Delightful Danish Bites Recipe

A recipe for for Danish Pastry Dough that is the base for many shapes of Danish Pastries that you can fill as you wish.

Ingredients

Pastry
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup all purpose flour
2 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons milk
½ cup salt
4 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
8 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
Egg Wash
2 egg whites
Lemon Curd Filling
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cold water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
Strawberry Filling
1/2 cup strawberry jam

Directions

Lemon Curd

Mix sugar, water, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.

Whisk together until no lumps remain, then stir with a wooden spoon constantly until the mixture begins to thicken.

After 5 minutes, add the lemon juice and zest.

Continue stirring rapidly, it will thicken very quickly once the mixture boils again.

Remove from heat and place in a bowl.

Let cool on the counter, cover and refrigerate once cool.

Pastry

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 2/3 cup of flour. Divide into 2 equal parts, and press flat between 2 pieces of waxed paper into a 6 x12 inch sheet. Refrigerate.

In a large bowl, mix together the all the dry yeast and 3 cups of the remaining flour.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, sugar and salt. Heat so it is just warm, but not hot to the touch. Mix the warm milk mixture into the flour and yeast along with the eggs, and lemon and almond extracts. Stir for 3 minutes. Knead in the remaining flour ½ cup at a time until the dough is firm and pliable. Set aside to rise until double in size.

Cut the dough in half, and roll each half out to a 14 inch square.

Place one sheet of the cold butter onto each piece of dough, and fold the dough over it like the cover of a book. Seal edges by pressing with fingers.

Roll each piece out to a 20x 12 inch rectangle, then fold into thirds by folding the long sides in over the center. Repeat rolling into a large rectangle, and folding into thirds.

Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Remove from the refrigerator one at a time, and roll and fold each piece two more times. Return to the refrigerator to chill again before shaping. If the butter gets too warm, the dough will become difficult to manage.

Assembly

Roll the dough out to ¼ inch thickness.

The dough can be cut into circles, with a filling placed in the center.

Place Danishes on an ungreased baking sheet, and let rise until doubled.

Preheat the oven to 450degrees F..

Danishes can be brushed with egg white for a shiny finish.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bottoms are golden brown.