Puff Pastry Recipe

Ingredients for Puff Pastry

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 cups flour
• 1 yolk of egg
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• Cold water

Instructions

1. Measure vegetable shortening and set in cold place to chill itsift flour and salt into basin, and add lemon juice.
2. Take a quarter of the vegetable shortening, and rub it lightly into flour with finger tips until there are no lumps left.
3. Beat yolk of egg and add a little cold water, then add them to the flour, making them into a stiffish dough.
4. Turn this on to floured board, and work well with hands until it will no longer stick to fingers and forms a perfectly smooth dough.
5. Form into oblong piece and roll out to about half inch thickness.
6. The vegetable shortening to be used should be as nearly as possible of same consistency as the paste.
7. Form it into neat flat cake, and place in center of pastry.
8. Fold up rather loosely, and flat the folds with rolling-pin.
9. Place in refrigerator for ten minutes.
10. Then roll out pastry into long narrow strip, being careful that vegetable shortening does not get through.
11. Fold exactly in three, press down folds, and lay aside in cool place or in refrigerator fifteen minutes.
12. This is called giving the pastry one "turn" and seven of these is the number required for this pastry.
13. The next time the pastry is rolled, place it with the joins at your right had side, and open ends towards you.
14. Give two "turns' this time, and again set aside in cool place for at least fifteen minutes.
15. Repeat this until pastry has had seven rolls in all.
16. The object of the cooling between the rolls is to keep vegetable shortening and flour in distinct and separate layers, in which it is the function of the rolling-pin and folding to arrange them, and on which the lightness of the pastry depends.
17. When rolling, keep the pressure of the two hands as equal as possible.
18. If the pastry becomes rounded, it shows that there is more pressure being done on the rounded side than the other.
19. After it has received its last roll, it is better to be laid aside before using, then rolled to the thickness required.
20. Sufficient for two pies.