Quick and Easy Flaky Pastry (Delia Smith)/Chocolate Turnovers

I would always hesitate whenever I think of making flaky pastry because of the amount of work that would entail in kneading, rolling and dealing with melting butter. Delia Smith has this so-called "cheat" version which promises to be easier than normal. 

I gave it a try and it was fairly easy indeed as no kneading was required and all I had to do was stir the mixture. I had some trouble with the butter which was melting away even as I grated it due to the warm and humid weather in Singapore. The dough was also broke fairly easily when I rolled it out. I am wondering if its because I did not put enough water. However, the result was a very flaky and crumbly pastry which was quite delicious. 

I was a little disappointed though that its not quite like the puff pastry I bought from the stores. But I guess one can't complain much since this is a lazy man's version. For these turnovers, I simply filled it with bits of chocolate which melted while they baked. I'm glad I overcame my fears of making flaky pastry and will try other recipes in future. 

This is for Cook like a Star, Delia Smith blog hop event, hosted by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake. Grab the HTML Code for the event here.

I am submitting this to Bake-Along hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours, Lena of Her Frozen Wings and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids.

Quick and Easy Flaky Pastry

A Delia Smith Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 oz (110 g) butter
• 6 oz (175 g) plain flour
• pinch of salt

Method

• First of all remove a pack of butter from the fridge, weigh out 4 oz (110 g), then wrap it in a piece of foil and return it to the freezer or freezing compartment of the fridge for 30-45 minutes. 
• Then, when you are ready to make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a large, roomy bowl. Take the butter out of the freezer, fold back the foil and hold it in the foil, which will protect it from your warm hands. Then, using the coarse side of a grater placed in the bowl over the flour, grate the butter, dipping the edge of the butter on to the flour several times to make it easier to grate. What you will end up with is a large pile of grated butter sitting in the middle of the flour. 
• Now take a palette knife and start to distribute the gratings into the flour – don't use your hands yet, just keep trying to coat all the pieces of fat with flour. Now sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cold water all over, continue to use the palette knife to bring the whole thing together, and finish off using your hands. If you need a bit more moisture, that's fine – just remember that the dough should come together in such a way that it leaves the bowl fairly clean, with no bits of loose butter or flour anywhere. 
• Now pop it into a polythene bag and chill for 30 minutes before using. 
• Remember, this, like other pastries, freezes extremely well, in which case you will need to defrost it thoroughly and let it come back to room temperature before rolling it out on a lightly floured surface.

Note: I baked my pastry for about 20 mins at 180 degrees C.