Week 19: Danishes

Danishes

This week features a personal favorite: Danishes. It takes every ounce of willpower to pass the cheese Danishes every time I go to the grocery store! Pastry with cream cheese and/or fruit? Yes, please! I really don’t see how it can be any better. I suppose a chocolate lover might disagree but that’s not me, so I don’t. On a side note, we don’t have many chocolate desserts scheduled for this year in case you find yourself waiting for some. Not on purpose, but, also not surprising since I get to have chocolate desserts whenever we go out to eat! (Oh, I’ll take them down like any other dessert, don’t get me wrong!)

This is another ambitious bake for us. Danishes are made with a specific type of pastry. It is very similar to the puff pastry we made on week 2, but this pastry also has yeast. We still had to flatten out the butter and complete upteen-hundred turns and folds. I’m not sure why puff pastries get a bad rap. Other than the patience required to make them, they truly are not “difficult” and don’t deserve the “boogey-man of baking” reputation that they have.

For the dough recipe, we used one from the internet since it made a larger batch than our Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book specified. We decided that if we were going to take the time to make a puff pastry, we ought to make a lot! The recipe is from King Arthur Flour, which is becoming by new favorite baking website! The Cook’s recipe was very similar except for the King Arthur addition of cardamom in the dough. We did use the Cook’s recipes for the fillings because we thought they would have better depth of flavor due to the ingredient differences.

We actually made fewer substitutions in this recipe than we did for nearly every other recipe including the puff pastry from earlier this year. I think we forgot that whole wheat flour hadn’t made a huge difference in the finished product. In any case, we used all-purpose flour this week. We used a mixture of sugar substitutes for each component. Finally, for our dairy, we used a mixture of heavy whipping cream (we had it on hand) and almond milk and the “1/3 less fat” cream cheese. All told, this is a pretty high caloric dessert and not even close to a “healthy” alternative since we made very few substitutions.

Ingredients

Dough

• 32 tablespoons (454g) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature, 65°F to 68°F
• 5 1/2 cups (659g) All-Purpose Flour
• 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 1/2 teaspoons (15g) salt, if you use salted butter, reduce this to 1 1/2 (9g) teaspoons salt
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cardamom, optional; for traditional flavor
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup (227g) milk, cold
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup (76g to 113g) lukewarm water*
• 2 large eggs

*Use the greater amount in winter, or in a dry climate; the lesser amount in summer, or when it’s humid out.

Cheese filling

• 1 package cream cheese (8 ounces), cut into 1-inch pieces, at room temperature
• ¼ cup sugar (1 3/4 ounces)
• ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest from 1 lemon

Fruit filling

• about 1 to 1 1/4 cups (298g to 369g) jam, preserves, or canned fruit pie filling OR
• 1 cup cherries, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 T cornstarch (we used this so I included it in the recipe list)

Topping

• 1 large egg white, beaten lightly with 1 tablespoon cold water

Glaze

• 1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar (6 ounces), sifted
• 5 teaspoons milk
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• crushed nuts, optional; to garnish

Instructions

1. Begin by cutting 1/4″ butter off the end of each of the 4 sticks in the pound; you’ll have about 2 tablespoons butter. Set them (and the remaining butter) aside. You’ll be using the 2 tablespoons butter immediately, but won’t need the remaining butter until after you’ve made the dough.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and cardamom. Add the 2 tablespoons cold butter, working it in with your fingers until no large lumps remain. This step coats the flour a bit with fat, making the pastry a tiny bit more tender.
3. Add the vanilla, milk, water, and eggs. Mix and knead to make a cohesive, but quite sticky dough. This is easily done in a bread machine set on the dough cycle; or in a mixer. If you use a mixer, the dough won’t completely clean the bowl; it’ll probably leave a narrow ring around the side, and stick at the bottom.
4. Scrape the dough into a ball, and transfer it to a floured work surface. Cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the butter. (Perfect your technique BLOG Danish Pastry BY PJ HAMEL)
5. Cut each stick of butter in half lengthwise, to make 8 long rectangles. On a piece of floured parchment or plastic wrap, line up 4 of the butter pieces side by side, to form a rectangle. Sprinkle lightly with flour, and cover with another piece of parchment or plastic wrap.
6. Gently pound and roll the butter until it’s about 6″ x 9″. The pieces may or may not meld together. If they do, great, they’ll be easier to work with. If not, though, that’s OK; don’t stress about it.
7. Repeat with the remaining 4 pieces of butter. You should now have two butter rectangles, about 6″ x 9″ each.
8. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 12″ wide and 24″ long. Don’t worry about being ultra-precise; this is just a guide, though you should try to get fairly close.
9. Place one of the butter pieces onto the center third of the dough. Fold one side over the butter to cover it. Place the other butter piece atop the folded-over dough, and fold the remaining dough up over it. You now have a rectangular “packet” of dough-enclosed butter. Pinch the open ends and side closed as best you can.
10. Turn the dough 90°, so a 12″ side is closest to you. Roll the dough into a 10″ x 24″ rectangle (approximately). Fold each side into the center; then fold one side over the other to make a rectangular packet about 6″ x 10″.
11. Dust the surface of the dough with flour, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.
12. Remove the dough from the fridge, and again roll it into a rectangle about 10″ x 24″. Fold it into a packet as you did in step #10; it’ll be about 7″ x 12″. Roll one final time, fold into a packet, and flour the dough lightly. Wrap loosely (but completely) in plastic, and chill it for 2 hours, or up to 16 hours; we prefer the longer refrigeration, as it gives the dough a chance to relax and rise.
13. Before shaping the pastries, select your filling(s). We like to use a variety. Either of the filling suggestions in this recipe make enough to fill all the pastries; so if you want to mix and match, make a half-recipe of the cheese filling, and use only half the amount of fruit filling called for.
14. To make the cheese filling, combine all of the ingredients, stirring until smooth. For the smoothest filling, process in a food processor.
15. When you’re ready to make pastries, remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap it, and cut off one-third. You’ll work with this piece first; return the remainder to the fridge.
16. Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball, then flatten the balls into 3″ to 3 1/2″ rounds, making the center thinner than the edges. You want to build up a slight wall of dough all around the circumference; this will help hold the filling. Place the rounds on a parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheet.
17. Working with one-half of the remaining dough at a time, repeat the process; you’ll finish with three baking sheets, each with 12 dough rounds.
18. Cover the Danish lightly with greased plastic wrap, and let them rise for about 1 hour; they’ll become slightly puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 400°F.
19. Use your fingers to press the centers of the dough rounds as flat as possible, leaving the “sidewalls” puffed. Spoon a slightly heaping measuring teaspoon of filling into the well of each round.
20. Brush the exposed edges of pastry with the egg/water topping; this will create a satiny, golden crust.
21. Bake the pastries for 15 to 18 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and transfer to a rack. Glaze and serve immediately; or wait until they cool, then glaze.
22. To make the glaze, whisk the confectioners’ sugar and salt with enough water or milk to make a “drizzle-able” glaze.
23. Drizzle the glaze atop the pastries. Sprinkle with crushed nuts.

