How to Make Delectable Apple Danish Pastry!

November 8, 2020. Beautiful autumn day. Delectable Apple Danish Pastry.

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It’s autumn in the northern hemisphere and it’s apple season! I am on an apple baking streak – I made an easy semi homemade french apple tart a few days ago and now this. I love eating these flaky pastry with their tasty sweet filling. This is a more involved recipe and takes longer to put together – an excellent weekend baking project! I decided today is as good as any to make a big batch to eat at home.

Making these delectable danishes can roughly be broken down into 4 parts. First, you make the dough. Next, prepare and cook the delicious chunky apple filling. Then, shape and assemble each pastry, and finally, bake the danish.

Each step is not difficult, but requires time and patience. I have to say the most time consuming part of making this would be the pastry. The rest of the recipe is not too difficult. I’ll walk you through each step of the way.

Let’s bake!

Ingredients for Delectable Apple Danish

I’ve broken down the ingredients into 3 groups and listed them roughly in the order in which they will be used. I have included both metric and American measurements for ease of use. If you have read my other posts, one of the things I always like to say is to gather all the ingredients listed in the recipe before starting. The last thing you want is to be left hanging in the middle of a bake due to a missing ingredient!

Danish Dough
2¼ tsp. (7g) active dry yeast
⅔ cup (160 g) water
3 Tbsp. (38g) sugar, divided
2¼ cups (270g) bread flour (high protein flour)
1 cup (120g) all purpose flour, and more for dusting
2 Tbsp. (16g) dry milk
1 tsp. (6g) fine salt
3 Tbsp. (43g) butter, softened
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup (227g) unsalted butter, softened (for lamination)

Chunky Apple Filling
⅔ cup (133g) sugar
⅓ cup (79g) water
1 tsp. (3g) cinnamon powder
1 Tbsp. (8g) cornstarch
3 large apples (of your choice), peeled, cored and diced
½ tsp (3g) fresh squeeze lemon juice (optional)
3 Tbsp. (43g) butter

Finishing
1 large egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp. water
Confectioner’s icing sugar for garnish (optional)

In addition to the ingredients, you will need a stand mixer, plastic cling wrap, a sharp knife or pizza cutter, silicone or parchment lined baking pans.

Preparing the Danish Dough

Gather all the ingredients. Let’s start by blooming the yeast. Add water and 1 tablespoon of sugar to yeast. Stir and set aside for 5 minutes. Next, sift the flours, dry milk and salt into mixing bowl. Then, add the yeast mixture, eggs, butter and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar to dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly to combine until a dough forms. Then, knead for 8-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and soft. Next, form the dough into a round and place in a lightly greased bowl and cover. Let it rise for an hour or until it doubles in size.

Making the Apple Filling

When the dough is resting, make apple filling. Wash, peel, core with melon baller and dice the apples. I used one each of granny smith, gala and sweet tango apples. I think using different apples give it slightly different textures and level of sweetness.

In a medium sauce pan, tip in sugar, water, cinnamon and cornstarch. Stir and bring to boil, then add in half of the diced apples. Stir and cook the apples on medium until soft, about 8-10 minutes. Add remaining apples pieces and cook for another 6-8 minutes. Stir often to make sure the apples are cooked. Cooking the apples in 2 stages like this will create a nice chunky filling and not all the apple bits are mushy. When ready, remove from heat, add butter (and lemon juice if using) and combine well. Set aside until to cool.

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Shaping & Assembling the Danish

When the dough is ready, tip onto a lightly floured work space. Then, roll dough into a rectangle approx. 20″ x 15″ (50cm x 38″). Use about ⅓ cup (76g) of the softened butter and spread out butter to about ⅔ of the rectangle. Fold ⅓ of the sheet into the middle, starting with the unbuttered side and fold the buttered ⅓ into the middle. Repeat the rolling and buttering 2 more times. Remember to lightly dust your work surface and dough with flour to prevent sticking. If dough or butter is too sticky, pop into the freezer for 10 minutes to make it easier to handle.

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When done, cover the laminated dough completely with plastic cling wrap and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.

When ready, unwrap the dough, score and cut into 3 even pieces. Take one piece and roll into 13½” x 9” (34cm x 23cm) rectangle, then cut into 6 squares. Each square should be approx. 4″ (10cm). Repeat with the other 2 pieces to create a total of 18 squares.

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To shape, fold square in half to create a triangle. Using a sharp knife of pizza cutter, cut about ½” (1 cm) along the edges of the triangle and leaving approx. ½” (1cm) uncut at the top. Open up the square and gently take the cut edge and place over the other cut corner, gently press to set. And repeat with the other side. You would end up with a beautiful diamond shape.
Place all the formed squares on a lined baking sheet. Cover and put in warm place to rest, for about an hour. When ready, glaze with egg wash. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).

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Baking and Finishing Delectable Apple Danish

Carefully spoon the prepared apple filling into the center of each pastry.

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Bake in oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the top of pastry is golden brown.

When ready, remove from the oven. Place danishes on cooling racks.

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If you like, lightly dust with confectioner’s icing sugar before serving. Your delicious, flaky apple danishes are ready! Let’s dig in!

Notes on Delectable Apple Danish Pastry

A few reflections after making these danish pastries.

1. Work on the dough lamination quickly. The butter and dough should stay cool so that the final pastry will be flaky and buttery.
2. When the dough is too soft, pop it into the fridge or freezer for a short time to cool and firm it up so it is easier to handle.
3. I like my apple filling chunky and cut it into larger pieces. If you prefer smaller bit, simply dice it finer.
4. If you prefer bolder flavor in your apple filling, feel free to add other spices of your choice (like cardamom, nutmeg or pumpkin spice)
5. Trim the edges of your rolled out dough to get crisper and cleaner lines when you are cutting out the squares. Crisper lines will allow the pastry to look more uniform when you are shaping them.
6. Uneaten Danish pastry can be stored in air tight container for up to 2 days. To refresh, simply lightly toast for a few minutes in the toaster oven before eating.

I was curious why Danish pastry is called so and was wondering if they were originally from Denmark. Here’s a short article on that => https://theculturetrip.com/europe/denmark/articles/are-danish-pastries-really-from-denmark/

Recipe inspired by Cindy Mushet’s The Art & Soul of Baking and Zojirushi.

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