Help! My Puff Pastry did not rise!

I’m an amateur cook and I am forever experimenting with different recipes with a key emphasis on quick and easy food. One of the quickest and easiest things I’ve used is frozen puff pastry. I was at a loose end one evening after dinner so I attempted a Puff Pastry Peach dessert.

The concept was easy. I rolled out the thawed puff pastry, then arranged the tinned peaches on the top, sprinkled some sugar over it and put it in the oven for about 25 minutes.

What I got was a pastry dessert that was flat and undercooked where the peaches lay on the pastry, but nicely puffed up around the edges. I was puzzled. How on earth did this happen? A quick search online told me that this is what might be the cause if your puff pastry did not rise:-

• Your Oven is not hot enough – Use a gas mark 200-220 C or 375 F
• Your tray was placed too high
• The fruit was too “heavy” preventing the pastry from rising

With this in mind, the next time I made the Puff Pastry Apple Tart, I put a bit of thought into the cooking process.

I baked the pastry first in a hot oven on the lower shelf, before putting the apples on top of it. This way, I would know that the pastry is properly risen throughout, and will give it a lighter crispier texture. Then, halfway through, before the pastry started to brown, I took the pastry out of the oven and layered my fruit on the surface then put it back to bake some more. This way, the fruit does not weigh down the pastry and prevent it from rising.

The result was a lovely crispy flaky apple tart! So, the next time you have a problem with your puff pastry not rising properly, give this technique a shot and it might solve the problem for you.

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Tagged as: Baking