Expert: Heinz Henze - 11/25/2008

Question
QUESTION: is phyllo dough the same as puff pastry?  i'm making a goat cheese and muffin tart in the oven...

ANSWER: Hi Ellen,

To answer your question, no they are not the same.  Puff pastry dough is a dough made up of many layers and when baked puffs up to make the light, layered, and flaky pastries.  Phyllo dough is a very thin sheet of dough and you use many layers to make things like the goat cheese tart.  Unlike puff pastry you have to make the layers yourself using multiple sheets usually with a little butter in between the layers.  You should be able to find in in the freezer section of major grocery stores.  Make sure that when you take it out of the box and unfold it that you cover it with a slightly damp kitchen towel or paper towel as it dries out and becomes brittle very quickly due to it's thinness.  Some people think that it's hard to work with, but as long as you keep it covered with the towel you shouldn't have any problems.  Let me know if you have any other questions and happy baking.

Have a great day,

Heinz

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QUESTION: thank you heinz - one more question though.  how do i keep it covered and at the same time work with it?  each layer needs butter?  thanks...

ANSWER: Hi Ellen,

As you work with the phyllo you take out one sheet and keep the rest of the stack covered.  Then after you do whatever you are doing with that sheet you take another out from under the towel.  Always keeping the sheets that you are not immediately working with covered.  Also if you are using the phyllo sheets to make a crust for your tart then you don't need to use butter in between the sheets.  If you were using it to make baklava you would want to put the butter in between the sheets because when it bakes the butter would melt and make steam, and that resulting steam would cause the phyllo layers to separate similar to puff dough.  But using it like a crust as I think you are that doesn't really need to happen and would probably be bad since you want them to act a a sort of container to the filling you are using.  I hoped that this long long winded explanation helped you out a little... :-).  Happy baking,

Have a great day,

Heinz

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QUESTION: thank you heinz - this tart says to take the frozen puff pastry and lay on parchemnt paper on 2 cookie sheets, bake til golden then cool.  then you spread the cheese/mushroom mixture on top, bake 10 minutes more, cool and cut them into squares.  can i do this with the phyllo?  the mix goes on top, not under the phyllo...

Answer
Yes it would work, I would use around 7 layers of phyllo dough, and maybe brush the layers with a small amount of olive oil.  Just place a layer on a parchment lined baking sheet then brush with a small amount of olive oil, then another sheet, then more olive oil...etc.  I wouldn't bake it before putting on the cheese mixture, phyllo dough bakes a lot faster than puff dough.  Put the mix on the layers leaving about a half inch edge and then bake for about ten minutes or until the edges brown nicely.  I would try this recipe out before you take it to an event just to make sure that you have time to make adjustments.  Hope it all works out.

PS you don't really need the olive oil, but it will probably lighten up texture of the finished crust.

Have a great day,

Heinz