Remove the butter mixture from the refrigerator and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes to become pliable enough to work with. It should still be soft enough to bend slightly without cracking. If it is too firm, gently beat it with a rolling pin on a lightly floured work surface until it becomes pliable. Make sure to press the butter back to its 7-inch (18 cm) square after working it.
Lightly flour your work surface. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, making sure it is very cold throughout. Place the dough on the work surface. Arrange the butter block in the center of the dough so it looks like a diamond in the center of the square (rotated 45 degrees, with the corners of the butter block facing the center of the dough sides). Pull the corners of the dough up and over to the center of the butter block. Pinch the seams of dough together to seal the butter inside. You should have a square slightly larger than the butter block.
Lightly dust the work surface with flour to ensure that the dough won’t stick. With a rolling pin, using steady, even pressure to roll out the dough from the center so that it triples in length. This will take several passes and you may need to add more flour in between rolling to keep the dough from sticking to the surface and rolling pin. When finished, you should have a rect- angle about 20 by 10 inches (50 by 25 cm) and ¼ inch
(6 mm) thick.
Place the dough so the shorter sides run left to right. From the top side, fold one-third of the dough onto itself, keeping the edges lined up with each other.
From the bottom side, fold the remaining one-third of dough on top of the side that has already been folded. Line up all the edges so that you are left with a smaller rectangle. This technique is called a “letter fold,” since the dough is folded as if it were a piece of paper going inside an envelope. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and place on a sheet pan. Re- frigerate for about 1 hour to relax the gluten.
With the seam always facing to the right, repeat steps 3 and 4 for your second and third folds. After the third fold, refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
Lightly flour the work surface and lay the dough flat. Trim about ½ inch of dough from each side to make a neat rectangle. Using a ruler, start from the left side and score the dough every 3 inches (8 cm) along the bottom edge until you reach the right side of the dough. Make the first score on the top edge 1½ inches (4 cm) from the left end. Continue scoring the top edge every 3 inches (8 cm). These staggered marks should give a nice guideline for cutting triangles. Use a large chef’s knife to connect each score mark on the top with the two at the bottom on either side of it. The isosceles triangles should measure 3 inches (8 cm) wide and 10 inches (25 cm) long. There will be narrow triangles of dough left over at each end. Place the cut triangles on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Remove the dough triangles from the refrigerator, and make sure there is no flour on your work surface. Working with one triangle at a time, hold the base of the triangle with one hand and use the fingertips of your other hand to lightly grasp the triangle near its base and gently stretch it an additional 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) in length, pulling your fingers toward the tip and being careful not to tear the dough.
Tip: Stretching out the dough not only gives you more to roll, it also relaxes the dough.