I was recently watching a television show where a reference was made to "pastry butter". This was in the context of making croissants saying that normal butter was incorrect type to use.
After searching for some time I have been unable find any information about "pastry butter" being a specific type of butter.
Has anyone come across pastry butter and know what the difference is between this and normal butter?
One job as an an apprentice baker in Germany was to prepare the butter for the next day's croissants by mixing in 10% flour by weight. This was to make it more pliable and less likely to break through the dough layers.
that was our pastry butter at any rate
It's possible that they just meant, "a butter that is suited to making pastries". That is, a firmer butter compared to other butters.
Some info here (I am not the author)
Certainly, firmness is a factor of temperature. However it’s also a factor of the butter’s fatty acid makeup, and as I wrote yesterday, that’s largely determined by the breed of the cow and the cow’s diet.
Pastry professionals use a variety of different butters for different recipes or tasks, as cakes, croissants, buttercream and gelato have different needs in terms of plasticity and melting point.
For example, a local vendor sells six different types of butter (not counting clarified), with melting point varying between 29-40 °C (84-104 °F).
Croissants specifically benefit from a butter with a slightly higher melting point (~34 °C, 94 °F) and elevated plasticity for the lamination process.
Pastry butter has a European fat content which is normally around the 82-83% mark. They have a higher melting point than normal butter because it contains some additional harder butter fractions. It is good for making pastry as it can be used directly out of the fridge but works best when it is 4-9 C. It is not normally available through a super market.
