Danish Pastry Pizzas Food

PUFF PASTRY PIZZA

Steps:

• For the crust: Slice the 2 pastry sheets in half down the middle. Place the halves on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment or baking mats.
• Preheat the oven to 415 degrees F, then start on the pizza toppings.
• For the toppings: In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter and saute the mushrooms and garlic for 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking until the mushrooms are cooked down and the liquid is mostly gone, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• To build the pizzas: brush a thin layer of olive oil in the center of each puff pastry half, leaving a 1/2-inch border. On each piece of pastry, sprinkle on 1/4 cup of the mozzarella, again so that it covers all but a 1/2-inch border around the pastry. Sprinkle the cooked mushrooms on one piece of pastry. On the second, sprinkle on the halved tomatoes and black olives. On the third, lay the pepperoni slices and sliced pepperoncini. Press the toppings lightly into the cheese. Leave the fourth piece of pastry plain (just cheese).
• Bake for 15 minutes; the pastry could go crazy and puff up in areas here and there, but don't worry! It'll be fine.
• Remove from the oven and sprinkle the goat cheese crumbles and half the basil over the mushroom pizza. Sprinkle the remaining basil over the tomato pizza. Top the pepperoni pizza with the fresh oregano. Top the plain pizza with the prosciutto, arugula and Parmesan shards
• Slice each into smaller pieces and serve!

PUFF PASTRY PIZZAS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Unroll the pastry, cut into six squares and arrange over two baking trays lined with baking parchment. Use a cutlery knife to score a 1cm border around the edge of each pastry square. Bake for 15 mins, until puffed up but not cooked through.
• While the pastry cooks, make the sauce and prepare your toppings. Mix the tomato purée, tomato ketchup, oregano and 1 tbsp water. Grate the cheese and chop any veg or herbs you want to put on top into small pieces. Set aside.
• Remove the pastry from the oven and squash down the middles with the back of a spoon. Divide the sauce between the pastry squares and spread it out to the puffed-up edges. Sprinkle with the cheese, then add your toppings. Bake for another 5-8 mins and serve.

DANISH PASTRY PIZZAS

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 180*C/350*F.
• Put the flour, yeast, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the oil and water. Use a spoon to begin with, stir the liquid around and as the flour slowly collapses into the liquid, mix into the bowl.
• Bring the dough onto a floured surface and begin to knead with your hands. Knead for five minutes and then place into a clean mixing bowl. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes.
• Once doubled in size remove from the bowl, punch down and then pull the dough into a rectangular shape. Spoon the passata onto the dough, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with the oregano, mozzarella, seasoning and ham. Turn so that the longest side of the rectangle is in front of you and then very carefully roll up like a swiss roll.
• Cut into 12 pieces, approximately 1 cm. thick and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, cut side up. Bake for 25 minutes.
• These would be really good with a tomato dipping sauce on the side, like they have at Pizza hut. Otherwise they'd be great in the school lunch box!

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 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.