Wienerbrød danishes

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1. Croissant dough

   • 150 g butter
   • 125 g all purpose flour
   • 125 g strong or bread flour
   • 80 g water
   • 50 g whole milk
   • 30 g white sugar
   • 18 g fresh yeast
   • 5 g salt

   • Start by mixing the two types of flour, water, milk, sugar, fresh yeast and salt in the bowl of the mixer. Knead at medium speed for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and supple.
   • Then add 25 grams of cold butter in small pieces and knead at medium speed for another 5 minutes.
   • Keep in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, ideally overnight.
   • Meanwhile, on a sheet of baking paper, draw a square 16cm x 16cm and fold the paper over its edges to mark them.
   • Take the remaining 125 grams of butter out of the fridge and cut it into strips about 1 cm thick and place them on the surface of the square of paper. Fold the sheet of paper over the edges of the square, leaving the butter inside, and turn it over. With the help of a rolling pin, we shape the butter and spread it evenly until we get a homogeneous sheet. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.
   • Once the time has elapsed, take the dough out of the fridge and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and deflate it. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a rectangle of 35cm x 16cm.
   • Next, place the butter sheet in the centre and fold the ends of the dough over the butter. Make two cuts in the two ends of the dough.
   • Press lightly with the rolling pin along the entire length of the dough to make it smoother and roll it out to a rectangle of 45 cm x 25 cm. Fold one third of the dough over itself and then the other part on top.
   • Set aside in the freezer for 30 minutes.
   • It is important that both the dough and the butter are at the same temperature, cold. We must work quickly to prevent the butter from softening and integrating into the dough. It is important to respect the times between doubling and doubling to allow the glutamic network of the dough to relax and thus be able to spread it properly.
   • Take the dough out of the freezer and turn it so that the folds are at the top and bottom and roll it out with a rolling pin to a rectangle of 45 cm x 25 cm. Fold one third of the dough over itself and then the other part on top.
   • Put back in the freezer for 30 minutes.
   • Repeat the same step of rolling out the dough. In total we have made 3 folds. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Assembly

   • Rose / raspberry / strawberry jam
   • Fresh raspberries

   • Take the dough out of the fridge and place it on a lightly floured work surface.
   • With the help of a rolling pin, roll it out into a rectangle measuring 45 cm x 25 cm and cut it into 8 equal squares.
   • Then, we make two cuts inside each square of dough, 5 mm from the edge, starting from one of the corners to the two adjoining corners, but without reaching the end. Now, we make two more cuts but in the opposite corner, so that we are left with two 'L' shaped cuts but without joining them.
   • Next, we take each of the corners where we have made the cuts and bring them to the opposite side of the square of dough, overlapping the two 'L's of dough with each other.
   • Now leave the danishes to rise in a warm place for 1.5-2 hours until they have doubled in volume.
   • The optimum fermentation temperature for this dough is 27º C. If you don't have a proofing chamber, you can replicate a similar environment in your unlit oven by placing a pan of boiling water in it. In this way we will achieve a suitable temperature and humidity for the correct fermentation of our dough.
   • Once the dough has risen in size, lightly press the centre of each danish, add a teaspoon of jam inside and lightly brush them with beaten egg.
   • Bake for 22 minutes at 165º C.
   • Leave to cool on a wire rack at room temperature and then place some fresh raspberries on top of the jam.
   • Store in a cool, dry place. It is advisable to consume within 24 hours after baking as this dough tends to dry out quickly and the puff pastry will lose its characteristic crispiness after a few hours or if covered.

Discover the history of Wienerbrød.

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