European Store Bought Gluten Free Puff Pastry

Looks impressive, doesn't it? This is store bought frozen gluten free puff pastry. Dr. Schar makes it and distributes this product only in Europe. They call it millefoglie.

I baked some up two ways. After thawing, cut into thin strips without doing anything to them. This is the picture of the results. The taste was good. Light, fluffy, but with a slight waxy/oily mouth feel, and a hint of something artificial. Another portion I wanted to make into palmiers: rolling out the dough, coating in sugar, roll, cut into their pretty shapes, and bake. Unfortunately, this dough would not puff once it was rolled out.

Take a look at the list of ingredients: Hydrogenated Vegetable Margarine (fats and oils from soya, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds, water, emulsifier: E 471, acidity regulator: citric acid, flavourings, colouring: E 160a(i)), Water, Maize Starch, Rice Flour, Eggs, Potato Flakes (potato, emulsifier: E 471), soya Protein Isolate, Psyllium, Invert Sugar, Thickener: E 464, Sugar, Emulsifier: E 471, Vegetable Fats, Salt. Wow. I'm a chemist and I really do not find the vast majority of these ingredients appealing. And where can you buy them?

This week I started my trials for formulating gluten free puff pastry. So far they look and taste incredible! The recipes are very simple and basic with ingredients that are easily obtainable. Stay tuned for my progress!

-Erin Swing
The Sensitive Epicure