This recipe comes direct from Nigella Lawson’s, How To Be A Domestic Goddess cookbook. I chose this one for the mere fact that it’s a food processor made dough, which in my mind will make the dough making process easy and clean… hahaha!!
To start with and probably the one thing EVERYONE mentions about this dough is just how moist and sticky it is… and they weren’t wrong. The picture below shows you what the ‘resting’ dough looks like – this is after it took five minutes trying to remove it from my fingers!
In the original recipe it asks to mix the dry ingredients then add the cold butter in the food processor then add this to the combined wet ingredients. That was far too messy for me, considering everyone’s comments on this particular pastry recipe, so I did it slightly different – I did it all in the food processor. The result was still a success, but you are still going to get dirty trying to remove the dough from the processor into a bowl for it to prove.
**Brainwave** Leave the dough to prove in the processor bowl!
This recipe makes 12 danishes but if you can’t get through all 12 (these are best made and eaten fresh) then freeze half of the pastry and cut the cheese filling ingredients in half.
For this recipe the dough needs to be prepared a day in advance (ideally)
Ingredients
Pastry
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk, tepid
1 egg, room temperature
2 1/4 cups white bread flour
2 tbs of dried yeast or 7g sachet
1 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
250g butter, from the fridge and thinly sliced
Cheese filling
1 cup ricotta cheese
6 tbs caster sugar
pinch of salt
zest of 2 lemons
1 egg, beaten (Tip: If making a half batch of filling then use the other half of this egg for your egg wash)
3 tbs unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
Egg glaze
1 egg
1 tbs milk
Clear glaze
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup water
Sugar glaze
1/2 cup icing sugar
1-2 tbs water
Method
For the pastry … Mix together the water, milk, egg and melted butter in a small bowl and set aside.
Place all the dry ingredients into the food processor and blitz it quickly to incorporate the ingredients then place in the chopped butter. Give it another quick blitz making sure to keep the butter in medium to smallish sized chunks.
Now add the wet ingredients and give it another quick blitz till it’s only just got together.
Move the dough from the food processor into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave in the fridge to rest overnight (4 hours minimum)
Next day, remove the dough from the fridge and leave it to get to room temperature.
Flour the surface very well and place the dough on top. Press it together, using some flour on your hands to help to form a rough rectangle. It’s actually quite easy to work with at this point. Show it the power of the flour! You are in control!
Roll the dough out to a 50cm square (you can see the size of my butter chunks in the photos below; I’m sure they are way too big BUT it still worked in the end)
Once you have got the dough to the square size, fold one side over a third of the way and then the other side over the first.
Roll out to a square again and then repeat the 3/4 fold…
Roll out to a square again and then repeat the 3/4 fold…again… do this three times all up.
Flatten the final fold, keeping the shape of the rectangle and then divide in half. From here you can either use the entire amount of pastry or wrap one half in greaseproof paper and then in cling film and freeze for use at a later date.
Cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
While the pastry is resting in the fridge you can make the cheese mixture by placing all ingredients in a bowl and mixing well.
Make the egg wash by mixing together the egg and milk and set aside.
Remove one of the pastry pieces and roll to a large rectangle. Cut it down the length in the middle and then two cuts across to make six squares.
Place a tablespoon of cheese mixture in the centre of each square. Pick up two opposite corners and pinch together and then repeat on the remaining two corners.
Leave the pastries to double in size, which will take about 1.5 hours then brush with the egg wash (yes, I brushed mine with the egg wash before I left them to rise… don’t know why… again, still wo)
About 20 minutes prior to cooking the pastries, pre heat the oven to 175°C / 350°F
Cook the pastries for 20 minutes or till puffed and golden.
While the pastries are baking, make the clear glaze by place the sugar and water into a small saucepan and bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes then set aside.
Once cooked, remove the pastries from the oven and let cool slightly. While they are still warm, brush the clear glaze over the pastry points to give them a beautiful sheen and then leave them to cool.
Once cooled, mix together the sugar glaze ingredients and then drizzle over the danishes.
Enjoy with friends and family … and a really good cup of coffee – Blondie 🙂
- ¼ cup warm water
- ½ cup milk, tepid
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 2¼ cups white bread flour
- 2 tbs of dried yeast or 7g sachet
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbs sugar
- 250g butter, from the fridge and thinly sliced
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 6 tbs caster sugar
- pinch of salt
- zest of 2 lemons
- 1 egg, beaten (Tip: If making a half batch of filling then use the other half of this egg for your egg wash)
- 3 tbs unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 egg
- 1 tbs milk
- ⅓ cup caster sugar
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup icing sugar
- 1-2 tbs water
- For the pastry … Mix together the water, milk, egg and melted butter in a small bowl and set aside.
- Place all the dry ingredients into the food processor and blitz it quickly to incorporate the ingredients then place in the chopped butter. Give it another quick blitz making sure to keep the butter in medium to smallish sized chunks.
- Now add the wet ingredients and give it another quick blitz till it’s only just got together.
- Move the dough from the food processor into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave in the fridge to rest overnight (4 hours minimum)
- Next day, remove the dough from the fridge and leave it to get to room temperature.
- Flour the surface very well and place the dough on top. Press it together, using some flour on your hands to help to form a rough rectangle. It’s actually quite easy to work with at this point. Show it the power of the flour! You are in control!
- Roll the dough out to a 50cm square (you can see the size of my butter chunks in the photos below; I’m sure they are way too big BUT it still worked in the end)
- Once you have got the dough to the square size, fold one side over a third of the way and then the other side over the first.
- Roll out to a square again and then repeat the ¾ fold…
- Roll out to a square again and then repeat the ¾ fold…again… do this three times all up.
- Flatten the final fold, keeping the shape of the rectangle and then divide in half. From here you can either use the entire amount of pastry or wrap one half in greaseproof paper and then in cling film and freeze for use at a later date.
- Cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- While the pastry is resting in the fridge you can make the cheese mixture by placing all ingredients in a bowl and mixing well.
- Make the egg wash by mixing together the egg and milk and set aside.
- Remove one of the pastry pieces and roll to a large rectangle. Cut it down the length in the middle and then two cuts across to make six squares.
- Place a tablespoon of cheese mixture in the centre of each square. Pick up two opposite corners and pinch together and then repeat on the remaining two corners.
- Leave the pastries to double in size, which will take about 1.5 hours then brush with the egg wash (yes, I brushed mine with the egg wash before I left them to rise… don’t know why… )
- About 20 minutes prior to cooking the pastries, pre heat the oven to 175°C / 350°F
- Cook the pastries for 20 minutes or till puffed and golden.
- While the pastries are baking, make the clear glaze by place the sugar and water into a small saucepan and bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes then set aside.
- Once cooked, remove the pastries from the oven and let cool slightly. While they are still warm, brush the clear glaze over the pastry points to give them a beautiful sheen and then leave them to cool.
- Once cooled, mix together the sugar glaze ingredients and then drizzle over the danishes.
- Enjoy with friends and family … and a really good cup of coffee