Delicious Danishes

Today you will get some science AND history. According to the Danish bakers' union (yes that is a real thing), Claudius Gelee, created the light, layered pastry dough on accident over 350 years ago. He forgot to add butter to his dough and tried to fix it by folding in lumps of butter. Whatever he was trying to make didn't turn out the way it was supposed to, but he was left with this delicious and flaky dough. The Danes call this treat Viennese, but as Danes emigrated to other countries, their pastry became known as the Danish.

Now for some science. Pastry dough is made from a combination of fat, flour, and water. It is kinda surprising but very cool that these three ingredients are used to make sandwich bread, pie crusts and danishes. The end product formed depends largely on how much water is interacting with the flour. When liquid is added to flour and this mixture is kneaded, proteins in the flour form gluten strands. Gluten helps keep dough elastic and helps the dough maintain its shape. To keep our danish pastry dough light, we want to limit the amount of gluten strands, so we do not knead the dough, only mix it until just combined. Additionally, to reduce the amount of gluten proteins formed, we cut in the butter (the fat) to the flour as the first step in this recipe. The layer of fat around the flour makes it difficult for liquid to hydrate the flour, so gluten proteins cannot form. If the flour is too well coated, the pastry will not hold together, so it is necessary for the solid fat to be cold.

Another part of this recipe is the rest time. Resting allows the water to diffuse through the dough and allows time for the gluten strands to relax for easier handling. Danishes have a laminated dough (all the folding=lamination) and those layers need more gluten to hold their shop as compared to a pie crust. Thus, more water is needed for this dough as compared to a pie crust. An interesting fact is lard contains almost no water, butter has 15% water content and margarine has about 20% water. Back to the laminating. The rolling and folding creates layers with air trapped between them. The air expands when heated to create the light, flakiness that we all love. See more about this in my croissant post.

Hope you learned something and enjoy making these yummy danishes for yourself :)

Step by step recipe with pictures:

For the dough mix the flour, sugar and salt then add the butter. Use a pastry cutter, a fork or your fingers to combine the flour and butter into smaller pea-sized clumps.

Whisk the egg yolks into the yeast/milk mixture then add to the flour/butter mixture. Combine to form a sticky dough. It will not be completely smooth.

After chilling the dough for two hours, roll is out into a 10 x 15 in rectangle. Fold it in thirds like a pamphlet, as seen on the right. Repeat the roll and fold process three more times. End with the folded form. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Remove the chilled dough. Roll once more into a 10 x 15 in rectangle. Cut 1 inch strips length-wise. You should have 15 strips.

To form the danishes, wrap two inches of one of the strands and flatten the two inches together to form a circle base. Then, loosely twist the remaining dough and wrap it around the base. The twist does not need to be pressed down onto the base; they will bake together and remain combined. Make sure to leave a hole in the middle for the cream cheese filling.

For the cream cheese filling, combine the cream cheese and sugar. Then mix in the egg yolk and vanilla. Add a large spoonful into the center of each danish. Gently push blueberries into the cream cheese filling. Cover with plastic and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Almost there!!!

After rest time, brush the danish dough with an egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Once cool, drizzle the icing on top. I didnt completely wait for mine to cool, so my icing was absorbed into the danish. Wait if you want the beautiful drizzle look! Enjoy for breakfast or dessert, or at any time of the day!

Danish ingredients and recipe:

(adapted from bigbearswife.com)

Ingredients:

For the dough-

1 cup warm milk

1 package active dry yeast

3 cups all purpose flour

3 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup cold butter cubed

3 large egg yolks

1 large egg + 1 tsp water for egg wash

For the cream cheese filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup blueberries

For the icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tbsp. milk

Directions:

For the dough:

1. In a small bowl, combine the warm milk and yeast. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, until frothy.

2. In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar and salt. Whisk to combine. Add the cold butter and use a pastry cutter or your finger to cut the butter into the flour mixture. Combine until the flour/butter is pea-sized.

3. Whisk the egg yolks into the yeast mixture. Add to the flour mixture and stir with a spoon until a sticky dough is formed. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.

4. After chilling, place the dough on a floured surface and roll out into a 10 x 15 in rectangle.

5. Fold the dough in thirds by bringing the right side in to the middle and the left side in to the middle. Roll and fold the dough three more times. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Remove dough and roll out into a 10 in x 15 in rectangle. Cut 1 in x 15 in strips.

7. On parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet, begin forming the danishes. Press one end of the dough strip to the baking sheet. Wrap 2 inches and press the dough down to form a flat circle for the filling. Continue by loosely twisting the dough strip and wrap it around the center. Place danishes 1 in apart. Cover with plastic and let rest for 3- minutes.

For the Filling:

1. Combine the softened cream cheese and sugar. Mix with an electric mixer until combined.

2. Mix in the egg yolk and vanilla extract until smooth.

Finish forming the danishes:

1. Place a spoonful of the cream cheese fill-in in the center of each danish. Place blueberries on top of the filling. Cover the danishes with plastic and let rest for 30 minutes.

2. Brush the dough with an egg wash and bake for 20 minutes.

For the icing:

1. Whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth.

2. Drizzle over cooled danishes.

enjoy!!