bread and pastry
Flaky Beer-Crust Pastry (Napoleon Base)
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Prep
20 minutes + 1 hour chill
Cook
25 minutes
Total
1 hr 45 min
Serves
1 large tart shell or 12–15 hand pies
Tender, flaky, and buttery without any lamination rolling, this beer-based pastry dough takes a fraction of the work of classic puff pastry. Cold lager does the job of ice water, and then some.
Ingredients
- 400 g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 3–3.5 cups (375–440 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (240 ml) cold beer (lager or pilsner)
- Filling of choice
- Coarse sugar for sweet applications
Instructions
- 1Cut the cold butter into the flour with a knife or pastry blender until it looks like coarse crumbs.
- 2Pour in the cold beer and quickly press the dough together into a rough ball. Don't overwork it.
- 3Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- 4Roll out thin and use as pastry sheets for Napoleon, fill as hand pies, or cut into crackers dusted with coarse sugar.
Cook's Note
Keep everything cold, cold butter, cold beer, and work fast. The moment the fat warms up and blends fully into the flour rather than staying in small pieces, you lose the flake. If the dough starts to feel greasy, stop and refrigerate it.
Best Served With
With sweet fillings: coffee or tea. With savory: cold cider or lager.
Why This Recipe Works
The carbonation in the beer creates tiny pockets in the dough as it bakes, which helps the layers separate. The alcohol in the beer also keeps too much water from binding with the flour, which is what makes dough tough. Less toughness, more flake, without any rolling.
Make It Yours
- Dust with sea salt and cracked pepper for a savory pie base.
- Use a dark beer for a slightly maltier, richer dough.
- Roll thin and cut into rectangles for a quick Napoleon cake.
Leftover Strategy
Unbaked dough keeps refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for 1 month. Baked shells are best the day of, they soften quickly.
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Pairing
For sweet: black coffee or tea. For savory: cold cider or light lager.