Apple & Golden Raisin Danish

"Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."
--Harriet van Horne
 

 
















The smells of baking goodness - the warm scent of cinnamon, the heady aroma of yeast, the delicious savour of apples - are among those memories I keep in a special place in my mind. It's like that shoebox of photos that are too precious to put in the big box with all the other photos. Childhood and happiness are wrapped up with those memories.

Both my grandmothers were bakers and my mother is an excellent baker. Christmastime meant boxes and boxes of homemade cookies. And the process of taking all those little jars of spices and ingredients like butter and eggs and flour and making them into cookies and cakes seemed magical.

As I got older I was eager to try this out myself. My mother was very forgiving and patient - and brave! She let an 8-year-old loose in the kitchen and always smiled and complimented me when she tried out the results of my mad kitchen experiments. I'm not quite certain how I did not manage to poison my family, but everyone survived.

Now that I am grown and have a family of my own, I like to take out those memories and use them as an extra spice in my baking. I love all kinds of cooking, but baking holds a special place in my heart.

This recipe is a Danish. And that means pastry. Pastries can be challenging and time consuming, but the reward of making homemade pastry is worth the effort.

Apple & Golden Raisin Danish (from 100 Great Breads by Paul Hollywood)

The first step is making the pastry dough. Start this the day before.

Day one.

For the Pastry

1 package yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
4 cups white flour, plus extra for dusting
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup super-fine sugar
water to mix
4 1/2 sticks butter, chilled but not cold

Combine the yeast, flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Slowly mix in a little water until the dough becomes pliable. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until it feels elastic. Put the dough back in the bowl and let it rest in the refrigerator for one hour.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough into a rectangle, about 24-inches by 12-inches. Take your chilled butter and flatten it out into a rectangle about 1/2-inch thick. It will need to be big enough to cover two-thirds of your dough. Gently lay it over the dough, aligning it with one side of the dough rectangle. Fold the third of uncovered dough into the center and then fold the covered third over that. Your dough should now be in three layers. Return it to the refrigerator And chill for another hour.


















Place the dough on to your lightly floured surface and roll it back into the 24-inch by 12-inch rectangle. Fold a third of the dough into the middle and then fold the remaining third over that, again making it three-layered. Place it back in the refrigerator for another hour. Do this twice more. Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.

Day two.

For the filling

10 apples, peeled and cored
1/2 cup golden rasins
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
apricot jelly, warmed

for the frosting
lemon zest
confectioners' sugar
water

Roll out the dough to about 1/4-inch thick and then cut it into 5-inch squares. Fold the edges into the middle so you have a kind of nest. Place each finished nest onto a paper lined baking sheet. Let the nests rise for two hours at room temperature.

While the nests are rising, cut up the apples into small, chunky pieces. Cook the apples in a pan with just a little bit of water for about 7 minutes. Add the raisins and cinnamon and mix well. Remove from heat and let cool. 

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the apple-raisin mixture into the middle of each nest. Brush the eggwash onto the exposed parts of dough.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until light, golden brown. Remove them from the oven and brush with warmed apricot jelly. Cool, then drizzle the frosting on the top. (To make the frosting, which should be done just before you need it, put the confectioners' sugar in a bowl, add a little water and mix well. When it has the proper consistency, the frosting will coat the back of a spoon. Add the lemon zest.)

These delectable treats keep well in the refrigerator and when reheated smell and taste just like they came out of the oven.

Enjoy!