- Cut the butter into about 150 more or less evenly sized pieces. Wrap closely in plastic wrap or a freezer bag and freeze for at least several hours (longer is fine).
- Place the frozen butter, flour, water and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process for 15 seconds, or just until the flour and water are mixed together.
- Turn the dough (which will be quite lumpy and in pieces) onto a lightly floured surface. Quickly gather the dough into a rectangular mass about 10 x 20 centimeters (4 x 8 inches).
- Using a lightly floured rolling pin roll the dough out into a rectangle about 15 x 30 centimeters (6 x 12 inches), with the shorter side facing you. Fold the bottom edge up to 1/3 from the top, and fold the top edge down on top of this. Turn the dough 1/4 turn and roll it out again to about the same size. Once again fold and turn the dough. Continue rolling out, folding and turning the dough two more times, so that in the end you have rolled it out four times.
- Fold and gather the dough one final time trying to approximate the shape you wish to achieve with the final product - ie a disc if you are aiming for a circle, a boxy shape for a square or rectangle, etc.
- At this point you can roll the dough into whatever shape you wish. Refrigerate the shaped dough for at least 20 minutes before preceding with your recipe.
Yield: This recipe makes 375 grams (14 ounces) of dough or enough for one 25 centimeter (10 inch) round tart pan.
Freezing: Puff pastry can be shaped and frozen for later use. Defrost in the refrigerator before using or you can blind bake it directly from the freezer.
Blind baking: Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes depending on size of pastry and your oven.
Reheating: Puff pastry is always best warm. You can bake it ahead of time and rewarm it in the oven for a few minutes.
