Were all the laborious steps required to make this week's Tuesdays with Dorie assignment, Danish, worth the effort? Yes! The end result was delicious. Things got off to a bad start, however.
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| Boiled-over berries |
I chose to use the berry filling, mainly because we grow blueberries and raspberries in our backyard, and we had bags of both in the freezer. I followed the directions in the recipe, using the microwave to boil the berries and sugar. Things were fine after the first 10 minutes. But during the second cooking required, I opened the microwave door to a mess of boiled-over berries.
After scraping the mixture back into the bowl, I proceeded to make the cream mixture, but this time avoiding the microwave and thickening the ingredients on top of the stove. No problems there. I chose to use half-and-half rather than heavy cream. I next moved on to the dough, using the food processor as suggested.
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| Putting the berry filling down the middle |
After refrigerating the dough for a day, I then attempted the rolling and folding technique. Here was where I had a question. Since the recipe called for half the dough, did the measurements for rolling and folding apply to the whole batch of dough, not just the half? I reasoned that it did, so I made my dough measurements smaller than the instructions stated.
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| Browning after 15 minutes at 400 degrees |
After rolling the dough for the final time after the 30-minute refrigeration, the rest of the Danish was fun and easy. I used all the berries and all the cream and folded the angled ends over the dough with wild abandon. I was nearing the end!! I then applied the egg wash, sprinkled on the almonds, then applied a second coating of egg wash. I picked this tip up at the bakery where I volunteer. If a bread calls for nuts or seeds, we egg wash twice, once before applying the topping, then afterward. That way the topping is sure to stick. I also had some sparkling sugar that I applied with a rather liberal hand.
I thought the baking temperature seemed high, 400, but I baked the Danish at that temp for 15 minutes. By then is was really beginning to brown.
A chose to take my Danish to the bakery, so my fellow volunteers could try it. They all loved it. It was a big hit! I knew I couldn't go wrong with a Beatrice Okajankas recipe. I own two of her books and use one of them almost every week. Thank you Beatrice for a wonderful recipe!
