Danish Apricot Filling Recipes

APRICOT DANISH COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan. Set aside 1/2 cup of the dry cake mix.
• In a medium bowl, mix together eggs and sour cream. Stir in the package of cake mix. Batter will be lumpy. Spread batter into the prepared pan. Using the back of a spoon, make 15 wells in the batter, 3 rows of 5. In another bowl, beat together the cream cheese and milk until fluffy. Place one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture into each well. Place 1 apricot half, cut side up, onto each blob of cream cheese.
• In a small bowl, combine the 1/2 cup of reserved cake mix with the butter. stir in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the slivered almonds, and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the Danish.
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. To make the glaze, stir together the confectioners' sugar and water until smooth, adding another teaspoon of water if necessary. Drizzle over the Danish when cool.

PUFF PASTRY DANISHES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Beat first 4 ingredients until smooth; beat in 1 egg yolk., Mix water and remaining egg yolk. On a lightly floured surface, unfold each sheet of puff pastry; roll into a 12-in. square. Cut each into nine 4-in. squares; transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets., Top each square with 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture and 1 rounded teaspoon jam. Bring 2 opposite corners of pastry over filling, sealing with yolk mixture. Brush tops with remaining yolk mixture., Bake until golden brown, 14-16 minutes. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers.

APRICOT CHEESE DANISH

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the sugar, butter, eggs and sour cream. Gradually add salt and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in remaining flour (the dough will be soft and sticky). Place in a greased bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. , Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead 2-3 times. Divide in half. Roll each half into a 16x10-in. oval; place on greased baking sheets., For filling, in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla until smooth. Spread 1-1/4 cups filling over each oval to within 1 in. of edges. Fold longest side over filling; pinch edges to seal. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Bake at 375° for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Spread preserves on top. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator.

DANISH-APRICOT FILLING

Steps:

• Put apricots, water and sugar into a saucepan.
• Heat and simmer until apricots are soft, plumped and have absorbed most of the liquid.
• (Can be done in a Microwave).
• Puree in food processor, transfer to a bowl and stir in lemon juice and almond extract.
• Scrape filling into a small container and cool to room temperature.
• Seal container and chill.
• Will keep refrigerated for two weeks.

DANISH DOUGH

Steps:

• In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk; stir until dissolved. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine 1 pound, 4 ounces flour, sugar, salt, cardamom, and 4 tablespoons butter; beat on low speed until butter is incorporated and the mixture resembles coarse meal, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour in the yeast-milk mixture; mix until dough just comes together. Add the eggs and yolk; mix until just combined, 2 to 3 minutes. Do not overmix.
• Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, making sure to include any loose bits left at the bottom of the bowl. Gently knead to form a smooth ball, about 30 seconds. Wrap well with plastic, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Paddle remaining 3 1/2 sticks butter with 2 tablespoons flour. Form flour and butter mixture into a 12-by-10-inch rectangle on a sheet of plastic wrap. Refrigerate 15 minutes or up to 1 day. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to an 18-by-10-inch rectangle, a little over a 1/4 inch thick, keeping the corners as square as possible. Remove any excess flour with a dry pastry brush. Remove butter mixture from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature until it reaches the consistency of the dough. With a short side facing you, place butter mixture over 2/3 of the dough. Fold the unbuttered third over as you would a business letter, followed by the remaining third. This seals in the butter.
• Roll out dough again to an 18-by-10-inch rectangle, then fold dough into thirds as described above; refrigerate for 1 hour. This is the first of three turns. Repeat rolling and folding two more times, refrigerating for at least 1 hour between turns. To help you remember how many turns have been completed, mark the dough after each one: make one mark for the first turn, two for the second, and three for the third.
• Refrigerate dough, tightly wrapped in plastic, for at least 4 hours or overnight. Dough can also be frozen, tightly wrapped in plastic, for up to 2 weeks; before using, thaw the dough in the refrigerator overnight.

DANISH PASTRIES

Steps:

• Pulse together the dry ingredients plus 2 tsp salt in a processor, then pulse in the milk and egg, plus 100ml water, until you have a smooth, slightly sticky dough. Knead for 1 min, using a little flour, until just smooth. Put into an oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hr until doubled in size (overnight in the fridge if you like).
• Flour your surface, then pat the dough out to a rectangle, 1cm thick. Lay the butter slices out over the middle of the dough, in a rectangle. Fold the pastry over the top, bottom and then sides until the butter is completely hidden. Press the edges down.
• Roll the dough out to a 50 x 30cm rectangle, first tapping out the dough with the rolling pin in gentle ridges, so that you can tell the butter is being squashed out evenly inside the pastry, before rolling properly. Turn dough 90 degrees, then fold the right third over and the left third over that. Do this three times, chilling for 15 mins after each roll.
• Cut the dough in half, into 2 squares. Roll one piece of dough to 35 x 35cm. Cut into 9 squares, then follow the instructions below for each filling and shape. If you want to make more than one shape, it's easy to divide the filling quantity. Don't worry if your squares rise as you work, just roll them out a bit again.
• To make 18 pecan pinwheels, whizz 85g pecans until fine, then stir in 50g light muscovado, 1 tbsp maple syrup and 25g softened butter. Cut each square of pastry almost to the middle from each corner, spoon on 1 tsp filling, then fold each point over and press into the middle. Scatter more chopped pecans and a little sugar over before baking. Drizzle with a little maple syrup to serve.
• For 18 apricot custard turnovers, you will need 150g tub custard, 2 x 320g cans apricots and a few tsps apricot jam. Put 2 tsp custard in the middle, sit two apricot halves on top, dot with jam, then pull 2 corners over and pinch to seal.
• To make 18 raisin swirls, mix 50g raisins, 25g caster sugar, 1 tsp mixed spice and 50g soft butter. Instead of cutting the dough into 9, leave it whole and spread the filling over. Roll up, slice into 9 rounds, then squash each one. Blend 50g icing sugar and a few drops of water to drizzle over once baked.
• Once shaped and filled, let the pastries rise for 30 mins until puffed and doubled in size. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Brush with beaten egg, make sure you pinch any edges together again, then bake for about 20 mins until golden and risen.

