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Categories:Viewed: 33 - Published at: 8 years ago
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk, heated to warm (105F110F)
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast (from two 1/4-oz packages)
- 3 3/4 to 4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) cold unsalted butter
- Special equipment: a standing electric mixer with dough hook, 2 kitchen towels (not terry cloth), a ruler, a pastry brush
Method
- Stir together warm milk, brown sugar, and yeast in bowl of standing mixer and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
- (If it doesnt foam, discard and start over.)
- Add 3 3/4 cups flour and salt and mix with dough hook at low speed until dough is smooth and very soft, about 7 minutes.
- Transfer dough to a work surface and knead by hand 2 minutes, adding more flour as necessary, a little at a time, to make a soft, slightly sticky dough.
- Form dough into a roughly 1 1/2-inch-thick rectangle and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until cold, about 1 hour.
- After dough has chilled, arrange sticks of butter horizontally, their sides touching, on a work surface.
- Pound butter with a rolling pin to soften slightly (butter should be malleable but still cold).
- Scrape butter into a block and put on a kitchen towel, then cover with other towel.
- Pound and roll out on both sides until butter forms a uniform 8- by 5-inch rectangle.
- Chill, wrapped in towels, while rolling out dough.
- Unwrap dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface, dusting with flour as necessary and lifting and stretching dough (especially in corners), into a 16- by 10-inch rectangle.
- Arrange dough with a short side nearest you.
- Put butter in center of dough so that long sides of butter are parallel to short sides of dough.
- Fold as you would a letter: bottom third of dough over butter, then top third down over dough.
- Brush off excess flour with pastry brush.
- Turn dough so a short side is nearest you, then flatten dough slightly by pressing down horizontally with rolling pin across dough at regular intervals, making uniform impressions.
- Roll out dough into a 15- by 10-inch rectangle, rolling just to but not over ends.
- Brush off any excess flour.
- Fold in thirds like a letter, as above, stretching corners to square off dough, forming a 10- by 5-inch rectangle.
- (You have completed the first "fold.")
- Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, 1 hour.
- Make 3 more folds in same manner, chilling dough 1 hour after each fold, for a total of 4 folds.
- (If any butter oozes out while rolling, sprinkle with flour to prevent sticking.)
- Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill at least 8 hours but no more than 18 (after 18 hours, dough may not rise sufficiently when baked).
