Danish Pastry Quick Method

I cut one of these in half and packaged in a clear cello bag tied with a ribbon

and gave as a gift...looked really nice.  The rest I cut down the middle lengthwise, then into smaller

pieces for easy eating.   

This is a great recipe.  If you have ever tried to make danishes before, you know it isn't always quick or easy.  This was very simple and the results were terrific. 

 **You do need to make the dough the day before and let it chill**

I did it that way like it suggested, you could try it right away if you want

but don't be disappointed if it doesn't turn out!

Posted by: Lisa

Source: http://beatrice-ojakangas.com

Much Requested Danish Pastry Recipe

Beatrice Ojka

BASIC DANISH PASTRY (Quick Method)

1/4 cup warm water, 105*F. to 115*F.

1 package active dry yeast

1/2 cup milk, at room temperature

1 egg, at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 sticks (8 ounces) cold unsalted butter

Pour water into bowl; add yeast and let stand for 2-3 minutes until yeast foams. Add milk, egg, sugar and salt and whisk to mix; set aside.

Measure flour into food processor with metal blade in place. Cut butter into 1/4 inch thick slices and drop into flour. Pulse 8 to 10 times, until butter is cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Empty flour mixture into bowl with yeast and with rubber spatula, gently fold the two mixtures together just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Don’t be too energetic! The butter must remain in pieces so that you will produce a flaky pastry, not a bread dough or cookie. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or up to 4 days to suit your schedule).

Lightly flour a work surface; turn dough out onto it, and dust dough with flour. Using the palms of your hands, pat dough into a rough square. Roll out to 16 inches on a side. Fold dough into thirds, like a business letter and turn it so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Roll out again, into a long narrow rectangle, about 10 inches wide by 24 inches long. Fold into thirds again. Roll out to make a 20-inch square. Fold square into thirds again to make a long, narrow rectangle. Then again, fold into thirds to make a square. (If at any point in this procedure the dough gets very soft, cover and chill it for 30 minutes or so.) Cover and chill the dough before final shaping. You can store the dough in the refrigerator for 4 days or wrap it air tight and keep it frozen for 1 month; thaw overnight, still wrapped, in the refrigerator.

USING THE PASTRY:

You can shape the pastry into either large coffeecakes and breads or into individual pastries. Here are a couple of my favorites:

DANISH PASTRY BRAID:

1 recipe Basic Danish Pastry (Quick Method)

Butter Cream Filling

1/4 cup soft butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup finely pulverized almonds

1 (3-ounce) package almond paste  ( I didn't have this, so I made my own...sooo good! recipe at end)

1 egg white

Glaze:

1 slightly beaten

2 tablespoons milk or water

Pearl sugar or crushed sugar cubes for topping

Sliced or chopped almonds

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 to 3 teaspoons warm water

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Cover baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide chilled dough into 2 parts. Roll out each part to make a rectangle 12 x 6-inches. Place strips on prepared baking sheets.

I filled with a fresh peach, cut up and dusted with cinnamon, and some frozen raspberries.

Blend all of the filling ingredients together and spread filling down the length of the center of the strip. Cut slanting strips at 3/4 inch intervals along both sides up toward the center using a fluted pastry wheel. Fold strips over filling in a crisscross manner.

Preheat oven to 400*F.

Let pastry rise for 30 minutes, just until puffy. Beat the egg with the milk or water and brush pastry.sprinkle with sugar and/or chopped almonds. Bake 15 minutes or until golden. Mix icing ingredients and drizzle over the braids. Makes 2 braids

**as you can see from my finished picture, mine didn't stay together.  I really pinched them too.  Next time I will not cut strips up the sides.  I am going to try rolling the filling in, put the roll seam side down, and cut slits along to top side and see how that works out**

Almond Paste Recipe

source:  www.food.com 

8 ounces almonds, blanched and very finely ground (grind them twice)
8 ounces icing sugar
1 egg white
Directions:

1
Grind your almonds.
2
In the second grinding add the sugar.
3
Gradually add your egg white working the mixture vigorously.
4
Use dough hook in mixer or knead on a pastry board.
5
The mixture should be firm& smooth when ready

Raspberry Curd filled cupcake with lemon butter cream cheese frosting

Submitted by Lisa

I have been watching Cup Cake wars on Food Network and have been dying to try one myself.  So, I picked one that used "normal" ingredients and gave it a try.  I am very pleased with the results.  Personally, I will probably make it again, but with a white or yellow cake.  I have never really been a fan of red velvet.  

Recipe originally called for blackberries

Recipe courtesy Victoria Donnelly, Cupcake Wars, 2010

Prep Time:

40 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

45 min

Level:

Intermediate

Serves:

24 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons royal blue gel paste food coloring
• 1 tablespoon purple gel paste food coloring

Raspberry Curd Filling: 

(this made way too much curd for the amount of cupcakes, next time I would do about a 1/4 of this)

• 2 quarts fresh raspberries
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Raspberry Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 pound cream cheese
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons reserved Raspberry juice, from curd filling
• 1 lemon, zested
• 5 cups confectioners' sugar
• 24 whole fresh raspberries, for garnish (optional)

Directions

For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cupcake or muffin pan with 24 regular-size cupcake liners.

