Oh the holidays.
Actually, I love to make this any time of year, but I always make a few Danish braids around the holidays. It is not difficult, but it requires a few steps and you need to start the night before.
There are five different filling in the book, but my favorite is the prune filling.
This is from Julia Child’s book, “Baking with Julia”. ISBN 0-688-14657-0
The components are
1) The filling – I use the prune filling
2) The pastry cream
3) The Danish dough
I made separate videos for each component so you can focus on the step that you are at.
You can make the filling and pastry cream a few days in advance or on the same day, but you must not use them hot, so you need time to cool.
The Danish dough starts the night before. You need to let step one chill overnight.
Prune Filling:
1 cup of pitted prunes
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Simmer the prunes in the water and sugar until they are plump and the liquid reduces to a syrup, (maybe 20 minutes). Let the prunes cool and then place them into a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and puree them. Transfer to a container and let it cool. You can do this up to two weeks in advance and refrigerate.
Pastry Cream:
1 cup of heavy cream
1 egg yolk – (save the white for the egg wash on the braid)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon vanilla
Whisk the egg yolk and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside.
Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and cream in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave on high for 2 - 3 minutes, one minute at a time whisking in-between each time until the cream is almost bubbly – not more than 3 minutes.
Incorporate a small amount of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolk and whisk to temper the egg. (Watch the video to see how this is done.)
Add the egg mixture back to the cream mixture, whisk it and microwave for an additional 30 seconds.
Transfer to a smaller container and let it cool. You can refrigerate overnight.
Danish Braid Dough:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup of milk (room temperature)
¼ cup water (warm)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 Egg (room temperature)
¼ cup of sugar
2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
2 sticks of unsalted butter (¼ inch cubes chilled)
Add the warm water and yeast to a large bowl.
Pulse the flour and butter cubes in a food processor a few times just to incorporate. You should have flour with chunks of butter.
Whisk the milk, egg, salt, and sugar into the yeast and water.
If you have never done this before, you should watch the video first to get an understanding of how this works.
Add the flour and butter mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated. Do not over do this.
Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
Next day, turn the flour mixture onto a floured table top and start to shape the dough.
Roll the dough out into a rectangle about 8 inches wide by 16 inches long. Fold it into thirds like a business letter, turn it lengthwise and roll it out again.
Fold it again in thirds and wrap it in plastic and place it in the fridge.
You will complete a total of six turns with a rest in the fridge after every two turns. Let it rest for ½ hour to 1 hour between turns.
The Danish Braid:
Mix two tablespoons of water into the reserved egg white to be used for the wash.
This dough recipe makes enough dough for two braids. Don’t worry, you will need two after people taste them.
Cut the dough in half. Working with one half at a time, roll the dough into a rectangle about 10 inches wide by 16 inches long.
Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper.
Spread some filling down the center of the dough.
Spread a stripe of pastry cream down the center of the filling stripe.
Using a pizza cutter, cut slanted lines in each side of the stripe into the dough.
Fold the cut flaps into the center crisscrossing them to make a braid.
Brush the braid with the egg wash. Sprinkle some sugar onto the braid.
Set the braid aside and cover it with a kitchen towel. Allow it to rise for 30 minutes to an hour. It will not double, but it will puff a bit.
Preheat the oven to 400° F
Place the braid on the parchment paper onto a pastry sheet and pop it into the oven in the center rack.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden.
I didn’t glaze mine, but you can glaze yours with a mixture of coffee and confectioners’ sugar.
The Prune Filling
The Pastry Cream
The Dough
The Braid
Kiss yourself for making deliciousness
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