Laminated Dough

Laminated dough is made of many thin layers of dough separated by butter or another solid fat, built by repeated folding and rolling that can produce more than eighty layers. During baking, water in the butter turns to steam and expands, puffing the dough apart into distinct layers, while the fat in the butter effectively fries the dough from within, producing a light, flaky texture. Pastries made this way include croissants, Danish pastry and puff pastry, as well as flatbreads from other culinary traditions such as paratha, malawach and m'semen.