Auntie Barbara's Yummy & Easy Danish Pastry.

kiwidutch's Note:

My Auntie Barbara made this all through my childhood and it's a sure family favourite. Finally I got the recipe from her and now hubby and family and our friends ask for it all the time. :) Looks impressive, easy to make, and yummy, what more needs saying? Enjoy! P.S. I have added step-by-step photos for this recipe to help people know how the Danish should look at each stage of making, I hope that it helps and inspires. NOTE: Almond extract is stronger than almond essence, so be careful as to which you have and adjust any extract quantity according to your preference for almond.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 10-20

Yield: 1.0 tray

• 4 ounces butter (115g)
• 1 cup flour (250g)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 4 ounces butter (115g)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup flour (250g)
• 1 teaspoon almond essence
• 3 eggs (whisked)
• walnuts or glace cherries , for decoration

Icing

• 1 ½ cups icing sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla essence (or a little less extract)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 -2 tablespoon warm water , approximately

Directions:

1. Take the first 3 ingredients only: 4 ounces butter, 1 cup flour, and 2 tablespoons water; rub the butter into the flour; add the water. You will have a soft and slightly sticky ball.
2. Spread this mixture out onto an unbuttered baking tray (cookie sheet) to an approximate 5 to 7 mm thickness.
3. This recipe makes one tray size pastry that you cut into slices afterwards, rather than individual pastries that I now understand Americans might be used to.
4. Take the second quantity of butter and water: 4 ounces butter, 1 cup water; put into a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil.
5. Take off the heat, mix in all the second quantity of flour (1 cup) all at once.
6. Stir until you have a smooth ball. I use a whisk for this and the following step as it goes much faster than with a wooden spoon.
7. Add the almond essence and all the eggs at once and stir until your mixture is a smooth glossy paste.
8. Spread the second mixture evenly over the first mixture.
9. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for approximately 45 minutes or until light golden brown and topping is a little bit crisp.
10. Cool.
11. Glaze with icing. Spread icing over Danish and sprinkle with nuts or other decoration etc. as preferred.

Reviews

[CowgurWife]

Delicious! I slightly underbaked on accident, and so the top layer was dense instead of flaky, but still rich. I topped with homemade blueberry jam and the icing (though I did not use the whole recipe). I made the icing with 2 oz of cream cheese added and heavy cream instead of water. Sooo good. My husband has eaten 1/3 of it in about 30 minutes.

[hostestwiththemostest]

This is so simple, and easy to make. I made this Danish Pastry this afternoon, and its already half gone! I followed the recipe exactly, and it turned out perfect. I wish I had some apples or some cherry sauce to drizzle over top for something different, but the icing in the recipe is pretty darn good just the way it is! Thank you for posting this recipe- its already in my cookbook, and I am sure I will be making it again, and again! :) I recommended making this, most defiantly!

[LuckyJamie]

I had to make 2 of these. The first one, the egg/almond layer didn't come out right. I'm used to making difficult pastries, such as cream puffs. Not as easy as its listed. The second time came out fine, I recommend putting raspberry jam on the finished danish. Otherwise very tasty.