Appleharvestdanish Recipes

APPLE DANISH

Steps:

• Combine 1 cup flour, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and instant yeast in a mixing bowl. Add the water and room temperature butter and beat for 1 minute. Stir in the remaining cup of flour and mix well. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball and transfer to an oiled bowl, turning to coat the surface of the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the filling. Place the chopped apples and 3 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan. Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well; add the mixture to the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until the apples are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the filling to cool.
• Transfer the Danish dough to a floured surface and punch the dough down. Let the dough rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Roll the dough out into a 13 x 8-inch rectangle. Place the dough on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Turn the baking sheet so that you face the short side of the dough. Spread the apple filling down the center third of the dough. With a sharp paring knife, make cuts in the dough along the right side, starting each cut about 1/4 inch from the apple filling. Cut to the edge of the dough strip, with each cut angled to about 4 o'clock. Each strip of dough should be about 1-inch thick. Repeat on the left side of the dough, angling the cuts to 8 o'clock.
• Starting at the top, fold the dough strips across the apple filling, alternating left and right. The pastry will look like a long braid. Pinch the top and bottom ends of the braid to seal in the filling. Cover the pastry and let it rise at room temperature until the dough is puffy, 30 to 40 minutes.
• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Bake the braid for 20 minutes, covering it with aluminum foil during the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning. Remove the pastry from the oven and allow it to cool.
• To make the glaze, heat the 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Swirl the pan occasionally and cook until the milk solids turn brown and give off a nutty fragrance, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl to cool slightly. Stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Mix in the milk a teaspoon at a time until the glaze is thin enough to drizzle. Decorate the Danish braid with the glaze.

APPLE DANISH

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine egg yolk and milk; add to flour mixture. Stir just until dough clings together. Divide dough in half. , On a lightly floured surface, roll half of dough into a 15x10-in. rectangle; transfer to a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Set aside. , In a bowl, toss together filling ingredients; spoon over pastry in pan. Roll out remaining dough into another 15x10-in. rectangle. Place over filling. Brush with egg white. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. , For glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and enough water to achieve a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over warm pastry. Cut into squares. Serve warm or cold.

APPLE CHEESE DANISH

Steps:

• Place the cottage cheese in a strainer lined with cheesecloth or heavy-duty paper towels. Pat dry with paper towels and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Place apples in a bowl, and sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent browning.
• Combine the cream cheese, drained cottage cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, egg, and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer, and mix 1 to 2 minutes on high speed, until almost smooth.
• Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Cut each of the puff pastry sheets into 9 pieces; you should have 18 total. Roll the pieces out, one at a time, to make 5 x 5-inch squares. To ensure the pastries puff up, avoid using too much pressure or rolling over the edges of the dough.
• Place a square in front of you so that it looks like a diamond. Spoon a generous amount of cheese filling down the middle of each square, leaving 1/4 inch of room at the top and bottom edges. Fan out 4-5 slices of apple down the center of each cheese-filled square. Bring the left and right corners together to meet in the center and pinch to seal.
• Transfer the Danish to a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining pastries. Sprinkle sugar over each bundle and bake in the preheated oven until the pastry is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

APPLE DANISH BRAIDS

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 16x12-inch rectangle. Using a ruler and a pizza wheel or a sharp knife, cut dough into 12 (4-inch) squares. Using a ruler, mark a ½-inch-wide column down center of each square. Using a pizza wheel or a sharp knife, cut ¼-inch-wide strips on both sides of column from top to bottom.
• Spread about 2 teaspoons Apple Filling down each column. Working from the top, fold dough strips over filling diagonally, alternating left and right. Pinch ends together at top and bottom. Place on prepared pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let stand for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Brush braids with beaten egg, and bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons water. Drizzle glaze over apple braids just before serving.
• In a medium saucepan, combine ¾ cup apple cider, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice over medium-high heat.
• In a small bowl, whisk together pectin and remaining ¼ cup apple cider. Reduce heat to medium-low, and add pectin mixture to cider mixture, whisking until combined and slightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add apples, and stir to combine. Cook until thickened, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before using.

APPLE CRISP CHEESE DANISH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 15" pizza pan or stone with cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla until smooth. Set aside.
• Unroll the crescent dough into triangles. Reserve 4 triangles for later. Arrange the triangles on the pizza pan or stone with the points pointing towards the center. Press seams together to form a circle. Using the bottom of the glass, cut a circle in the center and remove circle of dough.
• Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the crescent dough leaving a margin on the edges.
• Spoon the apple filling evenly on top of the cream cheese filling.
• Take reserved 4 triangles of crescent dough and cut each into 3 strips lengthwise. Take each strip of dough and twist it and drape it over the the filling connecting it on the center of the ring to the outside of the ring. Please note that this does not have to be exact. I had to use an extra triangle for my crescent circle so I only had 3 triangles to split up. Have fun and use your creativity.
• For the crumble: Combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and butter in a bowl. Mix well. I like to use my clean hands to get in there and mush it together until it's the texture of wet sand. Sprinkle topping evenly over the apples.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until crescent dough is nice and golden.
• Cut into slices and serve warm. Place a ramekin of caramel in the center for drizzling on top if desired.

APPLE-CHEESE DANISH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 15x10x1-inch baking pan; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, unfold one pastry sheet and roll into a 15x10-inch rectangle. Transfer to the prepared baking pan, pressing dough to edges of pan. Bake in the preheated oven about 12 minutes or until golden brown (pastry will puff and shrink from sides of pan). Cool on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, in an extra-large skillet, cook apples in hot butter over medium heat about 8 minutes or just until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar, the flour, 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and the nutmeg. Sprinkle over apples. Cook and stir over medium-low heat for 2 minutes more; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and the remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla just until combined. Carefully spread cream cheese mixture over baked pastry to within 1 inch of the edges. Spoon apple mixture over cream cheese mixture.
• On a lightly floured surface, unfold the remaining pastry sheet and roll into about a 13x9-inch rectangle (make sure pastry is large enough to completely cover apple mixture). Place on top of apple mixture. Lightly press edges of top pastry to edges of bottom pastry. Lightly brush pastry with milk. Using a sharp knife, cut a few slits in pastry to allow steam to escape. In a small bowl, combine coarse sugar and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; sprinkle over pastry.
• Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until pastry is slightly puffed and golden brown. Cool on wire rack about 45 minutes. Serve slightly warm. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. Make-Ahead Tip:
• Prepare the apple mixture as directed in Step 2. Cool and transfer to an airtight container; cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Test Kitchen Tip:
• To save time, prepare as directed, except substitute one 21-ounce can of your favorite fruit pie filling for the apples, butter, 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar, the flour, 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and the nutmeg; omit Step 2.