Pineapple Cream Cheese Danish Braid

 

Sometimes a craving strikes me and I have to make it as soon as possible.  That's what happened the other week when all I could think about was a Cream Cheese Pineapple Danish Braid.  I'm a total sucker for anything pineapple because it's my all-time favorite fruit. 

 

For the Danish dough I used a recipe that I've made before on this blog.  It's super simple and requires no electric appliance whatsoever, just your hands.  For the cream cheese and pineapple fillings I used these recipes.

The only caveat I would say when it comes to making any kind of laminated dough is to be prepared for quite a bit of non-activity.  There's a lot of down time involved because the dough needs to chill in between all the turns and also proof just before baking.  In total, the process to make this particular braid spanned three days. 

 

Danish Pastries

My friend Julia and I attended a class recently at Baking Arts in San Mateo to learn how to make Danish Pastries.  I'm no stranger to laminated dough, having made croissants, puff pastry and kouign amman before, but never have I made Danish which is made from an enriched dough with eggs.   I was happy to learn something new!

Prior to class the instructor had pre-made and shaped a batch of the dough so that we could see what it would look like before going in to the oven.  Then he showed us how to finish off the baked pastries by brushing on sugar syrup and then piping a flourish of icing.  During the class we students made the dough from scratch and laminated it with a block of cold butter.  We then took the thrice-turned dough home to finish off later.

Because I was anxious to see how my Danish would turn out I woke up really early this morning to finish the recipe.  This dough is super easy to roll out which makes it nice to handle when it's time to cut your shapes.  I made a few pinwheels and with the rest of the dough turned them in to snails.

The key with Danish is that the finished pastry is brushed with a sugar syrup that gives them that beautiful shine and gloss.  Now I was definitely skeptical when the instructor repeatedly told us to be really generous when brushing on the syrup.  I assumed it would make the finished pastry too sweet, but I was wrong.  Even with a double coating of the syrup the Danish was just right.  I'll undoubtedly be making this recipe again...next time I think I'll try a savory version. 

Kouign Amann 2.0

My first attempt at making Kouign Amann was five years ago and unfortunately I didn't have much success.  You can see my first blog post about them here.  At the time I just couldn't get the laminated dough right which resulted in squat and dense pastries.  C'est pas bon. 

But now I'm very happy to report that after all this time I finally found a recipe that REALLY works!!!  And the hero of this story is none other than Paul Hollywood, celebrity baker from England and a judge on my favorite baking show The Great British Bake Off.  These Breton beauties were the featured technical challenge in the "Pastries" episode of Season 5.

Little did I know that the key to success was to only add sugar to the very last turn of the laminated dough.  My problem in previous attempts was that I was putting sugar in every turn which ended up melting in between the dough/butter layers.  

The pastry rose and puffed up beautifully in the oven and the sugar melted to a lovely caramel.  I admit I baked them a bit too long (notice the burnt looking bits) and they got darker than I would like so next time I'll take them out about 3-5 minutes earlier.   

This recipe may not be for everyone, but anyone who wants to learn more about laminated dough should give it a go.  Find the link to the kouign amann recipe on BBC's website here.

Croissants

I don't think there's anything better than a flaky and buttery croissant, especially when it's fresh from your own oven.   Sound too good to be true?   It's not as unattainable as you may think and you don't even need to buy a plane ticket to France.

All it takes are three P's:  planning,  preparation and perseverance.    

You know I love me some Cook's Illustrated and the most recent issue (Jan/Feb 2012) was chock full of fantastic recipes like the chocolate truffles I made earlier this month.   Another recipe that captured my attention, and that I knew I had to try, was croissants.

I've made CI's version of pain au chocolat before but they've since updated the laminated dough recipe to make it even more foolproof.  One of the best things about this recipe is that you can freeze the shaped croissants and bake them at a later time.  Fresh croissants any time you want?  Definitely not a bad thing!

Be forewarned though, making croissants from scratch is a very time consuming process.  However, your efforts really do pay off in the final product.   I swear when I took my first bite I was transported back to my student days in Dijon. 

Tips for success:  Follow CI's advice and use King Arthur all-purpose unbleached flour and Plugra unsalted butter!

Baby Brioche

I buy baking equipment and supplies like it's going out of style.  What can I say? It's an addiction, just like some ladies can't get enough of shoes and bags.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some stilettos and hobos just as much as the next gal, but I'll never have my fill of tart tins, decorating tips, cake pans and cookie cutters.  My pantry is already overflowing with treasures I've amassed over the years but that doesn't deter me one bit from buying more.

I've found some great things at Kamei, one of my favorite restaurant supply stores in San Francisco.  They've got everything you can think of, plus a thousand more.   Whenever I go I can't help but buy something.   

