Easy Danish Pastry Dough

This Danish Pastry Dough is something that I have had up my culinary sleeve for the last few years. It is in part courtesy of Nigella and How to Be a Domestic Goddess and it is outstanding, both in it's deliciousness and in it's ability to effectively cut out the classic toil and bother of traditional danish pastry making. What a blinkin boon.

It is a glorious short cut but it does not fall short in results. A whizz in the food processor and all is distributed as it should be.

No bashing, no folding. no sweating. The trick is to use the food processor to chop the butter up into small pebble size about 1cm. Twenty seconds and the job is done. Who damn well knew.

Scroll down to the bottom of this post for a full printable recipe card.

Danish Pastry Recipe

Such a wonderful recipe should come with a bottle of Champagne and two tickets to the Bahamas. It is such a game changer for me.

• Put 250 grams unsalted butter, 7 grams instant yeast (packet) 50 grams caster sugar, 350 grams strong white bread flour and 1 tsp salt into your food processor.

• Blitz on pulse until the butter pieces are about 1 cm pebbles.
• Empty the floury rubble into a mixing bowl, then add the 60 mls of luke warm water/4 tbsp, 125 mls warm milk and 1 large egg (all beaten together) and give a cursory stir until the flour is no longer visible.
• The covered dough is left overnight in the fridge to go about it's business.
• Come morning or whenever you are ready to start, tip the dough out onto a heavily floured work surface.
• Flour the top of the dough and your rolling pin too.
• Roll it out to a rectangle roughly measuring 35 cm x 25 cm. Keep flouring if the butter breaks through.
• I never stick to a measured rectangle and sometimes I end up with a square. I simply can't seem to steer a rolling pin well enough but it doesn't matter here.

• Fold the bottom of the dough up a ⅓ and then the top down over it just like a business letter.

• Don't worry as long as you keep folding the dough into three then goodness prevails and lovely crisp lamination occurs.
• There are also times when the butter seeps through the pastry and is sticky on the rolling surface and rolling pin. I care not. With a flourish of flour I cover the offending buttery patches  and carry on regardless.
• You then turn that letter so the fold is on your left like the spine of a book and then roll out again to the same size.

• I usually fold over and roll five times in all. As mentioned the butter does tend to break through but I keep dusting and rolling regardless.
• The pastry finally gets a little stretch to it. I know then that it's ready.
• After the final fold then cover and pop in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Roll out to the largest square you can whilst still maintaining a thickness of about 3 mm.
• Over the course of baking these Danish Parcels I have discovered one shape that I favour, the Pinwheel.
• To make the Pin Wheel I cut the dough into roughly ten cm squares with a pizza cutter. I get about 12 and then use the off cuts if I can for a one or two more.I really don't worry about them being too perfect. Once baked and shiny in their gloriousness and icing, whether they are uniform or not is the last thing people are thinking. Or the ones I want sitting at my table anyway!

• You then cut four diagonal lines in the corners of the dough radiating up to the centre.

• You take one corner and bring it to the middle, miss the next one, pin the next one and so on.
• Press the corners down to stick them together and form a little recess for the filling.

• Cover with oiled cling film and allow to almost double in size. This will take up to an hour.

• I brush the shapes with egg wash carefully before putting the fillings in the centres. I usually push the hole for the fillings further down to make sure they don't bubble out of their recess.
• Bake at 180 C for about twelve minutes.
• Place on a wire rack to cool.
• I  glaze the Danish Pastries with the Apricot Jam, leave for five mins and then drizzle over the Icing.

I love the Pinwheel because it is pretty and easy to fashion, baking well and usually not breaking free of it's shape. I top with Strawberry Jam, Nutella or Stewed Apples and drizzle with Icing for a final sweet bite.

I know there are other fillings out there but I am looking for easiness here from start to finish. I am looking to dollop alone.

Can you freeze danish pastries?

The fabulous answer is yes! This recipe makes 12/13 pastries so if you wanted half that number then all you need to do is make them into their final shape ready for proving and place them on a baking tray that will fit into your freezer, cover them and freeze for about an hour.

You can then put them all into a plastic bag together and pop them back in for another feast another time. I do recommend using 2 plastic bags (double wrap) to prevent freezer burn.

When you need the frozen dough let it thaw fully and then puff up for the prove as usual.

This dough can also sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours awaiting your attention. I have even left it for longer and it has all been good.

Please remember these do not have to be your local elegant country hotel offering for afternoon tea, these are big homemade beauties worthy of a home awarded Michelin Star.

They taste so incredible step out into the dark side.....

One last advisory word is to keep the fillings sweet and mild. The delicious yeasty dough needs to remain the star here.

IF YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE THEN YOU MAY LIKE THESE

Danish Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls

Yum Yums

Doughnuts

Iced Buns

Pain au Chocolat