Easier Danish Pastry Recipe

A slice of Easier Danish Pastry sits on a silver cake server with the braid in the background.

5 from 3 votes

This Easier Danish Pastry Recipe replaces the traditional laminated Danish pastry with my really easy 60 Second Brioche coupling it with the Viennese Braid technique which is equally easy to make. This Chocolate Raspberry Braid combines these two to produce a very professional looking finished pastry worthy of the name Danish Pastry. It's packed with flavor, perfectly balanced and indulgent.

Prep Time55

Rising Time4

Total Time4 55

Course: Pastry

Cuisine: International

Keyword: Brioche, Danish Pastry, easy to make

Servings: servings

Calories: 339kcal

Author: Helen S. Fletcher

Ingredients

Brioche Dough

1 ½ teaspoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons warm water
Pinch granulated sugar
2 ¼ cups bread flour (315 grams)
1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup unsalted butter, (170 grams or 1 ½ sticks)
3 large eggs
¼ cup half and half

Raspberry Filling

24 ounces frozen, unsweetened red raspberries (680 grams)
2 tablespoons brandy
2 teaspoons lemon juice
½ to ¾ cup granulated sugar (100 to 150 grams)
2 teaspoons minute tapioca

Chocolate Filling

2 ounces semisweet chocolate (60 grams)
2 teaspoons unsalted butter, (10 grams)

Instructions

Brioche - see 60 Second Brioche.

Raspberry Filling

Drain thawed raspberries very well. Reserve the juice. I usually put mine in a strainer over a bowl and let them drain for several hours.
In a saucepan, combine the raspberries, brandy, lemon juice, sugar and tapioca.
Place over medium heat and bring to a full boil, stirring constantly. Cook for 1 minute. Cool completely, cover and chill overnight. Alternatively, to chill the filling quickly, spread it in a half sheet and cover it with plastic wrap. It will be ready to use in about 15 to 20 minutes.

Chocolate Filling

Melt the chocolate and butter together. Cool if hot, but make sure it is still spreadable.
To make this easier, please refer to the photo for the cutting and assembly instructions.
After chilling overnight, Roll the dough into a 10 ½" x 14 ½" rectangle. Trim it to a 10"x14" rectangle.Place it on the parchment lined pan with the 10" side of the dough vertical on the baking pan. If at any point the brioche softens, refrigerate or freeze briefly to firm up.
Without cutting the dough, mark the dough on both sides 3" in from the 10" side on the top and bottom. Connect the marks so a straight line runs from the top to the bottom on both sides. This will leave a 4 inch section marked off in the middle.
Spread the chocolate evenly over this 4 inch section but do not cross the lines. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator or freezer to harden the chocolate. This will take minutes. Do not freeze the dough.
Spread the cold raspberry filling over the chocolate.
Mark both sides of the dough into 1 inch horizontal strips, just up to the filling on both sides.
Cut the strips up to the filling.
Starting at the top, fold the first left strip of dough in and over the filling, then slightly down. Brush the tip with water and cross the first right strip over it. Continue folding the strips in the manner until the bottom is reached.
Fold the last 2 strips straight across the bottom to seal the braid. Cover with a tea towel and let it rise until doubled. This can take 2 hours or so if the room is cool.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Brush the braid with the beaten egg and sprinkle with sliced almonds.
Double pan and bake in the upper third of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes until deep golden brown. Cool on a rack.
To make ahead: Bake, cool, wrap well and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature on a rack . Place on a baking sheet and heat in a preheated 350°F oven for about 15 minutes.
This Danish pastry is best eaten the day it is made or thawed from the freezer and heated but can be covered and kept at room temperature for a day or so.

Notes

There is always an abundance of photos to guide you in the post above.

As always, I recommend using a scale for accuracy and consistency. Flour, in particular, is difficult to measure by volume. For my recipes, I use 140 grams per cup of unsifted all-purpose, bread or whole wheat flour and 125 grams of cake flour. Others may use different weights so use whatever they suggest.

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When making the brioche, the eggs and butter should be cold.

The sponge is used to form a dough of optimum gluten development because rich doughs can take a long time to rise. Yeast is a microorganism. It is able to use carbohydrates to develop and produce carbon dioxide that makes the bread dough rise. By using a sponge the number single cell living organisms is increased dramatically cutting the time need to rise as well as baking up higher doughs.

Due to the high butter content of the dough, it needs to be worked cold. Moving it in and out of a fridge or freezer makes it easy to work with.

A thick raspberry jam can be used instead of the cooked filling by keeping it about a ½" from the top and bottom of the dough. This should help contain the leaking problem.

Make sure to wet the edges of the dough when braiding it so they don't pop up when baking.

Note: The leftover juice can be turned into a delicious syrup for pancakes, ice cream, pound cake, etc. For 1 ½ cups juice, add 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Sugar to taste may be added. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the syrup comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Serve warm or cold. Refrigerate any unused syrup.

This Danish pastry is best eaten the day it is made or thawed from the freezer and heated but can be covered for a day or so.

Nutrition