Puff pastry

The shatteringly flaky pastry built from hundreds of alternating sheets of dough and butter. During baking, water flashing to steam between the layers forces them apart, leaving the airy honeycomb of crisp leaves that defines croissants’ cousins like vol-au-vents and mille-feuille. Traditional production folds and rolls a butter block into the dough repeatedly, resting between turns, a laborious lamination now partly mechanized. Success demands cold butter, even rolling, and a hot oven, plus well-made dough for maximum lift. Resting the dough between folds keeps the butter layers distinct and even.