Salt Caramel Danish Puff Recipes

DANISH PUFF

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Place 1 cup flour in medium bowl. Cut in 1/2 cup softened butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of coarse crumbs. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons water over mixture; toss with fork.
• Gather pastry into a ball; divide in half. Pat each half into 12x3-inch rectangle, about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• In 2-quart saucepan, heat 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water to rolling boil; remove from heat. Quickly stir in almond extract and 1 cup flour. Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat. Add eggs; beat until smooth. Spread half of the topping over each rectangle.
• Bake about 1 hour or until topping is crisp and brown; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely.
• In medium bowl, mix all glaze ingredients except nuts until smooth and spreadable. Spread over top of pastry; sprinkle with nuts.

DANISH PUFF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Place flour in a bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle with water; toss with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Divide dough in half. On greased baking sheets, press each portion into 12x3-in. rectangle., For topping, in a saucepan, heat butter and water to a rolling boil. Add flour and salt all at once and beat until blended. Cook over low heat, stirring vigorously until mixture pulls away from sides of pan and forms a ball. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until smooth. Add extract; continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny. Spread half of the mixture over each rectangle., Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 1 hour. Cool on pans 10 minutes., Mix first four icing ingredients until smooth; spread over warm pastries. Sprinkle with almonds.

HOLIDAY DANISH PUFFS

Steps:

• Place flour in a small bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll each into a 14x2-1/2-in. rectangle. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet; curve one end of each pastry to form tops of canes. Refrigerate while preparing topping., Preheat oven to 350°. In a large saucepan, combine water, butter and salt; bring to a rolling boil. Add flour all at once and beat until blended. Cook over medium heat, stirring vigorously until mixture pulls away from sides of pan and forms a ball. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes., Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until smooth. Add extract; continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny. Spread over pastry dough., Bake 60-70 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Cool on pans 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack; cool completely., In a small bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, butter, water and extract until smooth. Spread over pastries; sprinkle with almonds. Refrigerate leftovers.

SALTED CARAMEL PEAR PUFFS

Steps:

• Put 300g of the sugar and the vanilla pod in a narrow, deep saucepan with 1 litre of water. Use a vegetable peeler to pare the zest from the lemon, then drop that in the pan too. Heat gently until the sugar has melted, then bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, juice the lemon and peel the skin from the pears, rubbing with lemon juice as you go, to stop the flesh browning. Carry on peeling until the pears are reduced to a size that only takes up about half of one of the holes of a muffin tin. Put the pears in the pan with the poaching liquid, cover and turn down the heat. Gently poach for about 30 mins until they are really soft - test with a skewer at the widest part. Keep the fruit submerged in the poaching liquid in the fridge until ready to finish the pudding.
• Meanwhile, make a salted caramel sauce by melting the remaining 200g sugar and the butter together in a saucepan. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the cream, bring to the boil and bubble for 2 mins while stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt. Make the batter by whizzing the milk, egg and flour in a food processor or blender until smooth (or whisk by hand). Transfer the batter to a jug. Both can be made up to 24 hrs ahead, just chill until you're ready.
• To finish, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Divide about ½ tsp sunflower oil between 6 holes of a deep, metal muffin tin. Put in the oven to heat for 10 mins. Trim the base of each pear so they'll sit flat, then dip in some of the caramel sauce and transfer to a plate for a minute for the excess to run off (you can tip this back in with the rest of the sauce).
• Working quickly, sit a pear in each hole of the tin, and pour the batter in and around. Put back in the oven and bake for 16-20 mins until the puffs are risen and golden. Warm the caramel sauce while the puffs are baking, then serve together immediately, with extra cream or crème fraîche.