Danish Pastries Recipes

DANISH PASTRY

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 2/3 cup of flour. Divide into 2 equal parts, and roll each half between 2 pieces of waxed paper into a 6 x12 inch sheet. Refrigerate.
• In a large bowl, mix together the dry yeast and 3 cups of the remaining flour. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, sugar and salt. Heat to 115 degrees F (43 degrees C), or just warm, but not hot to the touch. Mix the warm milk mixture into the flour and yeast along with the eggs, and lemon and almond extracts. Stir for 3 minutes. Knead in the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough is firm and pliable. Set aside to rest until double in size.
• Cut the dough in half, and roll each half out to a 14 inch square. Place one sheet of the cold butter onto each piece of dough, and fold the dough over it like the cover of a book. Seal edges by pressing with fingers. Roll each piece out to a 20x 12 inch rectangle, then fold into thirds by folding the long sides in over the center. Repeat rolling into a large rectangle, and folding into thirds. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Remove from the refrigerator one at a time, and roll and fold each piece two more times. Return to the refrigerator to chill again before shaping. If the butter gets too warm, the dough will become difficult to manage.
• To make danishes, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. The dough can be cut into squares, with a filling placed in the center. Fold 2 of the corners over the center to form a filled diamond shape. Or, fold the piece in half, cut into 1 inch strips, stretch, twist and roll into a spiral. Place a dollop of preserves or other filling in the center. Place danishes on an ungreased baking sheet, and let rise until doubled. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). Danishes can be brushed with egg white for a shiny finish.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bottoms are golden brown.

DANISH PASTRY

Steps:

• Heat milk to luke warm, about 100 degrees. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl and whisk in yeast. Set aside while preparing other ingredients. Place flour, sugar and salt in bowl of food processor fitted with metal blade; pulse to mix. Add the 4 tablespoons butter and pulse until butter is absorbed and mixture is powdery in appearance. Add eggs and milk mixture and continue to pulse until dough forms a ball. If the dough refuses to form a ball, add up to 3 tablespoons more flour, one tablespoon at a time, pulsing once or twice between each addition.
• To mix by hand, combine flour salt and sugar in a bowl and stir well to mix. Rub in butter by hand, being sure to leave mixture cool and powdery. Beat eggs until liquid and add to flour mixture along with yeast-milk mixture. Stir vigorously with a rubber spatula to form a dough.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rest 5 minutes. Scrape dough to floured surface and fold dough over on itself 6 or 8 times, sprinkling with up to 3 tablespoons more flour if dough is very soft. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 to 8 hours.
• After the dough has chilled, prepare butter: Place half the flour on work surface and place butter on it. Scatter remaining flour on butter and pound the butter with a rolling pin to soften it to a malleable consistency. Scrape butter together and form into a cylinder. Immediately remove dough from refrigerator and press in into a 6 by 12-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Distribute dabs of butter in a 6 by 9-inch rectangle at the closer end of the dough, covering dough as completely as possible. Fold the top (unbuttered) portion of dough down over the middle section and the bottom (buttered) portion up to cover it. Position the dough so the fold is on the left and roll the dough back to its original size, flouring the surface and dough as necessary. Fold both short ends in to the middle of the dough and fold again at the middle, making 4 layers. Reposition the dough so that the fold is on the left again and repeat rolling and folding. Double-wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate dough several hours or overnight before using.

EASY DANISH FILO PASTRIES WITH FRESH BERRIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375˚F. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly grease a muffin tin and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, using a hand-held mixer on medium-high speed, cream together the sugar and the softened cream cheese. Add the egg yolk, vanilla extract and lemon zest and continue mixing until nice and smooth.
• Unwrap the filo pastry. Lay one piece on a clean surface and brush it with the melted butter. (*) If you are using the thicker, country-style filo, repeat with two more layers of filo. If you are using the thinner-style filo, repeat with three more layers. Using a 5-inch cutter, make 9 circles. Gently press the circles into the prepared muffin tin.
• Divide the cream cheese mixture evenly between the 9 filo cups. Bake for about 12 minutes or until the fillo is golden brown and the filling is set. Remove the muffin tin from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes (they will deflate slightly as they cool down).
• Prepare the lemon glaze by mixing the ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Top the cooled filo cups with the fresh berries, drizzle with some of the lemon glaze and serve with extra berries on the side.

