Plain Paste

This is a shortened version of the puff paste that precedes it, and it assumes you have that recipe in front of you: no quantities appear here at all. The method described urfoland rolal is a rough puff, and everything depends on keeping the fat cold.

• No ingredient listThe entry is a variation, not a standalone recipe. It depends on the puff paste above it: flour, cold water and a mixture of butter and lard, in less fat than that recipe uses. Plain pastes of this sort generally carry noticeably less fat in proportion to flour than puff paste, though this entry gives no figures.
• LardLard was a common American pastry fat, and leaf lard in particular was prized for pastry. Modern hydrogenated block lard behaves differently; rendered leaf lard from a butcher, or all butter, are the usual substitutions.
• Cold is the hingeRolling and folding only produces layers if the fat stays solid and streaky. Ice water, chilled bowl, and a rest in the refrigerator between folds. Fat that smears into the flour gives a crust that is short but not flaky.
• "Roll out into thin sheets and fold over and over into a roll"This is a jelly-roll fold rather than the book-fold most modern bakers use. Cutting crosswise from the roll exposes the spiral, which is why the slices puff into leaves when rolled out again.
• "A proper thickness"For a pie shell, about an eighth of an inch is the usual modern reading. Thinner for tart shells and patty cases.
• BakingThe book gives none. As a modern starting point, pastry of this type is usually baked in a hot oven, around 425F, reduced once the crust has set.
• YieldThe recipe gives no quantities, so yield depends entirely on how much you make. The dough keeps in the roll, wrapped tight.