Our Experience

We started by mixing all of the dry ingredients together in the mixer. The recipe seemed weird to cut off a 1/4″ off of each stick of butter and then cut that butter into the dry ingredients. But, the recipe mentioned that the butter would coat the flour and would help create all the buttery layers.

Once the butter was cut into the dry ingredients, it was time to add all of the liquids. We had meant to add the water as needed, but realized we had added it to the rest of the liquids and didn’t care to start over. So, ALL of the water was added at the same time, whether it needed it or not.

While the dough chilled, we cut up the butter as directed. To flatten it out, I found that the meat tenderizing mallet worked when we made the puff pastry earlier this year, so, we decided to use it again. The flour helps to keep the butter from sticking.

Once the butter was flattened out and ready for use, we got the dough out and began rolling it out into the specified rectangle. Once it was rolled out, we centered one of the butter sheets on the dough and then folded one side over onto the butter. We then took the second butter sheet and put it on top of the folded over side of dough.

Once the butter is encased in the dough, it is rolled out again and folded again. This recipe specified folding each end into the middle and then folded together. The dough is chilled in between each folding because the butter needs to remain chilled. Once chilled it is rolled out again and folded again.

After tasting the cherry filling I thought it needed something else. I added a splash of almond extract and some lemon juice. It’s amazing how much those two ingredients changed the filling…it was now perfect! We planned to put the cream cheese filling on every Danish while putting the cherries on only half of them. We made a full batch of cream cheese filling and half a batch of cherry filling (the recipe above is for half).

Once they were out of the oven, it was difficult not to try them. Kip and Garrett decided to have one before any of the glaze was added. Once they cooled off, we glazed them and then took a couple plates to the neighbors for Mother’s Day breakfast. It all happened so fast, I nearly forgot to get a “final picture”. The final doesn’t have the nicest looking ones because we gave those away but, you get the idea.

What we liked.

This received a 5 out of 5 – with rave reviews. They were gone by Monday morning and that’s the best test of how well my family likes what we have made.

The flakiness of the pastry was divine and completely worth the time. If you like your pastry to be softer like those you would buy pre-made at the store, let them sit at least overnight. If you like the crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, eat them right away even if the glaze melts. I think the glaze is a requirement if you like a sweet Danish, not necessarily if you don’t. The fillings were a perfect compliment to each other. It was like a cherry cheesecake on a sweet croissant. The cream cheese had that bit of lemon to counteract the sweetness while the almond extract that I added to the cherries added one more, necessary in my opinion, flavor note.

Surprisingly, Aubrey and I had made the plain cheese ones because we thought our testers would be averse to the cherries and then they all ate the cherry ones first!! There is no predicting the unpredictability of our taste testers! We still have half the dough in the freezer and we have already decided that our next batch will be a Danish braid with the cheese AND cherry filling.

What we would change.

I don’t think we would change anything per se. When we make them again, I think we will try a whole wheat flour and we might add the additional cardamom since we really couldn’t taste it in our dough…just to see if we like it. In the future, we will put both the cheese and cherries on all of them. (We may find another filling to try as well.) Finally, we will do a little more research on the many options for Danish shapes. The option we chose allowed for a well to add the filling but we know there are other versions we could try. As for me personally, adding the nuts might be something I would like on mine.

What we learned.

Of course, this was our second attempt at a puff pastry and we were pleased with the outcome. We learned a slightly different method than we learned in our previous experience. (We kind of liked the previous one better?? though not sure why.) Not a baking thing, but, we learned that we don’t know our taste testers as well as we thought we did! 😉 We made our first ever cherry filling too.

Until next week, Happy Baking!