Anna Olsen Danish Pastry Recipes

ANNA OLSON'S BUTTERY SOFT RASPBERRY JAM DANISH WREATH IS THE PASTRY TO MAKE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Steps:

• For the dough, stir the flour, sugar, yeast and salt together in a mixing bowl, if mixing by hand, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment. Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat to melt and pour the milk over it, letting it warm up to around 115°F, just above body temperature.
• Pour the liquid over the flour mixture, add the egg and mix on low speed until the dough comes together. Increase the speed by 1 level and knead until the dough springs back when touched, about 4 minutes. (If mixing by hand, stir the dough with a wooden spoon until it becomes too difficult and then turn it out onto the counter to knead by hand for 6 minutes or until elastic, adding as little extra flour as possible as you go.)
• Place the dough in an ungreased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise on the counter until doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
• For the filling, beat the butter by hand to soften it and then beat in the raspberry jam, vanilla and cinnamon.
• Generously grease a 12-inch ovenproof skillet, or a 10-inch or 12-inch round baking pan. Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it into a rectangle about 20″ × 10″.
• Spread the raspberry filling evenly over the dough and sprinkle the frozen raspberries on top. Starting at a long side, roll up the dough.
• Cut the roll in half widthwise, and then cut each piece in half lengthwise so you have 4 pieces, with the jam now exposed.
• Hold the first piece by the 2 short ends and twist them in opposite directions. Lay the twisted dough in the pan, with 1 end in the centre. Wrap the dough around the centre end in a spiral, working your way from the centre out toward the sides of the pan. Repeat with the 3 remaining pieces of dough, gradually enlarging the spiral so that it fills the pan - any spaces will fill in as the dough rises. Cover the pan with a tea towel and let the dough rise again at room temperature until almost doubled, 45 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Uncover the pan and bake until the wreath is an even golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before glazing.
• Whisk the icing sugar and milk together and drizzle over the wreath. Let the glaze set for about 1 hour before serving. Serve the wreath either directly from the pan or transfer it to a cutting board and slice it into wedges to serve.