Gluten-free Puff Pastry

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Recipes

We have a friend round for dinner tonight who has a wheat allergy so I decided in my infinite wisdom to make gluten free puff pastry topped Venison and Mushroom Pie. I’ve made a venison casserole following several recipes (as is my way), mostly the recipe by Riverford Organic for Venison and Red Wine Casserole and will be using that as pie filling. I slow cooked in the slow-cooker overnight, it was on low in there for a total of 9 hours in the end, filling the house with delicious aroma.

Now, the puff pastry top. Not sure what I’m thinking, I’ve never even made regular wheat puff, but here we go. I’m writing this as I go so that I have it for future reference as all the sites I’ve found are in US weights, so I’m translating into my language as I go too.

Ingredients

  • 250g Doves Farm Gluten & Wheat Free White flour (contains xanthum gum)
  • 1/4tsp salt
  • 175ml cold water
  • 170g butter (cut off what you don’t need rather than cutting it into bits as you need the block to be whole ideally)
  • 1tbsp gluten free flour

Method

  1.  You are making two packages (there are fancy French names for these, but I’m ignoring those for the time being and just getting on with it.
  2. Make the dough package first. Combine the flour and the salt then make a well in the centre, add the water and gently fold the flour in to the water with your hands until it’s all mixed and you have yourself a dough ball.
  3. Wrap the ball of dough tightly in cling film (not getting air to the dough is important apparently) and put it in the fridge for an hour.
  4. Meanwhile, make some almond biscotti for after dinner…ok, you don’t need to do that, but I am!
  5. The butter package. Sprinkle a sheet of greaseproof paper with flour, then lay the butter on, sprinkle with the tablespoon of flour, then put another sheet of greaseproof on top so you have a greaseproof, flour and butter sarnie.
  6. Bash the butter to soften it, the end aim is for a square about 4″ (10cm) and about 1″ (2.5cm) thick. Bash it down to about half an inch, then fold it over and bash it down to about 1″, repeat until it’s nice and pliable then shape into a square, don’t work it so much that it’s all soft and squidgy, just nice and pliable.
  7. Wrap in cling film and put it in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
  8. Hang this recipe, it was suppposed to be for the measurements/weights only for my future reference, head over to Tartelette, which is one of the two recipes I was reading, seems like the best one to me

\Meanwhile my dough is in the fridge for the last time, extreme faff this puff pastry making, but I hope it works out worth it. If not, I’m positive our wheat-intolerent dinner guest will appreciate the thought!

Something of note is that the dough is VERY white! Bit disconcerting actually.

 
Edit: The pies were delicious and although the pastry did puff, it was nice and crisp on top, the pastry top I’d made separate to the pie for my son puffed a lot more so in future, if I ever feel the need to make gluten free puff pastry again (doubtful), I will bake the pastry separate to the pie.

It’s made me think about making my own wheat flour puff pastry though, something I’ve always ran away screaming from!

Oh, and our guests were indeed pleased.

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