miscellaneous objects for its nest.Water in Pastry Fats An important difference
between butter and either lard or shortening is
that butter is about 15% water by weight, and
therefore doesn’t separate dough layers as
thoroughly as the pure fats do; water droplets
in the fat can glue adjacent layers together.
Pastry makers generally prefer European-style
butters, which contain less water than
standard American butter (p. 35). However,
some water is useful for producing steam that
pushes apart the dough layers of laminated
pastries. Manufacturers formulate puff-pastry
margarine with about 10% water.
Other Ingredients Water is essential for
binding the flour particles into a dough, and
the water content is especially critical in
pastries because there is so little. Pastry cooks
say that as little as ^1 / 2 teaspoon/3 ml variation
in water in 1 cup/120 gm flour can make the