Laminate

To laminate means to build many thin, alternating layers of dough and butter by folding and rolling. You lock a flat slab of cold butter inside a dough, then roll it out and fold it in thirds or fourths, several times. Laminated doughs include puff pastry, croissants and Danish pastries.

How to do it

1. Make a firm dough and chill it. Shape cold butter into a flat square, about 1 cm (⅜ inch) thick, between two sheets of parchment paper.
2. Roll the dough into a square twice the size of the butter. Lay the butter on it diagonally and fold the corners of the dough over to enclose it.
3. With a rolling pin, roll the package into a long rectangle, about three times as long as it is wide.
4. Fold it in thirds like a letter. This is one "turn".
5. Turn the dough 90 degrees, wrap it and chill for 30 minutes.
6. Repeat for 3 turns for croissants or 4 to 6 for puff pastry.

How to tell it is done

When you cut the dough, you can see thin, even stripes of butter and dough on the edge. The butter feels firm but bends without cracking. After baking, the pastry shows clear, separate flaky layers.

Why it works

Each fold multiplies the layers. Three letter folds give dozens of layers, and six give hundreds. In a hot oven the water in the dough and butter turns to steam, which pushes the dough layers apart. The melted butter keeps them separate while they set, so the pastry rises high and flakes.

Common mistakes

• Butter too cold. It cracks into pieces and you get patches instead of layers. Let it warm until it bends.
• Butter too warm. It melts into the dough and the layers merge. Chill as soon as it feels soft or greasy.
• Skipping the rest. The gluten tightens and the dough springs back. Chill it between turns.
• Pressing down hard with the rolling pin. Roll firmly but evenly, from the middle outwards.
• Proofing croissants somewhere too warm. Above about 27°C (80°F) the butter melts out.

In recipes

A "book fold" or "double fold" folds both ends to the middle and then in half, making four layers per turn. A "single fold" or "letter fold" makes three. "Rough puff" is a quicker laminated dough where cubes of butter are folded in without a slab.