Giant Danish Recipes

DANISH PASTRY

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 2/3 cup of flour. Divide into 2 equal parts, and roll each half between 2 pieces of waxed paper into a 6 x12 inch sheet. Refrigerate.
• In a large bowl, mix together the dry yeast and 3 cups of the remaining flour. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, sugar and salt. Heat to 115 degrees F (43 degrees C), or 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 1/2 cup at a time until the dough is firm and pliable. Set aside to rest 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.
• To make danishes, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. The dough can be cut into squares, with a filling placed in the center. Fold 2 of the corners over the center to form a filled diamond shape. Or, fold the piece in half, cut into 1 inch strips, stretch, twist and roll into a spiral. Place a dollop of preserves or other filling in the center. Place danishes on an ungreased baking sheet, and let rise until doubled. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). 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.

EASY CHEESE DANISH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
• Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream them together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Don't whip!
• Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10 by 10-inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash. Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes.
• Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.

GIANT DANISH

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a jelly roll pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• 2. Unroll dough from 1 tube. Pat out, pressing perforations together until dough completely covers bottom of pan. Bake for 4 minutes.
• 3. While dough is baking, combine cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.
• 4. Remove dough from oven and cool slightly. Spread cheese mixture over dough to the edges. Scatter pie filling over cheese mixture. (Note* pie filling should not cover completely!)
• 5. Unroll remaining dough from tube. Separate triangles and evenly arrange on pie filling. (Note* the triangles should not cover completely!)
• 6. Bake for 30 minutes or until top crust is golden and cheese mixture is set. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack before cutting into squares. (**Dust with powdered sugar if desired.)

GIANT CINNAMON-CHEESE DANISH

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 9-inch glass pie plate with shortening, or spray with CRISCO® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Separate dough into 5 rolls; set icing aside. Unroll 1 roll into long strip of dough; reroll loosely and place in center of pie plate. Unroll second roll; loosely wrap around first roll, cinnamon side in. Replace any cinnamon that falls off. Repeat with remaining rolls, coiling dough in pie plate into spiral shape.
• In small bowl, beat remaining ingredients except icing with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spoon cream cheese mixture into decorating bag with tip or gallon-size resealable food-storage plastic bag with 1/2-inch hole cut in bottom corner. With tip or corner of bag about halfway down into rolls, pipe mixture between strips of dough, starting at center and working to edge of pan, using all of mixture.
• Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until center is thoroughly baked and edges are deep golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Meanwhile, remove cover from icing; microwave on Medium (50%) 10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle.
• Drizzle icing over warm coffee cake. Cut into wedges. Serve warm.

GIANT CINNAMON-CHEESE DANISH

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350*.
• Lightly grease a 9" glass pie pan with non-stick spray.
• Seperate dough into 5 rolls. set icing aside.
• Unroll 1 roll into long strips of dough; reroll loosely and place in center of greased pie pan.
• Unroll second roll, loosely wrap around first roll, cinnamon side inches Replace any cinnamon that falls off.
• Repeat with remaining rolls, coiling dough into spiral shape.
• In small bowl, beat all remaining ingredients with electric mixer on medium until smooth.
• Spoon cream cheese mixture into a decorating bag with tip or gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag with 1/2" hole cut in bottom corner. With tip or corner of bag about halfway down into rolls, pipe mixture between strips of dough, starting at center and working to edge of pan, using all of the mixture.
• Bake at 350* for 25-35 minutes or until center is thoroughly baked and edges are golden brown.
• Cool 5 minutes. Meanwhile, remove cover from icing; microwave on medium (50%) power for 10-15 seconds or until drizzling consistency.
• Drizzle icing over warm coffee cake.
• Cut into wedges.
• Serve warm.

GIANT DUTCH BABY WITH FRUIT

Steps:

• 1 Position a baking rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees
• 2 Place an empty 9-inch-by-13-inch pan on the rack while you prepare the batter
• 3 In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar for 30 seconds, until the sugar dissolves, then add the flour, milk, vanilla and salt, whisking to form a smooth, thin batter
• 4 Set aside for 20 minutes while the oven heats up
• 5 Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven and add the butter, swirling the pan until it melts and coats the bottom
• 6 Pour in the batter, sprinkle the fruit on top and bake for about 20 minutes, or until puffed and golden
• 7 The pancake will begin to deflate almost as soon as it comes out of the oven, but will largely retain its puffy edges
• 8 Dust the pancake with the confectioners' sugar and serve immediately

DANISH KRINGLE

Steps:

• Warm the milk in the microwave: Pour the milk into a microwave safe cup or bowl. Heat the milk in the microwave in 15 second intervals until it is warm to the touch but not scalding, about 100°F. If it scalds or burns, then it's too hot for the yeast. You can also use a thermometer to check the temperature of the milk to be sure it has reached 100°F.
• Enclose the filling: Use a pastry brush to brush the edges of the dough with water. Fold the long bottom edge up and over the filling, then fold the top edge down, overlapping the bottom edge to enclose the filling completely. Gently press the seam to close. You should end up with a long log.
• Arrange oven rack and preheat the oven: Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F.