Sunday, June 29, 2008

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Danish Braid


This month's Daring Bakers' Challenge is hosted by Kelly of Sass & Veracity, and Ben of What’s Cookin’? and is Danish Braid. Have you ever made croissants? This is nearly the same intensity in folding and turning and rolling. Time-intensive, but so worth it!



I didn't have any problems with butter oozing out or falling out in pieces, but I had a tiny little advantage in that I've done this before, numerous times in culinary school. We made danish and croissant until our hands cramped! I love the result of that effort, though.

I chose the apple filling for mine, and the recipe can be found HERE or HERE. If you do try this yourself, keep in mind that sealing the edges of the dough around the butter before the first fold helps it to stay put. Also, the chilling time in-between can be more than 30 minutes depending on the weather in your area. Humidity plays a huge factor in all baking, so keep and eye on that, as well.

17 comments:

giz said...

Oh yee of Danish pastry excellence, I bow before you - your braid is fabulous. This challenge was such great fun but there'll be no finger cramping for me...uh uh...I just want to eat.

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Cool that you had experience with this!!! I was in over my head but it turned out alright!!!

Yours looks perfect!

Robyn said...

I'm sure the experience helped, but the challenge of doing it with 7 kids must have made it a bit tricky! Great braid.

kat said...

your braid is lovely! i wish i had had the tip about sealing the edges before the first fold when i made mine!

The Baker & The Curry Maker said...

Looks good! You're so right about the weather and humidty!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for you kind comments, coming from a culinarian I am way flattered. Those helpful hints in your post will certainly be put to use with my next braid. I agree that despite the cramps the result is well worth it!!!

Anonymous said...

You did a great job :) I know what you mean about the humidity! it turned out great though

Thistlemoon said...

Looks great! So awesome that you were so well prepared. I wish that I would have thought about making croissants....guess I'll have to whip up another batch of dough soon!

Anonymous said...

Lovely braid! Well done.

Dolores said...

That image right there makes your "tiny diploma in Culinary Arts" worth the time and the effort. Great job!

test it comm said...

Your danish pastry looks nice and light and flaky! You can really see the layers in it.

Anonymous said...

well , thats what i call danish excellence.

Anonymous said...

Yeah i agree this is pretty hard to do this with so many kids.

Jen Yu said...

Ha ha, I had a lot of oozing butter when I was turning my dough. But I didn't have lots of kids - just a hopeful puppy waiting for something to fall on the floor. Your braid looks awesome! Great job.

Elle said...

Gorgeous! It's just torture looking at all the photos...I think I need to make more this weekend. I can't take it anymore, lol!

Unknown said...

Great job! I'm sure your kiddos and hubby enjoyed it. I really enjoyed this challenge.

Lunch Buckets said...

We have something in common. I've EATEN so many pastries that my hands cramped.