Every housewife who prefers homemade cakes and homemade pastries has her own secret of making puff pastry. Like any other dough, puff pastry has its own subtleties and nuances during kneading. There are three main cooking methods, which I would call: fast, simple and classic. About how to make puff pastry at home for each of the selected cooking methods, we will discuss here.

Whichever recipe you choose, you will need: 250 grams of butter, 3 cups of flour, a pinch of salt, 2/3 cup of water, 1 tbsp of vinegar.

A quick way to make puff pastry or in a hurry.

The water is cooled in the freezer, the butter is melted to a liquid state, then everything is combined, salt and vinegar are added.

Roll out thin cakes (2-3 mm), lay them on a baking sheet, lightly prick with a fork.

An easy way to make puff pastry.

The water is cooled, the oil is rubbed on a coarse grater, all the ingredients are combined, the dough is kneaded.

Divided into 6-12 parts (depending on the size of the baked cakes), placed in the refrigerator for an hour.

Then, the cakes are rolled out, the thickness of which should be 2-3 mm, they are laid on a baking sheet, lightly pricked with a fork.

Puff pastry is a classic cooking method.

The butter is softened at room temperature and divided into 3 parts.

Knead the dough from flour, water, salt and vinegar.

On a table sprinkled with flour, the cake is rolled out, greased with one piece of butter (like a sandwich). Folded in an envelope or twisted into a tube and hidden in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Then, the cake is rolled out again and greased with oil. This is repeated for each piece of butter.

The necessary piece is cut from the finished dough and the cakes are rolled out 2-3 mm thick, laid on a baking sheet, lightly pricked with a fork.

In all three cases, bake at 180°C (in the presence of convection) or 200°C (in standard mode) for up to 15 minutes.

ADVIСE:

If you want to get more pronounced layers when baking, roll out the dough only in one direction.

It is good to let the dough rest before baking. It would be ideal if you knead it in the evening, and bake it in the morning.

Usually, cakes are baked on two baking sheets at the same time. This will greatly speed up the cooking process.

When the dough is ready, it's time to start the cream. The most common cream for Napoleon is custard.

In the classic version, 4 pcs are taken for 1 liter of milk. egg yolks, 400 gr sugar, 150 gr flour, vanilla/cognac optional.

Cooking begins with the fact that the milk must be boiled.

Mix the rest of the ingredients and stir until the mixture is smooth. Then, carefully pour in the milk, stirring well, put on fire.

Cook the cream, stirring well. When it reaches the state of sour cream, set aside to cool.

Remember that chilled custard will thicken even more.

Lubricate our puff cakes with cream, decorate the cake with scraps. Cake Napoleon is ready to eat, but it is better to let it brew for twelve hours. It will become much softer. But this is a matter of taste.

Often the portion of the cream is increased by 1.5-2 times. In this case, the cake is more wet.

OK it's all over Now. We master the cooking method you like, and it’s better to try everything and choose the best one for yourself, and we are convinced that Napoleon cake is very easy to cook at home. The mastered recipe for puff pastry can be used for various types of pastries: snacks, croissants, puffs, both sweet and savory.