Easy Puff Pastry

1. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Cut the butter into 1cm lumps, dropping it into the flour as you go. Toss the butter through the flour to coat well.

2. Pour in the lemon juice and cold water and mix to a rough dough with a round-bladed table knife, then your fingertips. The lumps of butter will be plainly visible in the pebbly mix. Turn the dough onto a floured board and shape into a roughly rectangular block.

3. With a short side of the rectangle facing you, take a clean, floured rolling pin and begin rolling out the pastry using short, jerky strokes, extending it out into a rectangle about 1cm thick. Try to keep the sides straight and the corners square.

4. Mark the dough across into three equal sections, and fold up the lower third, then fold the top third down over the lower part and push the edges gently with your rolling pin to seal them.

5. Give the dough a quarter turn so that the bottom edge is now on your right and a short side is again facing you. This is one ‘turn’.

6. Repeat the rolling, folding and turning three or four more times, using short movements and lifting the rolling pin frequently. After the fourth turn there should no longer be any streaks of butter visible.

7. Wrap in greaseproof paper and chill until quite cold before using.
Store for 3-4 days in a fridge or 1-2 months in a freezer.
When freezing, roll out the pastry into thin sheets, freeze on a tray until solid, and then transfer to a large zip lock bag for storage (placing baking paper between the sheets). This method ensures quick and easy defrosting for added convenience. Alternatively, freeze the pastry in a block, allowing extra time for thawing before rolling out as needed.