Danish pastry

Danish pastry, a crunchy sweet delight, is the essence of a nice Sunday brunch in Denmark. It's prepared from the laminated dough, which is smeared in butter and rolled over itself several times. The end result is something resembling puff pastry. The dough is formed into various shapes and stuffed with tasty, creamy contents. Traditional fruit fillings such as apple and raspberry, vanilla custard, and almond paste are popular in Denmark, however, the fillings are usually region-specific because of their popularity.

Ingredients:
10 servings

For the dough:

• 1 ¾ cup flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 6 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tbsp yeast
• 14 tbsp butter, ice-cold

For the remonce fillings:

• 1/4 cup of almond paste
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the egg wash:

• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp milk
• sugar, for sprinkling

Instruction:

1. Place sugar, butter, egg, and milk in a large mixing bowl. Mix only to incorporate, then add ¾ of the flour and yeast, and mix for two minutes until you have a dough.
2. Place the remaining flour on a working surface, then place the dough on the flour and knead for 3-4 minutes until you've worked in all of the flour into the dough.
3. Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover the bowl with cling film and store in a warm place for 45-60 minutes until doubled in size.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle which should be two times longer than it is wide, somewhat like a wide band.
5. Shred the ice-cold butter directly on one half of the dough. Fold the other half of the dough over the one with butter, and pinch the edges together.
6. Press down on the dough a bit, sprinkle it with flour, and then gently roll it. You want it to be twice as long as it is wide.
7. Fold the dough three times as follows — fold one-third of the dough, so it covers the middle part of the dough, then fold a third of the dough from the other side over the two layers of dough. Roll out into a rectangle, and repeat the folding and rolling two more times. Optionally, for better results, you may leave the dough to rest and cool down in between. Take care that when you fold the dough the last time you end up with a wide, long strip of dough.
8. Make cuts at a 45° angle along each side of the dough, so you end up with 1.5-2 cm wide slanting strips of dough. Make sure not to cut the center part of the dough because that is where the remonce filling will go.
9. Mix the ingredients for the remonce filling in a small bowl, then spread it on the center part of the dough, taking care that both ends of the dough strip are uncovered. Start braiding the dough. Fold the ends and the sides one over the other.
10. Place the braid on a buttered and floured baking tray. Cover the tray and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, set the oven to preheat to 200°C. Brush the braid with an egg wash (1 egg+1 tbsp of milk), then sprinkle it generously with sugar. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.