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I used to think one needed a compass, a protractor and a degree in calculus to make inverted puff pastry dough. And though my first trials weren’t exactly successful I can assure you it really isn’t difficult to make. This has actually become my favorite thing to make, probably my favorite thing to eat too. I won’t lie, It is a long process because the dough has to rest, rest and rest some more and no, there is no way around that, no shortcuts (I’ve tried them all, they all lead to dead ends and a whole lot of panties in a bunch). But! while your precious dough is resting, you are free to go on about your day, run after the kids, the dog or the laundry… God, is it desert time yet?

For the dough:

The main difference between classic puff pastry and inverted puff pastry is that with the latter the butter is on the outside while the dough is on the inside. Contrary to popular belief (or at least what I used to believe), it’s not harder to make than classic puff pastry. On the contrary! Because the butter is on the outside you are always almost sure that it is at the right consistency before rolling out and folding which prevents the butter from breaking apart (inside the dough where it’s not visible until too late with regular puff pastry). The point being, if you’ve never made any kind of laminated dough, I would definitely give the inverted puff pastry a try.

The folding butter:

Start by making the folding butter. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat 400g of butter and 150g of flour until you get a smooth creamy consistency. As always you may also do this by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer. The goal here is not to see any butter chunks anymore. Scrape the bowl with a spatula at least once during this process.

With a rubber spatula, get everything on a clean piece of wrapping film or parchment paper and give it the shape of a rectangle. Chill in the fridge while you move on to the dough. Don’t worry if it’s not spread out evenly or to the right thickness for now, do the best you can and send it to the fridge, It will be easier once it has chilled a little bit and the butter regains a bit of firmness.

The dough:

In the same bowl, mix 250g of flour, 50g of butter, 125g of water and 10g of salt. No need to rinse the bowl or change the attachment (Hallelujah)! Depending on the type of flour you use, you may need to use more or less water so I suggest to add it progressively. It is better to have a dough on the firmer side rather than on the softer side of things. Ultimately, the dough should have a similar consistency to the butter/flour block. Refrain from over working your dough as this will cause the gluten to develop and will in turn make the dough elastic (read: a dough that fights back when rolled out and one that is very hard to laminate). Shape the dough block in a rectangle of about 1/2 inch thick, clean film it and reserve in the fridge for at least two hours (usually overnight for me, the more rest, the better).

The laminating process:

The first step of the laminating process is the most important one. We need to make sure that the size of the butter is twice longer than the size of the shaped dough. But before you put the two together and start the layering process, you want to make sure that the butter and the dough are of the same consistency and ideally the same temperature but mostly the SAME CONSISTENCY. If the butter is too soft, put it back in the fridge. If it’s too hard let it stand out for a couple minutes. Same goes with the dough. You should be able to bend the butter without it breaking or cracking. And same goes with the dough. Be patient, the success of the recipe mostly lies on this step.

Once the two elements are ready, place the dough in the middle of the butter in a way that the butter can entirely wrap around the dough.

Wrap the butter around the dough and turn it so the jointure is now facing you like below.

With the rolling pin, start pressing slightly all along the dough making sure you don’t press too hard to avoid breaking the butter or the dough inside. The goal is to spread both elements simultaneously. You can see below that the dough inside has spread along with the butter. Now start pressing with the rolling pin on those waves that we created, until the dough is spread out nice and even.

At this point you can start formally rolling it out making sure the dough never ever ever sticks to your working table. For that, use flour. Don’t roll it out too thin, aim for about 6mm in thickness.

Once the dough is rolled out to about 6mm thick (1/4 inch) give it the first single turn folding it in thirds. Fold the first third down making sure you wipe most of the flour away.

Then fold the bottom part up.

At this point the dough needs to rest. Some professionals give it another single turn right away meaning that they roll out the dough once more and fold it again without letting the dough rest in between. I don’t recommend doing this at home. Since we are working by hand it takes longer to roll out the dough and that’s usually too much for the butter which has already begun to soften. Also, giving it another turn right away means the gluten will have to be forced to be stretched out once more making us press harder on the rolling pin. All this may result in the butter mixing in with the dough meaning no layers! So give it one single turn and send it to the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Once the dough has rested, take it out of the fridge. Press slightly on the edges and try to feel the consistency of the dough. If the dough is too cold and you start rolling it out right away it will break. So wait at least 5 to 10 minutes before working with it again.

Now, the way in which you are going to roll it out again matters. The dough needs to be facing you as if it was a book and you were about to open it. The reason is that if you don’t turn it you will be rolling it out again in the same direction that it was just rolled out. This will be almost impossible to do as the gluten as already been stretched out that way. We need to stretch it in another direction and since we need to work facing forward (and not side ways) we simply turn it.

Once you have turned it so it’s facing you like a book, start pressing it with your rolling pin in waves in the same manner we first rolled it out (it always starts that way). This is to ensure that the folds stick to one another.

Spread it out again before giving it another simple turn.

Fold the first third.

Fold the second third onto it.

We have now given our dough 2 single turns. Place in the fridge for two hours again and repeat until you have given it 5 single turns in total.

Once you have given it all 5 turns, the dough will need to rest again for at least two hours. I usually let mine rest overnight. It will need to rest again prior to baking once rolled out to its final shape and thickness. This is to help it keep the shape you gave it before baking. You can cut it in portion, clean film it and freeze them. You will only needy to thaw overnight before using it as you please.

In brief:

• Use good quality European style butter as it has a higher fat percentage (at least 82%).
• Give the dough plenty of rest: at least 2 hours in between each fold and another 2 hours after rolling it out to its final shape and before baking. This is to allow the butter to firm back up but also to allow the gluten to relax (so it’s not fighting you back when rolling it out).
• Try to make puff pastry on a cooler day to facilitate the process and don’t hesitate to put it back in the fridge at any point.
• The dough should never stick to your working table/counter as this would tear up the outter layers. it should move freely.
• Inverted puff pastry will require for you to flour your surface quite heavily especially during the first 2 to 3 turns (we’re working with butter on the outside). Brush the excess flour away using a brush or your hands.
• Some people do a ‘double fold’ which is the equivalent to 1.5 single fold so to get the same result as 5 single folds you would do 2 double folds and 2 single folds.
• 5 single folds is the maximum amount of folds or ‘turns’ you can give puff pastry after which the layers of dough and butter will start getting squished together.
• Depending on the use you have for it you may only need to give it 3 or 4 single folds but 5 single folds (or the equivalent) is pretty standard.