First of all, I don’t know the correct term: puff pastry or choux pastry. Choux pastry is the term i found in my cooking book but i think, the more popular name is Puff Pastry (when filled with cream, people name it Cream Puff (^_^)” )
I made this kind of pastry long time ago and succeeded at first trial but yesterday, it was horrible! I was failed and failed and failed! I didn’t know what happened!
The problem and cake result:
- The cooking magazine mentioned to use only bottom heater at 200C 25C. I did it. It was failed. I added time, there nothing happen. TAT .
- The cake became flat. I felt it was more like macaron than puff pastry.
What I did/solution idea:
- I look in youtube about how to make puff pastry. I found joyofbaking and cooking with dog are best in explanation. I also notice that their recipe is actually not far different from the cooking magazine I have used as reference.
- I decided to use cooking with dog’s puff pastry recipe.
- First of all, to be noted is IT IS NOT MERELY THE RECIPE THAT MATTERS BUT THE TECHNIQUE AND THEIR EXPLANATION. IT IS IMPORTANT TO WATCH AND LISTEN WHAT THEY SAY.
The result after learning from youtube
- FAILED again! Hahahahaha. So, this is the story: I mixed between youtube’s recipe and magazine recipe, so, the recipe itself was wrong. I still used bottom heater and baked at 200C about 30 minutes.
- The first batch of dough was failed but the second batch. Nah, this! Since i have nothing too loose anymore (it was a wrong recipe anyway. So, whatever), I raised the temperature until about 210C and baked about 35-40 minutes. I used both top and bottom heater. The dough was quite liquid, so, on the second batch, I used tin cake cup as the ‘mould’ for the dough. The result? AMAZING! The dough increased like crazy but beautiful. The inside was hollow but the pastry form is stable and strong. Only because, may be, it was more liquid than should be, the pastry became thin. It was good actually, the thin-ness but there were holes on the bottom. Haha. So, too liquid isn’t good, too. And after I filled with filling, the pastry was not crispy anymore, instead it became soft.
- I remade the pastry with correct recipe. I used 2 eggs instead 3 eggs. After 2 eggs, I checked the dough and I felt, it was already ok. I wasn’t sure to add more eggs. I didn’t want my dough became too liquid like before. I baked 40 minutes. It became hardened outside but inside was ok. I think 35 minutes would be ok. Temperature was still the same, 210C, top-bottom heater were on. The result was amazing.
The second batch of the correct recipe dough was again using tin cake cup. I think, I only set about 35 minutes (or 40 minutes too but took it out before that). The result? Another beautiful explosion. I love it.
Conclusion
- Again, KNOW OUR OWN OVEN ‘NATURE’. I don’t know 200C 210C should be standard but as all the experts say, know your own oven. Sometimes, it’s not the same. Yes, it is! For some oven may be only using 1 heater is ok but for my small oven, 2 heaters are a must. I used about 28 or may be 30L oven (i forgot…but kind of medium, not very big oven).
- Making puff pastry need high temperature. We can compromise with the baking time but high temperature is a must. In my case, I can reduce baking time or add it, but high temperature is a must.
- Pay attention to how the dough-before-being-baked should be. You can see in the referenced youtube I mentioned above.
The usage of tin cup.
The usage of tin cup is good but I prefer to directly put the dough on the pan.
The usage of tin cup:
- If the dough is too much, the result can be the bottom of the puff has holes. Perhaps, it’s because the dough can’t expand proportionately. The tin cup impedes the dough from expansion. The dough is also ‘raised’ from the bottom sometimes. So, when we take the cake off the tin cup, it looks expand properly on the top but it is flat.
- Yet, perhaps, with some practice, using cup will be ok. It can be succeeded though when we use quite liquid puff pastry dough, like what i had done with wrong recipe (^_^)’.