I am a beginner baker and recently got into puff pastries. The first time, I used store-bought dough, but I tried making my own the second time. However, the dough did not puff up and felt too thick and not flaky. Did I make it too thick?
Here is what I did: I mixed 2 cups of flour, a tablespoon of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I shredded 8 oz of unsalted butter that had been in the freezer for 10 minutes, then mixed until the butter was coated. I added 6 tablespoons of ice-cold water, two tablespoons at a time. I made the dough, chilled it for an hour, rolled and folded it five times, and then chilled it again for another two hours before making my pastries.
There is a hint of browning toward the bottom. The layer above that is thick and appears to be either dough or a “cheesecake” concoction. It’s difficult to tell from the picture. If that is dough, it doesn’t seem flakey at all; it seems way too thick. You can disregard my remark if that is a topping.
Don’t fret, baking is tricky! Your dough might be too thick, but other things can mess with puffing too. Cold butter is key, warm butter mixes in and stops the layers from puffing. Uneven rolling and forgetting to chill the dough can also be culprits. Look online for beginner puff pastry recipes - they’ll guide you through thickness, chilling, and rolling.
