Palmiers (Elephant Ears)

One of August's coworkers suggested that I make these for the Treat of the Week. He is from England and says he loves palmiers. Most of the recipes I found used Pepperidge Farms frozen puff pastry. If you're short on time that should work fine. However, I'm trying to work on my pastry skills and opted to make puff pastry the long way. I made and cut the dough the day before then cut and baked them the following day. They say these are better the fresher they are. An airtight container will keep them from getting soggy if you put them in there as soon as they are cool on the rack.

Classic Puff Pastry
(Adapted from The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts by the French Culinary Institute)

4 1/2 ounces cake flour (If you don't have cake flour use all purpose and substitute 1 Tbsp. of it with cornstarch instead)
4 1/2 ounces of bread flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 ounces unsalted butter (softened)
ice water 4 1/2 oz. 

8 1/4 ounces unsalted butter (cold)

Sift flours and salt onto a cold or marble surface. Mix the 1 1/4 ounces of softened butter into the flour with your fingers. Add ice water and mix until dough forms. Shape into a square, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Prepare the butter next by placing it between sheets of plastic wrap and pounding it with a rolling pin until smooth. Form into square and refrigerate.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Lightly dust marble slab with flour to prevent sticking. Roll dough into a square and place chilled butter in the center. The dough and butter should be the same temperature. Fold the corners over the butter to seal it in. Roll it out into a rectangle 3/8 in. thick. Cut in half if too large. Put other half wrapped in plastic wrap into the fridge. Roll into rectangle 11 in. long 3/8 in. thick. Fold the lower half of the dough up toward the middle. Fold the upper half of the dough down overlapping the other layer. This is like folding a letter. Turn the dough a quarter turn. Roll dough into rectangle  3/8" thick and do the letter fold again. Use your finger to mark two indentations into the dough to remind yourself that you folded it twice. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate one hour. Take other dough out of the fridge and repeat first two folds.
After an hour, take dough out of fridge, turn it a quarter of a turn . Roll and fold two more times and mark with fingers. Refrigerate 1 hour. Repeat a third time turning, rolling and folding. After the final roll, the dough should be folded 6 times. Refrigerate 1 hour.


Palmiers (Elephant Ears)

2 cups granulated sugar
1 recipe unbaked puff pastry

Cover a marble slab with granulated sugar. Work quickly so the dough remains cold. Take dough out of fridge, sprinkle with sugar, and roll it out on marble slab into a rectangle 14 in. long and 1/8 in. thick . If you like your palmiers sweeter, sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon sugar or vanilla sugar. Trim edges so that sides are straight. Roll the top of the dough toward the center. Roll the bottom of the dough toward the center. Leave a space in the middle of the two rolls. Bring the top half onto the bottom half so the sides meet evenly. Use a rolling pin to press sides together. Wrap in plastic and transfer to baking sheet. Refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Take dough out of fridge and cut crosswise into 3/8" slices. Brushing with egg wash and/ or sprinkling with sugar on top of dough is optional. Take care not to egg wash sides of dough or it will not rise well. Place on baking sheet 2 inches apart. While baking they will double or even triple in size. Bake until bottoms are golden about 10 minutes. If they start unrolling gently push them back together. Flip and bake another 10 minutes until golden. Cool on wire racks. Store in airtight containers so they don't get soggy.

One of the challenges I encountered was that the dough was too long to be rolled out on my marble slab. I cut it in half and made two batches. The butter was oozing out  of the top and bottom of the dough probably because it was a little too soft but I just tucked it back in. I also rolled it the wrong way at first which would make many small palmiers instead of regular sized ones. I baked them in a 350 degree oven and when they were supposed to be done they were pale, mushy and bubbling in butter. I think the heat wasn't high enough so I cranked it up to 425. Soon they were browning and the parchment was dry. They also unrolled a little bit. When we tried them they were flaky, buttery and slightly sweet. If you like sweeter pastry you could roll them up with cinnamon sugar, vanilla sugar  or sprinkle sugar on them before baking. I think if I had baked them at a higher temperature from the beginning they may have puffed up more. But they turned out pretty well. Parents and teachers liked them so much there were only 6 for August to take to work. Next time I'll try to make mini ones so there will be more to give out.