Almond Danish Pastry: Attempt #1

There is this Danish pastry that my family eats typically every Christmas for brunch that is better than any other pastry, dish, or meal I’ve ever had. It’s called wienerbrød and you can typically just buy the “real” stuff in Danish bakeries or Christmas markets. Growing up in Ottawa, we got ours in Kingston (which is about an 90 minutes away) frozen and would bake it for any special occasion. When we moved to Vancouver, we were able to find a Danish bakery in Coquitlam. Their pastries were delicious but incredibly overpriced so it came as no surprise when they went out of business a few years ago. So here we are, I’ve been craving this pastry for what seems like forever. It’s buttery, flaky, almondy and pretty much the most incredibly delicious, decadent and rich pastry I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. After weeks of searching for recipes at the library (yes, I did that) and online, I came up with my own and served it for Christmas breakfast. I wouldn’t go as far as calling it wienerbrød (let’s just call it Danish Breakfast Pastry) as it wasn’t entirely what I was trying to bake, but it did come out as a flaky, sweet and tasty breakfast for my family. I will keep trying and trying until I get this recipe down, but for now, this one will have to do.

Ingredients:

1 Box of Buttery Puff Pastry (yes, I use the frozen kind. I find that when trying new things, you limit the risk of messing up your homemade puff pastry when you are using this foolproof alternative. It’s good too!)

1 Cup of Water

½ Cup of Butter

1 Cup of Flour

3 Eggs

1 Tsp of Almond Extract

For the Glaze:

1 ½ Cups of Confectioners’ Sugar

2 Tbsp of Butter

1 Tsp of Almond Extract

1 Tbsp of warm water (more if needed)

1/3 Cup of Toasted Slivered Almonds

1. Roll out the puff pastry into two long rectangles

2. In a saucepan, bring the water and butter to a boil. Add the flour and stir until a smooth ball is formed, remove from heat.

3. Add in the almond extract and the eggs (one at a time) until the dough is well combined.

4. Spread the mixture evenly over the two rectangles of puff pastry. Fold rectangle into 3 so that you are left with a rectangle that is a lot more narrow and so that the mixture is entirely covered in puff pastry.

5. Bake for 1 hour in a 350-degree oven.

6. To make the icing, mix the ingredients together. Make sure the water is warm enough so that the icing can be spread easily.

7. Spread icing evenly onto the two cooled pastries and top with toasted slivered almonds.

Note: I made these the night before, while waiting for Santa to stop by. Before serving them in the morning, I popped them in the oven for 15 minutes as this is a pastry best served warm. Enjoy!

Bon Appétit!