This hearty breakfast tart is folded in a simple way to impress your family with a beautiful braid.
Use product immediately upon removal from refrigerator as there is no need to thaw! No need to use flour and a rolling pin to stretch the dough.
Dough will roll out and cut easier if it is chilled. If you're trying to create a specific shape, keep the pastry as cold as possible (but not frozen) and it will be easier to make precise cuts.
If you want to keep the inside from rising as much as the edges, just use a paring knife to score a border. Don’t cut the dough all the way though! Use a fork to prick the dough. The pastry will still be light and flaky with the edges puffed up and the center will stay down.
Pop the dough in the fridge after working with it, while the oven preheats. This step gives the fat in the dough a chance to re-solidify, to get an even better baking result.
Egg-wash: Just before baking, brush your puff pastry with egg wash (1 large egg with about 2 tablespoons water, beaten) to give it an attractive shine and color.
To seal the pastry edges for any stuffed pocket-style pastry, just brush a thin layer of water or egg whites along the edges and press them together to make them stick.
Crimp edges of smaller pastries like hand pies with a fork. Larger pastries can be crimped with your fingertips.
Serve soon after baking! Puff Pastry is best when fresh, so ideally bake close to serving. Only few recipes are great to make ahead. Puff Pastry is best when baked and served the same day.
To unroll the dough, remove dough from package and gently separate the dough and parchment paper from the roll, so that the dough on paper begins to lay flat. Be careful not to separate the dough from the parchment paper. There may be some sticking, but the dough and paper should easily pull away from the roll.
Once the dough is lying flat on the baking tray, cut off or tuck any excess paper under, so it does not hang over the edge.
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Unroll refrigerated Puff Pastry Dough. Cut 1 in. wide strips on each side leaving the middle intact. Each strip should be 2 in. in length. Cut out notches, two each on the bottom and the top of the dough sheet.
3. Dice the ham and rough chop the hard boiled eggs. Set aside.
4. Melt butter in a heavy bottom saucepan or skillet. Add flour and stir with whisk while thickening. Add heated milk to mixture and whisk until milk thickens to a heavy sauce. Turn off heat.
5. Fold eggs into the sauce and let yolk dissolve into sauce. Add ham and herbs.
6. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, add egg and ham mixture to the center of the puff pastry, in the uncut section in the middle.
7. Start by folding in the top and bottom of the dough sheet to close the ends. Then slightly stretch strips of dough and fold them by crisscrossing dough, starting at the top and working towards the bottom. The bottom strips can be tucked under at the end.
8. Brush with egg wash and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before cutting.