DANISH BRAID

Steps:

• Danish Dough: Pour water into a large bowl, sprinkle over.
• yeast and let soften for a minute.
• Add milk, egg, sugar and salt.
• Whisk to mix. Set aside.
• Put flour into food processor, add butter and pulse (8-10 times) until butter is cut into pieces 1/2 inch diameter- no smaller.
• Empty contents of food processor into the bowl with the yeast mixture.
• Very gently turn the mixture over with a rubber spatula until the dry ingredients are moistened.
• Butter must remain in discrete pieces.
• Cover bowl and refrigerate overnight (or up to 4 days).
• Lightly flour work surface, turn the dough out and lightly flour the dough.
• Pat into a rough square.
• Note: If at anytime the dough becomes too soft, cover with plastic and chill.
• Roll out to 16" x 16".
• Fold in thirds like a business letter and turn so that the closed fold is on your left.
• Roll again to 10" x 24".
• Fold in thirds again, turn so the closed fold is on your left.
• Roll into a 20" x 20" square.
• Fold the square in thirds and turn so that the closed fold is on your left.
• Roll into a 10" x 20' rectangle, fold in thirds again.
• Wrap dough in plastic and chill at least 30 minutes (up to 2 days).
• Dough can be frozen for 1 month.
• Thaw in refrigerator overnight.
• Danish-almond filling: Put almonds, sugar and butter into food processor.
• Process until almonds are finely ground, scraping bowl as necessary.
• Add almond extract and 2 Tbsp of the beaten egg white.
• Process until mixed.
• Store in airtight container in the refrigerator until needed (up to 1 week).
• Bring to room temperature before using.
• Danish-Berry Jam Filling: Stir berries and sugar together in saucepan.
• Cook on low, stirring until most of the liquid is absorbed and filling is glossy.
• (Can be done in microwave) Stir in lemon juice.
• Scrape filling into a small container and cool to room temperature.
• Seal container and chill.
• Will keep refrigerated for 1 week.
• Danish Braid assembly: Divide Danish dough in half.
• Roll each chilled danish dough half on lightly floured surface to a 10" x 16" rectangle.
• Lift on to a parchment lined half sheet pan.
• Spread some of the fruit filling down the middle third of the dough.
• Top with some of the cream or almond filling.
• Note:you may not need the entire amount of either filling Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut 12- 14 slanting lines down each side angling cuts from the center to the edge and cutting strips about 3/4 inch wide.
• Fold strips of pastry into the center, crisscrossing the filling by alternating strips from each side.
• Lightly press ends to seal and run your hands along the sides of the pastry to straighten.
• Brush with egg white, sprinkle with sugar and almonds.
• Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise at room temperature until it looks and feels puffy.
• About 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Bake in center of oven for 15-20 minutes until golden.
• Cool slightly Stir coffee and powdered sugar together to produce a smooth shiny glaze.
• Spoon glaze into a zip-loc bag, seal top and snip corner with scissors to create a pastry bag.
• Squeeze squiggles of glaze over pastry and allow to set.
• Serve.
• Notes: you can use other Danish fillings as well.
• Such as:.
• Danish- Cream Cheese Filling (recipe #54153).
• Danish-Prune Filling (recipe #54152).
• Danish-Confectioners Cream filling (recipe #54151).
• Danish-Apricot Filling (recipe #54150).

APRICOT CHEESE DANISH

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add eggs, butter, sour cream and sugar. Gradually add 2 cups flour and salt; beat until smooth. Stir in remaining flour (dough will be soft and sticky). Place in a greased bowl. Cover; refrigerate overnight.
• For filling, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in a mixing bowl until smooth. Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead two to three times. Divide in half. Roll each half into a 16 x 10 inch oval and place on greased baking sheets. Spread 1 1/4 cups filling over each oval to within 1 inch of edges. Fold longest side over filling; pinch edges to seal. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Bake at 375 for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Spread preserves on top. Dust with confectioners sugar. Store in the refrigerator.