Place the oil, buttermilk, eggs, vinegar, vanilla, and sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer and beat with the paddle attachment until thoroughly mixed. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder together and slowly add to the mixer on low speed. Scrape down the bowl thoroughly, as needed. Add the food colorings in a steady stream until desired shade is achieved; it should appear bluish-purple. Beat for another 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl one last time and mix for 30 seconds by hand.

Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full with batter and bake until they form a semi-hard crust on top, about 25 minutes. Immediately remove the cupcakes from their pan and place on a cooling rack.



For the raspberry curd filling: Bring the raspberry and water to a boil in a medium-size saucepan. Turn down the heat to low and simmer until the raspberries are soft and separate easily, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a sieve and pass through using a spoon to help mash the raspberries. Discard the pulp and reserve the juice. Place the flour and sugar in a clean saucepan and slowly pour in the raspberries juice, reserving 2 tablespoons. Whisk constantly. When thoroughly combined, add the whole eggs and egg yolks, whisking and cooking until the mixture thickens. When the curd has formed, after about 7 minutes, remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Cover tightly and place in the refrigerator until fully chilled.

For the cream cheese frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter together in the bowl of an electric standmixer until pale and creamy. Add the raspberry juice and lemon zest and continue to beat until the color is even. (The lemon zest has a tendency to adhere to the beater blade. When removing from the mixer bowl, be sure to scrape this off and blend back into the frosting by hand.) Reduce the speed to low and slowly begin adding the confectioners' sugar. Keep adding until the frosting has a medium-stiff consistency. You may not require the full 5 cups sugar. Beat on high speed for a further 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed.

To assemble: Remove the center of each cupcake using an apple corer. Fill the cavity with the raspberry curd until it is level with the top of the cake. Pipe the frosting on top using a plain pastry tip. Crumble one of the cakes into small pieces and scatter a few crumbles on top of each cake so that it adheres to the frosting.Garnish with a whole fresh raspberry, if desired.

• This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results
  .

Raspberry Rhubarb Jam

Submitted by : Lisa

I started making this jam this summer by accident!  I had purchased meat in the amount that over took my freezer!  I was frantically emptying it out and force feeding the kids ice cream so I had more space.

After all the meat was tucked in the freezer nicely I turned around to find that I had no space for my frozen rhubarb or frozen (hand picked) raspberries!  

I had jars and pectin sitting on the counter staring me down so I decided to see if I could find a recipe that made jam out of them.

After much searching, I found one that we absolutely love!  I have shared it with others and they too love it.  The little "twang" that the rhubarb gives the raspberries is just delicious.  I hope you love it just as much!

2 (10 oz.) packages frozen raspberries, thawed
1 lb. fresh rhubarb, cut in 1 inch pieces (4 cups) (I used rhubarb that I had picked and frozen)
1 (2 1/2 oz.) package powdered fruit pectin
5 c. sugar

(note:  I could not find powdered pectin in that size package. I double my recipe and I use 3 boxes of the 1.75 oz size and it turns out great)

In large kettle, combine fruits. Stir in the pectin. Place over high heat, stirring until mixture reaches a hard boil. (I use a potato masher to smash the rhubarb into smaller pieces when it is really soft)

Immediately stir in sugar. 

Bring to a full rolling boil and boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. 

Remove from heat. Using metal spoon, skim off foam; stir and skim for 5 minutes. 

Quickly ladle into 6 hot scalded 1/2 pint jars; process in water bath for 10 minutes.

Source:  www.cooks.com 

White Chocolate Raspberry Torte

I got this recipe from a friend at work. She got it out of the Pillsbury bake off book. I tried it for the first time this weekend for our Easter party. I think it turned out really well. Very good, rich desert for a special occasion.

16 oz. coarsely chopped white baking bars or 2 1/2 cups vanilla milk chips

1/2 c butter

4 eggs

3/4 c sugar

1 1/2 c all purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp almond extract (I used vanilla)

1 c frozen raspberries with out syrup

2/3 c coarsely chopped almonds

Glaze:

1/4 c semi sweet choc chips

1 tsp powdered sugar

(I added more powdered sugar and about 2 tsp of butter, it was a better consistency)

1. Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease and flour bottom and sides of 9 or 10 inch spring form pan. In medium saucepan over very low heat, melt 8 ounces of the white baking chocolate and butter, stirring constantly until smooth. Cool slightly.

2. In large bowl, beat eggs on high speed until light lemon colored, about 3 minutes. Gradually add sugar, beating until thickened and very light yellow. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. By hand, fold in flour, salt, extract, melted white choc and the remaing 8 ounces of chopped baking chocolate. Fold in raspberries.

3. Spread in greased and floured pan. Sprinkle the almonds; press slightly.

4. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until top is golden brown and springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool 30 minutes. Remove sides of pan; cool completely.

Glaze:

Melt choc chips in small sauce pan over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Using wire whisk, beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Drizzle glaze over top of torte; allow to set. Serve at room temperature. Store in refrigerator.

16 servings

(High altitude- above 3500 ft: decrease sugar to 1/2 cup and increase flour to 1 3/4 c.)