Feuilletage, or Fine French Puff Paste

Ingredients

• 1 pound good butter, free from coarse salt
• 1 pound fine dry sifted flour
• 2 whole egg yolks
• 1 small teaspoonful salt
• water

Instructions

1. Break a few small bits of butter very lightly into the flour.
2. Put the salt in the centre and pour on sufficient water to dissolve it.
3. Add a little more water to the egg yolks, then moisten the flour gradually and make it into a very smooth paste—rather lithe in summer and never exceedingly stiff.
4. Press all moisture from the remaining butter in a soft thin cloth and form it into a ball, being careful not to soften it too much.
5. If the weather is very warm and the butter is unfit for pastry, place it in a basin set into a pan of water mixed with plenty of salt and saltpetre, and let it remain in a cool place for an hour before use.
6. Roll the crust out square and of sufficient size to enclose the butter.
7. Flatten the butter a little in the centre of the crust, then fold the crust well over it.
8. Roll it out thin as lightly as possible, having dredged the board and paste roller with a little flour—this is called giving it one turn.
9. Fold it in three and give it another turn, then set it aside in a very cool place for a few minutes.
10. Give it two more turns in the same way, rolling it each time very lightly but of equal thickness and to the full length it will reach, taking especial care that the butter shall not break through the paste.
11. Let it again be set aside to become cold.
12. After it has been twice more rolled and folded in three, give it a half turn by folding it once only, and it will be ready for use.