Laminated Dough: Danish Pastry

Mixing of Dough, Lock-In, Lamination, Make-Ups, Baking, and Finishing. Recipes for Pastry Cream, Apple, Almond, and Cream Cheese Fillings.

Danish Pastry Dough
100% bread flour
46% milk
12% sugar
11% eggs
2% salt
1.3% Osmotolerant yeast
3% butter
175.3% total
27% beurrage

1000g/ 175.3= 5.7 Conversion Factor

Recipe for 1000g Danish- 1 book
570 g spring wheat bread flour
262.2 g milk
68.4 g sugar
62.7 g eggs
11.4 g salt
7.4 g yeast
17.1 g butter
270 g butter for beurrage

Almond Cream Filling pg 624, 1200g
324.62% Butter
324.62% Sugar
324.62% Almond Meal
147.69% Eggs
100% Bread flour
9.23% Rum
1230.78% total

1200g/ 1230.78= .97 Conversion Factor

314.8g Butter
314.8g Sugar
314.8g Almond Meal
143g Eggs
97g Bread Flour
8.95g Rum

Apple Filling pg 392, 1200g
100% Apples
10% Water
10% Sugar
2% Cornstarch
1/5 Vanilla Bean
10% Butter
132% total

1200g/132= 9.1 Conversion Factor

910g Apples
91g Water
91g Sugar
18.2g Cornstarch
1/5 Vanilla Bean
91g Butter

Cream Cheese Filling
100% Cream Cheese
50% Sugar
10% Softened Butter
9% Eggs
2% Vanilla Extract
13% Bread Flour

Pastry Cream pg. 271
1 qt Milk
4 oz Sugar
4 oz Egg
3 oz Egg Yolk
2.5 oz Corn Starch
4 oz Sugar
2 oz Butter
1 T Vanilla

1 stage cooling of custard- 140 degrees F down to 40 degrees in 4 hours.
2 stage cooling of custard- 140 degrees F down to 70 degrees in 2 hours, 70 degrees down to 41 degrees in 4 hours.
165 degrees- coagulation of eggs.
185 degrees- coagulation of eggs with sugar.

Mixing Danish Dough
-Yeast, flour, milk and eggs into mixer.

-Could add spice to dough, .5%, just to give a sweet and savory taste.
-Mix 1 minute on low speed, the dough is not smooth.
-Add the butter, it gives a little moisture, it makes the dough come together.
-Toss dough by hand.
-Very tight dough because there is no water.
-Contains eggs- different from croissant dough, milk adds softness and tenderness.
-Move to speed 2.
-Add teaspoon at a time of milk to make the dough come together.
-Add sugar and salt.

-When it cleans the sides of the bowl and when it is not tacky, the dough is done.
-Give a rounding to the ball and check the temperature. It needs fermentation in proofer depending on temp.

-Proof about an hour.

Rolling Danish- Enveloping beurrage
-Want rectangle shape, not too much dough on the sides.

-Want to make sure butter will be completely enclosed.
-Flop 1/3 over 2/3 of the dough.
-If the butter is too hard it won’t fold over.
-Fold over the last third, seal edges.
-Give first fold as soon as do lock in, butter is nice and soft.
-Start by tapping with rolling pin to spread butter.
-Make sure the surface is well floured.
-Dust off the excess flour on top when folding.
-Rest in cooler half an hour.

-3 folds total.

Rolling and Traditional Make-Ups of Pastry

-roll thin, want it to hold shape after proofing and baking.
-Cut to 3” squares.

-dust off excess flour.
-Pocket shape- light egg wash, want dough to stick to it, fill with cream cheese filling, seal well in middle.

-most filling goes in after proofing, cheese only before proofing because it goes inside the pocket.
-Full pocket- pull all corners in to center.
-Proof, will get apple filling afterwards. If filled before it will weigh down dough.
-Pull edges slightly into middle so get nice thin layer.
-Pinwheel/Windmill
-Cut almost to center with bench scraper.
-Egg wash in center- pinch corners in- pipe apricot jam or pastry cream in center after proofing.

-Vol au Vent- want thinner 4” square.
-Fold in half, cut almost to edge with bench scraper, egg wash in center.

-Fold edges in.

-Bear Claw- 3” square- pipe filling in center, fold down.

-Cut 3 slits on edge with bench scraper, spread out, looks like bear claw.
-Problem is edges have no almond filling.
-Alternate way, 5” X 9” rectangle, pipe in center wider area of filling, roll like a jelly roll, cut into 3” portions.

-Cut 3 slits into each edge to make fingers.
-Egg wash on top, arrange almonds like nails of claw.


-After proofing- (proof 45 minutes – 1 hour)
-double pocket- make dimple in center, fill with pastry cream, fresh fruit on top.
-Fill vol au vent with pastry cream, top with slice of apricot.
-pinwheel fill center with apricot jam.
-brush with egg wash.

Baking and Finishing
-bake in convection 385 degrees, 2 seconds of steam.
-Bake 12 minutes, nice golden color. Brush fruit Danish with hot apricot glaze- glaze makes nice shine, adds flavor, keeps from drying out as fast. Make flat icing to drizzle over tops of fruit and pastry cream filled Danish. Dust bear claws and cream cheese danish with powdered sugar.