Puff Paste.

Method.—Rub the flour through a wire sieve.

Make a well in the middle, and squeeze in a few drops of lemon juice.

Mix very gradually with very cold water, taking care that the dough is not too stiff.

Then knead and work well about until quite smooth.

Set it aside for a few minutes to get quite cold.

Squeeze the butter in a cloth to press out the water.

Roll out the dough, and place the butter, flattened to a third of its size, in the middle.

Then fold the dough from either side over it, pressing the edges together.

Turn it with its edges toward you, and roll out very gently (care must be taken that the butter does not break through the dough).

Fold it again in three, and put it aside to cool for quite a quarter of an hour. The colder it is kept the better.

Then turn its edges towards you, and roll it out again; fold evenly in three, and roll and fold again in the same manner; each roll and fold is called a turn.

Cool the paste for another quarter of an hour.

Then give it two more turns.

Let it cool again; and at the seventh roll it will probably be ready for use.

It is, however, wise to bake a small piece of the paste before using the whole quantity. If the maker has a very light hand it sometimes happens that eight or even nine turns may be necessary to roll the butter sufficiently into the flour.