Danish Puff Pastry Food

ALMOND DANISH PUFF

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350ºF.
• Cut 1/2 cup softened butter into 1 cup flour, using pastry blender or crisscrossing 2 knives, until particles are size of coarse crumbs.
• Sprinkle 2 tablespoons water over mixture; mix with fork.
• Gather pastry into ball; divide in half.
• Pat each half into rectangle, 12x3 inches, about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Heat remaining 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water to rolling boil in 2-quart saucepan; 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 wire rack. Cool completely.
• Spread with Creamy Almond Glaze; sprinkle with almonds.
• Creamy Almond Glaze:
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar; 2-3 tbsp butter, softened; 1/2 to 1 tsp almond extract; 1-2 tbsp warm water or milk.
• Mix all ingredients until smooth and spreadable and glaze the Danish puff.

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 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.

EASY CHEESE DANISH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper.
• Beat the whole egg with 1 teaspoon of water in a small bowl; set aside.
• Beat the egg yolk, cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth.
• Lay out the 2 sheets of puff pastry and cut each into 4 squares. Fold the corners of the squares over by about 1 inch to make octagon shapes. Spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly into the center of each (about 2 tablespoons per); do not spread the cream cheese. Brush all of the exposed pastry with the egg wash, then dust generously with sugar.
• Bake until puffed and golden brown all over, about 18 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

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.

PUFF PASTRY DANISHES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Beat first 4 ingredients until smooth; beat in 1 egg yolk., Mix water and remaining egg yolk. On a lightly floured surface, unfold each sheet of puff pastry; roll into a 12-in. square. Cut each into nine 4-in. squares; transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets., Top each square with 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture and 1 rounded teaspoon jam. Bring 2 opposite corners of pastry over filling, sealing with yolk mixture. Brush tops with remaining yolk mixture., Bake until golden brown, 14-16 minutes. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers.

DANISH ALMOND PUFF

Steps:

• Place 1 cup of flour in a medium bowl. Mix in butter using a fork or a pastry blender. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water over, and stir with a fork until dough comes together. Divide into two balls. Pat dough into two long strips on an ungreased baking sheet, about 14 inches long and 3 inches wide. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of butter and 1 cup of water. Bring to a rolling boil. Add 1 teaspoon of almond extract and remove from the heat. Immediately stir in 1 cup of flour until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Gradually stir in the eggs until well blended. Divide evenly, and spread over the two crusts on the baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden, about 1 hour. Allow to cool almost to room temperature before frosting.
• To make the frosting, mix together the confectioners' sugar, 1 teaspoon of almond extract and a splash of milk in a small bowl until smooth. Add more milk if necessary to make a pourable glaze. Drizzle over the Danish, and decorate with candy sprinkles if desired.

OUR 30+ BEST PUFF PASTRY DESSERTS (+PUFF PASTRY PALMIERS)

Steps:

• Roll out dough onto a floured surface.
• Sprinkle the sugar generously over the dough and roll a rolling pin over it.
• Fold into the center, repeating until dough centers meet.
• Cut into cookies.
• Bake for six minutes at 450°F on both sides.

DANISH PUFF (ALMOND KRINGLE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

PUFF PASTRY (DANISH PASTRY DOUGH)

Steps:

• In a large bowl sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Add the egg, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk gently to combine. Set aside.
• Toss the diced butter and flour together in a medium bowl. If there are any larger pieces, break them with your fingers. Add the flour and butter mixture to the wet ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until the flour is completely moistened. Transfer the dough to a smaller bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator. On a heavily floured surface, pat it into a rectangle about 8 x 6 inches, and then roll it into a larger rectangle about 14 x 24 inches. Brush off any excess flour and fold both edges in so that they meet in the center. If the dough is sticking underneath, release it with a long flexible metal palate knife.This is called a "book fold".
• Rotate the rectangle of dough 1/4 turn on the table.This is called a "turn". Roll into a rectangle measuring about 24 x 12 inches, loosening the dough underneath with a the metal spatula, reflouring as necessary.
• Brush off any excess flour and give it another book fold. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the fridge and repeat this process two more times, rolling the dough out each time to 12 x 24 inches.
• There are 4 book folds in all. After the final turn, shape the package into a rectangle measuring about 9 x 6 inches.
• Brush off any excess flour, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to one month.

PUFF PASTRY CHEESE AND PRESERVE DANISH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a small bowl combine the mascarpone, egg yolk, sugar, flour and vanilla. Stir until just combined and then set aside.
• Dust the puff pastry with flour and roll with a rolling pin to flatten and smooth.
• Place the puff pastry on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Schmear the mascarpone down the middle of the puff pastry lengthwise into a 3-inch wide strip. Spoon the fruit preserves on top of the mascarpone.
• Using sharp kitchen shears cut the long sides of the pastry into 1-inch wide strips. Cut towards the cheese filling but stop about 1-inch before you get to the filling. This result will look like fringy pastry. Alternating sides, fold 1 piece of the fringe over the cheese and jelly mixture. The result will look like a braided pastry with fruit preserve peeking through. Brush the dough with the beaten egg yolk mixture. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Let cool before serving. Cut into strips to serve.
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