Kefir Puff Pastry for Napoleon Cake

Baking and Desserts | Russian cuisine

⏳ Time

2 hours

🥕 Ingredients

🍽️ Servings

Description

I made the cream custard-style, then gradually whipped it with butter and vanilla.

Ingredients

Margarine - 12.7 oz
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Brandy - 1 tablespoon
Kefir - 7 fl oz
Milk - 2 cups
Sugar - 2 cups
Vanilla salt - a pinch
Butter - 14.1 oz
Wheat Flour - 17.6 oz
Chicken Egg - 1 piece

Step by Step guide

Step 1

Take 360 g (2 packs) of margarine (of which 50 g is for the dough), 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of salt, 500 g of flour, and 1 tablespoon of brandy. Add kefir or buttermilk to make a total of 250 ml with the melted margarine, egg, salt, and brandy — about 1 cup. Kefir gives the dough incredible elasticity, and the lactic acid in it, in my opinion, replaces vinegar.

Step 2

Let's deal with the margarine. Set aside 50 g for the dough. We will work with the remaining 310 g. It should be in the refrigerator, not the freezer. Place the margarine on wax paper, slightly soften it, wrap it in a 'envelope' of paper, roll it out to a thickness of 1 cm, and put it in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Meanwhile, prepare the dough.

Step 3

Take a 250 ml cup, crack the egg into it, add salt, brandy, and the previously melted and cooled margarine, then top up with cold kefir to reach 250 ml (almost to the brim). Mix everything well until the salt is completely dissolved, and gradually pour it into the sifted flour. Knead joyfully and energetically for about 10 minutes. The dough should not stick to the table or your hands. It should become very pliable, like wax. Make small crosswise cuts and let it 'rest' for 20–30 minutes.

Step 4

Then comes the most interesting part — rolling out. The trick is to keep the layers of our dough intact and not tear them during rolling. The dough and butter should have the same consistency, feeling soft to the touch. Roll the dough into a square, place the margarine inside, seal it like an envelope, and roll it out into one layer. Then fold it into 4 layers and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Repeat this process 3 more times. Overall, the rolling techniques are standard; I didn’t discover America here, but I learned to do it while evenly distributing the margarine throughout the dough. And the result was worth the effort.