Baking Puff Pastry

A quick blast of heat is the ideal way to begin baking puff pastry, so as to melt the butter layers and at the same time convert the water in the dough to steam, making it rise in the oven. Once the dough has risen, the heat can be lowered to cook it thoroughly inside. Puff pastry should be well browned since toasting adds flavor as well as crispness. However, the relatively high heat maintained throughout cooking means the base is inclined to scorch. To prevent this happening put a cold baking sheet under the hot one halfway through cooking. If the pastry browns too much on top, cover it loosely with foil. After baking, scoop out and discard any uncooked dough from hollow shells, such as vol-au-vents. Puff pastry cases are frequently baked blind, for maximum crispness, before a filling is added. Prick the base before baking if you don’t want it to rise too much.