Danish Pastries.

Danish Pastries.

The pastries are time consuming and you can't rush the process.The Danish will take 2 days in total to make but they are very forgiving and will always yield good results, well worth the effort.

Leave 250g block of butter out of the fridge overnight.

-250ml cold milk.

-2tsp yeast.

Stir together and leave for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, put in

-450g strong white flour.

-1tsp salt.

-60g caster sugar.

Make a well in the centre, add

-milk/yeast mixture.

-1 egg, stir to combine and then use your hand to form a rough dough. The dough should be quite sticky but don't be tempted to add too much flour, if you really must, add 1-2 tbsp more.

On a floured surface, knead the dough for 3 minutes until it's smooth but still feel sticky.

Put the dough in a greased bowl, cover with cling film, put in the airing cupboard to prove for 2 hrs.

Lay a large piece of cling film on your work surface, put on

-soft butter, cover with another cling film, roll the butter out to about 

-30cm in length and 

-15cm wide. 

Leave aside at room temperature.

When the dough is ready, knead briefly and roll out to

-45cm in length and

-17cm wide.

Remove the top cling film layer on the butter, invert on to the bottom 1/3 of the dough, leaving an inch gap. Peel off the other cling film. Fold

-top 1/3 of the dough into the centre, press to seal in the butter, then fold the

- bottom 1/3 into the centre, press to seal in the dough.

With the short end facing you, roll gently to a form

-45cm in length and

-12cm wide.

Fold as before and put in a large freezer bag, refrigerate 45 minutes.

Repeat 3 more times, always roll the dough with the short end facing you.

Then leave the dough in the fridge overnight.

When ready roll the dough out to 

-40cm in length by

-30cm wide and

-1cm thick.

Cut the dough into 8x8cm squares (don't throw away the off cuts, they taste as lovely when cooked and you can have fun shaping them).

Shape your pastries however way you want and with whatever fillings you fancy.

I filled mine with

-jam,

-frangipane (-50g softened butter, 50g sugar, 50g ground almonds, 1 egg, beat together to form a paste).

You only need a teaspoons or 2 of filling per pastry.

Leave the pastries to prove for another hour.

Brush with egg yolk beaten with milk.

Bake 160c fan oven for around 20 minutes.

Cool on a cooling rack.

When cooled, you can pipe or drizzle  icing sugar on them.