DANISH PASTRY WITH FILLING VARIATIONS

Steps:

• FOR THE DANISH PASTRY: In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add a pinch of sugar and let stand 5 minutes, until the yeast foams. Stir in the remaining sugar, the egg yolks, and whipping cream, then set aside.
• In a large bowl or in the work bowl of a food processor, combine the flour and salt. Cut in the butter until pieces are the size of kidney beans.
• Turn the flour-butter mixture into the bowl with the liquid ingredients. Fold together just until dry ingredients are moistened throughout. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.
• Prepare the filling of your choice (below).
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and dust with flour. Using a rolling pin, pound the dough until it is smooth and about 3/4 inch thick.
• Roll out to a 24-inch square. Fold the dough into thirds to make a long, narrow strip. Cut lengthwise into two parts.
• Working with one part at a time, roll the dough into a rectangle, about 24 by 6 by 1/4 inch.
• Spread half the filling in a 2-inch strip down the length of each dough strip.
• Brush the uncovered edges with egg white and fold over to seal in the filling, making a filled roll 24 inches long and about 3 inches wide.
• Brush the outside of the roll with egg white and press the sugar and sliced almonds on all sides. Repeat with the second half of the dough. Cut filled rolls into 12-inch lengths.
• Lightly grease a baking sheet or cover with parchment paper. Place the rolls on the baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes; they will not double.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Remove from the baking sheet onto a wire rack to cool. Serve warm.
• Makes four 12-inch-long pastries.
• FOR THE APPLE-ALMOND FILLING: In a large bowl, mix the apples, sugar, almonds, and cinnamon.
• FOR THE RAISIN ALMOND FILLING: In a small saucepan bring the water to a boil over medium high heat and add the raisins. Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes; DRAIN.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter until soft, then add cardamom, confectioners' sugar, and enough cream to make a smooth, spreadable mixture. Mix in the raisins and almonds.
• FOR THE MARZIPAN FILLING: Crumble the almond paste into a mixing bowl and blend in the almonds, confectioners' sugar, egg white, and almond extract until well mixed. You can do this quickly in the food processor.

DANISH PASTRIES

Steps:

• Pulse together the dry ingredients plus 2 tsp salt in a processor, then pulse in the milk and egg, plus 100ml water, until you have a smooth, slightly sticky dough. Knead for 1 min, using a little flour, until just smooth. Put into an oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hr until doubled in size (overnight in the fridge if you like).
• Flour your surface, then pat the dough out to a rectangle, 1cm thick. Lay the butter slices out over the middle of the dough, in a rectangle. Fold the pastry over the top, bottom and then sides until the butter is completely hidden. Press the edges down.
• Roll the dough out to a 50 x 30cm rectangle, first tapping out the dough with the rolling pin in gentle ridges, so that you can tell the butter is being squashed out evenly inside the pastry, before rolling properly. Turn dough 90 degrees, then fold the right third over and the left third over that. Do this three times, chilling for 15 mins after each roll.
• Cut the dough in half, into 2 squares. Roll one piece of dough to 35 x 35cm. Cut into 9 squares, then follow the instructions below for each filling and shape. If you want to make more than one shape, it's easy to divide the filling quantity. Don't worry if your squares rise as you work, just roll them out a bit again.
• To make 18 pecan pinwheels, whizz 85g pecans until fine, then stir in 50g light muscovado, 1 tbsp maple syrup and 25g softened butter. Cut each square of pastry almost to the middle from each corner, spoon on 1 tsp filling, then fold each point over and press into the middle. Scatter more chopped pecans and a little sugar over before baking. Drizzle with a little maple syrup to serve.
• For 18 apricot custard turnovers, you will need 150g tub custard, 2 x 320g cans apricots and a few tsps apricot jam. Put 2 tsp custard in the middle, sit two apricot halves on top, dot with jam, then pull 2 corners over and pinch to seal.
• To make 18 raisin swirls, mix 50g raisins, 25g caster sugar, 1 tsp mixed spice and 50g soft butter. Instead of cutting the dough into 9, leave it whole and spread the filling over. Roll up, slice into 9 rounds, then squash each one. Blend 50g icing sugar and a few drops of water to drizzle over once baked.
• Once shaped and filled, let the pastries rise for 30 mins until puffed and doubled in size. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Brush with beaten egg, make sure you pinch any edges together again, then bake for about 20 mins until golden and risen.