Thursday, July 23, 2015

Danish Pastries, Spandauer

I finally got all the icing licked off of my fingers so they don't stick to the keyboard while I'm trying to type this post up.
Spandauer (Weinerbrød  aka Danish Pastries)

I've been having fun playing with laminated dough lately making Kringles,  but wanted to switch up and do something a little different the other day.

Actually I found a new recipe to try and didn't really want to make another Kringle as delicious as they are, cause I would just eat it and well, gee, I don't need all those calories.

Instead I made these...

I think they have just as many calories, but at least I'm not faced with having to eat the whole thing.

I mean, eating one at a time is acceptable, right?

So I got to work mixing up the dough and then had to stick it in the fridge for a few days, cause we had other obligations so I didn't get around to baking these up until 4 days later.


I got the recipe here.

And I didn't even modify it much.   I did use a jumbo egg rather than a large egg, and used salted butter, and then just omitted the addition of the salt.
The recipe follows at the end.  
 
Cut it into thirds, then cut each of the thirds into three pieces each one about 4x4 inches.  Rolled up the edges and pressed down a little on them. Just to hold their shapes.

I placed them on the reusable parchment paper, and plopped a piece of cream cheese filling in the middle.

Finished them off with an egg wash, then decided to try plunking a half teaspoon of cherry jam into half of them, let them proof (sit at room temp)  for a half hour, then baked them in a 400 deg. oven for 21 minutes.
Spandauer (Weinerbrød  aka Danish Pastries)
So one of them was a pinwheel, I was playing, OK?
The egg wash gives a lovely golden finish to the dough.
I let them sit and admired them for a little while. 
Spandauer (Weinerbrød  aka Danish Pastries)

Spandauer (Weinerbrød  aka Danish Pastries)
I mean, come on, they did look pretty.
After awhile I decided to go ahead and glaze them.  I just took the glaze I'd mixed up, and drizzled it over top of the Spandauer.
Spandauer (Weinerbrød  aka Danish Pastries)
If you do this over the cooling racks you can have so much fun making pretty designs, and letting the excess glaze drip off.


yield: 12-15 servingsprint recipe

Spandauer (Weinerbrød  aka Danish Pastries)

prep time: 24 hourcook time: 20 minstotal time: 48 hours
A proper Danish pastry isn't easy to find, but is surprisingly easy to make. Once you've mastered this laminated dough, you'll wonder why you never made it before and why you don't make it more often. Apart from the calories that is.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/4 cup warm water (105-115 deg. F)
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
  • 1/2 cup milk  at room temperature
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 sticks (8 ounces) cold unsalted butter (use the european style butter here)
  • 1 egg, whisked with 1 tablespoon water, for brushing on top (when ready to bake)
Cheese Filling
  • 4 oz. cream cheese
  • 3 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon Lemon Zest
  • 1/2 teaspoon Lemon Extract
Pastry Cream
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 2-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 vanilla bean or 1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Glaze
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
  • 1-2 teaspoons milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon Lemon or Vanilla Extract

INSTRUCTIONS:

 

  1.  In a bowl place the warm water, yeast, sugar and egg and let sit for a few minutes while you process the flour and butter in your food processor. 
  2. Put the flour and salt into the bowl of a large food processor, one which has a metal cutting blade. You then cut your cold butter into slices and drop them in on top of the flour. Your aim here is to pulse 8-10 times or so, just until the butter is cut into slightly smaller smaller pieces, not any smaller than 1/2 an inch or so. You do want the chunks of butter in this. 
  3.  Place the contents of the food processor into the bowl with the yeast in it. Working very carefully, with a rubber spatula, mix the flour and wet mixture together. You can scrape the bowl as needed. Mix it only until the dry stuff is moistened. Kinda like making muffins. You still want some chunks of butter visible. If you mix it too much, you've basically made a cookie dough.
  4.  As soon as it's all incorporated, place a piece of plastic wrap over the dough, place in the fridge overnight or for up to 4 days. (Cause that's how long I had it in there, life got in my way and tripped me). 
  5. How to roll and fold. Flour your working surface, lightly. I work on a stainless steel island and usually put a bowl of ice right over the spot where I want to roll out the dough. And then I just keep moving it around a little to keep the surface cold. If you have a marble slab, chill it and work with that. 
  6. Dump the dough out onto the chilled surface, and using your hands, pat it into a rough square. Then using a rolling pin, roll it out into a large square, about 16 x 16 inches, lightly.   
  7.  Fold it into thirds, like you were folding a business letter. Turn the dough around so that the fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. If your dough is getting soft at this point or at any time, place it back in the fridge to cool back down again. This keeps the butter from melting back into the dough. 
  8. Roll out again, about 10 x 24 inches. Fold into thirds again, and turn so that the fold is to your left, and roll into a 20 inch square. Repeat, wrap and refrigerate the dough for a couple of hours or overnight. 
  9. Fold, roll and divide the dough into two, wrap them well and place in the fridge again, for either a couple of hours or overnight. 
  10.  Finally, you're ready to shape it, fill it and bake it. I use a cream cheese filling, but the proper filling is actually a pastry cream. And I've included both recipes. You can also dollop some cherry pie filling or cherry jam in there or lemon curd or prune ? Have fun with the fillings. 
  11. Take each piece of dough out of the fridge. Roll it out. Cut it into thirds, then cut each of the thirds into three pieces each one about 4x4 inches.  Rolled up the edges and pressed down a little on them. Just to hold their shapes. I placed them on the reusable parchment paper, and plopped a piece of cream cheese filling in the middle. Finished them off with an egg wash, then decided to try plunking a half teaspoon of cherry jam into half of them, let them proof (sit at room temp)  for a half hour, then baked them in a 400 deg. oven for 21 minutes.
Cream Cheese Filling
  1. Mix the cream cheese, sugar and flavorings together.
Pastry Cream Filling
  1. Put the milk, sugar, salt, egg yolks, cornstarch and vanilla extract into a microwave safe container. Whisk together. Heat on high 30 seconds, whisk, heat on high another 30 seconds, whisk, cook an additional 30 seconds, then place into a 2 quart saucepan, and continue to cook, whisking constantly until it comes to a boil. Let it boil for about 30-60 seconds, the cream will have thickened and the whisk should leave tracks as you're stirring. Take pan off of heat, and scrape the pastry cream into a strainer set over a bowl. Let it cool for a minute or two, then using a spatula, pushing the cream through the strainer into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap down onto the surface of the cream. Refrigerate until cool. You can make this up the day before and can keep it up to three days in the fridge before using.
Glaze
  1. Mix glaze ingredients together. Consistency should be pourable, but not thin.
Created using The Recipes Generator
I bet you're wondering what I did with the rest of the dough.


Stay tuned, I'll tell you all about making Snegle next.  Well, in a couple of days, that is.  I need to go and finish cleaning up now.
Snegle?
That's Danish for Snails.




 


Sidsel Munkholm - Author
Sidsel Munkholm - Author

Sid loves to cook, feed people and have fun in the kitchen. She shares her successes and the involuntary offerings she sometimes gives the kitchen goddess as well. And she's still looking for the mythical fairy to help her clean the kitchen after a marathon cooking session. Currently working on a cookbook showcasing the recipes from her Danish heritage.

2 comments:

  1. Your recipe instructions are missing Step 1: mixing the yeast, water, milk, sugar in a bowl.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for pointing that out, I've since corrected the instructions.

      Delete

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