Instructions

Dough Block

1. Put 1 teaspoon sugar into the warm milk. Whisk in yeast and set aside for 10 minutes. The mixture should bubble.
2. Put the flour, remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, salt and butter pieces into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix with a paddle attachment until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
3. Change to a dough hook. Add the cold milk and yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Mix on low speed for about 2 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and has formed a sticky dough.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 3-5 times. The dough will not be smooth and elastic yet. That will happen in the rolling and turning process.
5. Shape the dough into a 6" x 7" rectangle. Wrap loosely in plastic wrap to allow a little room for expansion and refrigerate 30-60 minutes.

Butter block

1. Cut butter into ½" pieces and toss with 2 tablespoons flour. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
2. Finely chop fresh basil leaves. Mix the basil and parsley leaves with the rest of the spices in a small bowl.
3. Put the butter and herb mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes until just combined and smooth. Do not overbeat.
4. Draw a 9 ½" x 11" rectangle on a piece of parchment (a sharpie works well for this). Place the butter in the middle of the rectangle and cover with another piece of parchment. Roll out evenly to fill the rectangle. To get a perfect rectangle. you can use the edge of a ruler to cut any excess that is outside the rectangle and move the excess to places that are missing butter. Place on a tray and put back into the refrigerator.

Laminating the Dough

1. Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Dust the counter top and top of the dough with flour. Roll the dough out to a 15 x 12" rectangle. Gently pull the corners to make it a good rectangle and dust off any excess flour.
2. Take your butter out of the refrigerator. Peel off one layer of parchment. You are going to put the 11" side of the butter about ½" from the edge of one of the 12" sides of the rolled out dough. You want the butter block centered so that there is ½" of exposed dough on the top of the block and ½" of exposed dough on the bottom of the block. The butter will extend 10" across the 15" of dough. This leaves 5" of dough exposed on the opposite side of the butter block.
3. To encase the butter, fold the exposed 5" of dough over the butter block (covering half the block). Then fold the other side of the dough and butter over the top (like folding a letter in thirds). You should have alternating layers of dough and butter. Pinch together the seams. Roll with a rolling pin 3-4 times to seal the seams. If your butter has become warm. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour before continuing. If the butter is still cold, go on to the next fold.
4. Dust the counter and top of the dough with flour. Roll the dough into a 12 x 20" rectangle. If you like, mark the center (10" from the end) by making a small indentation in the dough. Fold one end to the middle and then fold the other end to the middle. Then fold the dough in half (Like closing a book). Roll across the top 3-4 times to seal the seams. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Dust the counter and top of dough with flour. Roll into a 12" x 15" rectangle. Use the back of a knife or a ruler to mark off 5" and 10" along the 15" side (make an indentation, do not cut the dough). Fold one side over the middle and then fold the other side over the top (your rectangle will now be 5" wide and 12" tall). Roll with a rolling pin 3-4 times to seal the layers. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.