On a recent visit I found these fantastic disposable aluminum tartelette tins.  At only $2.39 for a pack of 200 you can't get a better deal than that.  They're my new favorite baking vessel and I've used them for individual brownies and fruit tarts.  

I was hankering to make some bread and I thought the tins would be perfect for baby brioche.    I love brioche, but then again who doesn't love a rich and buttery egg bread?

Kouign Amann

I'd like to think I'm pretty well versed in most French pastries, but Kouign Amann really baffled me when I first heard about them.   You probably have the same questions I did: what is it and how the hell do you pronounce it?  It's a pastry originating in the Brittany region of France and is kind of a cross between a croissant and palmier.  And it's pronounced like queen ah-mann.

The kouign amann and I crossed paths when my brother's friend brought some back from a bakery in Salt Lake City called Les Madeleines.   Apparently they are renowned for this pastry.  My brother and sister-in-law emailed me straight away after tasting their version, raving about about how delicious they were.  The perfect blend of sweet, salt, butter and caramel.  Of course I was intrigued and immediately set about doing some research online.   I'm always up for a baking challenge, especially when it's uncharted territory.  I had a feeling I was going to become obsessed with these like I was with macarons.   Fellow baking nerds can relate.

Surprisingly there weren't many recipes out there.  But the ones I was able to find all started with a laminated dough.  I've made laminated doughs before; it's basically a yeast dough with many layers of butter in between.  Think croissant or puff pastry.   The difference with the kouign amann is that the dough is rolled in sugar before it's baked.  The sugar and the butter melt together in the oven producing a salty sweet caramel that the kouign amann is known for.  Sounded simple enough, right?  Not really.

It's so-called simplicity cleverly disguised its difficulty.  Five pounds of flour,  three pounds of European-style butter and several hours of elbow grease later and I think I'm about 80% there.    Just need a few more practice runs before I get it right.  Will post the recipe when I achieve success.

Apple Strudel

I took a bit of a baking sabbatical in January.  First because I was going to be travelling quite a bit and wouldn't have much time, and second, quite honestly, because I OD'd from all the baking I did during the Christmas holidays.  But, it's February 2010 (the Year of the Tiger..my year!) and I'm back with a vengeance. 

This was my first time making the famous Austrian pastry and it was long overdue.  You wouldn't think it, but Austria has a long history in the baking arts.  Did you know that the baguette and croissant, two of France's most famous symbols, were actually created in Austria?  Yes, it's true.  That's where the French word viennoiserie comes from, it essentially means pastries originating from Vienna.  

If you're thinking this is like the strudel found in your supermarket freezer case you're out of luck.  You know which ones I'm talking about.  The ones from that chubby little dough boy that require a toaster.  No, no, no.  This is authentic apfelstrudel and I'm happy to report that everything from the dough to the filling was made from scratch.  

I was quite surprised at how easily it was to make strudel and the ingredients are staples in any pantry.  The challenging part of the recipe was rolling and stretching the dough so that it was super thin.  According to experts it should be so thin you could read a newspaper through it.  I didn't bother putting that to a test but for my first attempt I'm quite pleased with the results.  

The strudel tasted great warm from the oven.   Golden flaky crust and tart apples with a hint of cinnamon and sugar but not too sweet.  All it was begging for was a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  If only I had some in my freezer.  Oh well, next time.

Pain au Chocolat...je me souviens..

Many, many years ago (far more than I care to admit) I spent the spring semester of my junior year of university abroad in Dijon France. Yes, Dijon, the city made famous for that spicy yellow condiment.  "Officially" I was there to attend a French business school and immerse myself in the language and culture.  Unofficially it was really just an excuse to eat, drink, party, travel and meet fellow students from all over the world.  Without a doubt it was probably the best six months of my life and the memories and friendships created back then continue to stay with me.

Even on our paltry students' budget my friends and I managed to eat very well.   This is France after all, the country that claims over 50 types of cheeses, all protected and regulated under French law.  One of my absolute favorite afternoon snacks after a day of classes was a pain au chocolat from Boulangerie Garcia, just around the corner from my dormitory.  

 

Madame Garcia, the baker's wife, looked after the shop front, while Monsieur Garcia was happily tucked away in the basement concocting his delicious patisseries.  Madame Garcia was not what you'd expect a baker's wife to look like.  I always imagined someone petite and plump. Mais non! In fact, she was quite the opposite: tall and slender with big hair and a wardrobe that reminded you of a Journey groupie back in 1985.  But she ran that bakery like clockwork and my friends and I went there religiously to indulge in all the fantastic breads and pastries.  Those were the days... 

I often reminisce about the great times my friends and I had  that semester in France, when life seemed  so simple and carefree.   When the nostalgia hits me I normally tend to crave a pain au chocolat.  My version will never taste as good as the ones from Boulangerie Garcia, but until I  return to Dijon they'll have to suffice.

NOTE: Recipe can be found in the "Baking Illustrated" cookbook.