What is beurrage puff pastry?

Beurrage is a traditional French puff pastry technique that involves laminating the dough with cold butter, resulting in a flaky, buttery texture. The process begins with making a détrempe, which is a mixture of flour, water, and salt. This is then rolled out and folded several times, with cold butter being added at each turn. The folding and rolling creates layers of dough and butter, which puff up when heated, creating the characteristic light and airy texture of puff pastry.

Beurrage puff pastry is considered more labor-intensive than other methods, such as pâte feuilletée, but it produces a superior flaky texture due to the higher proportion of butter used. It is often used in classic French pastries such as croissants, pain au chocolat, and mille-feuille.