry that uses butter, you should be on the lookout for one that contains high-fat butter. One of the biggest things you can do wrong with puff pastry is to use the wrong butter.
Puff pastry is a butter-forward food. Thanks to that butter, its rich flavor and delicate layers all come together, so you should do all you can to enhance that. The ideal for puff pastry (even if it's frozen) is to use butter that has a higher butterfat content. Labels like "European" butter are typically signifiers of this. The more fat, the more flavorful and texturally pleasing your baked goods will be.
While they might only be higher in butterfat by a few percentage points, it can still make a difference. If you want to get the most from your frozen puff pastry, it might be worth tracking down a brand that only uses the good stuff.