Savoury Danish Pastries Food

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.

SAVOURY DANISH PASTRIES

Steps:

• Wrap the butter in foil and freeze for 45 mins.
• Tip the bread mix into a bowl and, using the foil to hold it, coarsely grate in the butter - keep dipping the end in the flour to stop it sticking to the grater too much. Use a cutlery knife to stir together, then add 300ml cold water and stir to a dough.
• Put the squash in a microwave-proof bowl with a little water, cover with cling film, poke one hole in, and microwave on High, at 2-min increments, until just cooked. Drain any liquid.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Roll out the dough as thinly as you can, to a rectangle with longest side measuring 25cm. Scatter over all the filling ingredients, spreading as evenly as you can, leaving a small gap along one of the longest sides, brush this edge with a little beaten egg. Season, then roll up tightly from the opposite side and pinch to seal. Use a sharp, floured knife to cut roll into 8 slices. Dust a baking sheet with more flour and place slices, cut-side up, with gaps in between. Brush tops with more egg and bake for 15-20 mins until golden and risen. Best eaten warm with cornichons.

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.

SAVOURY BACON AND BLUE CHEESE DANISH PASTRIES

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 400F, Gas Mark 6, 200°C.
• Heat the oil , add the onion and saute until lightly coloured and soft.
• Add the chopped bacon and cook gently, stirring occasionally.
• When the bacon is cooked & crispy, add the paprika, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper and salts.
• Allow to cool a little then add the sour cream and crumbled blue cheese.
• Season to taste.
• Roll out the pastry thinly and cut into 8 squares.
• Put a spoonful of the mixture onto each square,and bring two corners over the top to meet each other and make a diamond shape - covering most of the filling.
• Put on a greased and lined baking tray, glaze with the beaten egg and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 20- 25 minutes, or until pastry is puffed up and golden brown.