Description
Flaky, buttery Danish pastries filled with creamy vanilla bean pastry cream and finished with a glossy apricot glaze for bakery-style perfection.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3½ cups (440g) unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2¼ tsp (7g) instant active dry yeast
- 1 tsp (5g) salt
- 1 cup (240ml) cold whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 1¼ cups (280g) unsalted European-style butter (82%+ fat content), for the butter block
- 1½ cups (360ml) whole milk
- 1 whole vanilla bean, scraped, or 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 4 large egg yolks
- â…“ cup (65g) granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp (30g) cornstarch
- 2 tbsp (30g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk
- â…“ cup apricot jam melted with 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Knead flour, sugar, yeast, salt, milk, and 1 egg until smooth. Form into a rectangle, wrap tightly, and chill for 2 hours. Beat 280g cold butter between parchment paper into an 8×8-inch flat butter square; chill until firm yet pliable.
- Roll dough into a 12×8-inch rectangle. Enclose the butter block inside the dough. Perform three single folds, folding the dough like a letter in thirds and resting the wrapped dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes between each turn.
- Heat milk and vanilla bean to a simmer. Whisk yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together. Temper hot milk into the yolks, return to heat, and boil for 1–2 minutes while whisking until thick. Stir in 2 tbsp butter, cover with plastic wrap touching the surface, and chill completely.
- Roll laminated dough to ¼-inch thickness. Cut into 4×4-inch squares. Fold corners inward or score a border. Pipe 2 tablespoons of chilled vanilla pastry cream into the center of each square.
- Let shaped Danishes proof at room temperature (22°C / 72°F) for 45–60 minutes until puffy. Brush pastry edges with egg wash. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 18–20 minutes until deep golden. Brush warm edges with melted apricot jam glaze.
Notes
Keep the butter block firm yet pliable during lamination, and chill the pastry cream completely before shaping the Danishes. Allow the shaped pastries to proof until puffy before baking for the flakiest result.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Danish
- Calories: 520
- Sugar: 20g
- Sodium: 390mg
- Fat: 30g
- Saturated Fat: 18g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10g
- Trans Fat: 0.5g
- Carbohydrates: 55g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 9g
- Cholesterol: 150mg