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Most commercial bakeries these days don't make their own puff pastry, even some of the fancier French ones (shhh!). The ones that do sure aren't making the stuff by hand; they use a sheeter, which is a fancy machine that will do all of the dough folding for you. Think of it like a giant pasta maker. Truth be told, many of the frozen commercial puff pastries available are equally as good as fresh made, and because of the large amount of labor involved, frozen puff pastry is a time and money saver for many professional bakers.
Last week we discussed some different ways of using puff pastry as a vol au vent. Let's continue on with puffy puff pastry ideas. One of the easiest and most eye-catching desserts is the puff pastry fresh fruit tart.
Roll your puff pastry in a rectangle. Roll out two strips the long length of the rectangle and egg wash them to the edge. This will create a nice little crust and keep the filling from spilling out over the sides of the tart.
Bake your tart per the box directions. Loosely whip some cream with some vanilla extract (or bean if you have it!), or some Grand Marnier. Spread a little on your baked rectangle. Nicely slice some strawberries and kiwis. Fan each fruit down the length of the tart, layering one slice of strawberry on another like dominos. Do the same for the kiwi on the other side of the tart. Arrange raspberries in the middle section down the tart, so you now have three strips of fruit.
Boil and strain some apricot jam and brush the fruit liberally to give the tart a shiny, classic glaze. Voila! Your dinner guests will ask you where you bought such a lovely tart and you'll say, "Oh, this? I made this little thing. It was nothing. Really." And they won't believe you. Such satisfaction you'll get!
Another excellent way of using our magic pastry is to bake it flat, so you end up with crispy, crunchy golden layers of pastry. This method is most commonly used for a mille feuille, or Napoleon, layers of flat puff pastry, and pastry cream. One of my favorites!
Roll and prick your puff pastry like you normally would, but this time lay a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and then another sheet pan on top of that. When it's done baking, you'll have flat crunchy sheets of dough.
Now's the fun part. Make a "deconstructed" mille feuille by breaking off pieces of the puff pastry and layering it with whipped cream or pastry cream. Do this as soon as possible prior to serving. Serve with some good quality chocolate or caramel sauce from the jar and there you have it. An impressive and deceptively easy restaurant-style dessert.
Bon Appetit!
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/rebecca-michaels/205-puff-pastry-2/
Puff the Magic Pastry, Part II
Most commercial bakeries these days don't make their own puff pastry, even some of the fancier French ones (shhh!). The ones that do sure aren't making the stuff by hand; they use a sheeter, which is a fancy machine that will do all of the dough folding for you. Think of it like a giant pasta maker. Truth be told, many of the frozen commercial puff pastries available are equally as good as fresh made, and because of the large amount of labor involved, frozen puff pastry is a time and money saver for many professional bakers.
Last week we discussed some different ways of using puff pastry as a vol au vent. Let's continue on with puffy puff pastry ideas. One of the easiest and most eye-catching desserts is the puff pastry fresh fruit tart.
Roll your puff pastry in a rectangle. Roll out two strips the long length of the rectangle and egg wash them to the edge. This will create a nice little crust and keep the filling from spilling out over the sides of the tart.
Bake your tart per the box directions. Loosely whip some cream with some vanilla extract (or bean if you have it!), or some Grand Marnier. Spread a little on your baked rectangle. Nicely slice some strawberries and kiwis. Fan each fruit down the length of the tart, layering one slice of strawberry on another like dominos. Do the same for the kiwi on the other side of the tart. Arrange raspberries in the middle section down the tart, so you now have three strips of fruit.
Boil and strain some apricot jam and brush the fruit liberally to give the tart a shiny, classic glaze. Voila! Your dinner guests will ask you where you bought such a lovely tart and you'll say, "Oh, this? I made this little thing. It was nothing. Really." And they won't believe you. Such satisfaction you'll get!
Another excellent way of using our magic pastry is to bake it flat, so you end up with crispy, crunchy golden layers of pastry. This method is most commonly used for a mille feuille, or Napoleon, layers of flat puff pastry, and pastry cream. One of my favorites!
Roll and prick your puff pastry like you normally would, but this time lay a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and then another sheet pan on top of that. When it's done baking, you'll have flat crunchy sheets of dough.
Now's the fun part. Make a "deconstructed" mille feuille by breaking off pieces of the puff pastry and layering it with whipped cream or pastry cream. Do this as soon as possible prior to serving. Serve with some good quality chocolate or caramel sauce from the jar and there you have it. An impressive and deceptively easy restaurant-style dessert.
Bon Appetit!
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/rebecca-michaels/205-puff-pastry-2/