Danish Puff
Last week, my mom suggested I try a recipe of Grammy’s that I hadn’t tried yet – Danish Puff. My aunt sent me the recipe, confirming that it was always a treat when Grammy would make it on Sundays. I’d never heard of it, but decided to give it a go this Sunday, since we all deserve a treat to keep celebrating yesterday.
I love getting recipes of Grammy’s, because they often come to me like this:
No nonsense, easy to find ingredients, minimal instructions assuming you know what you’re doing in the kitchen.
And at this point in my baking blog career, I think I do know what I’m doing in the kitchen, so I gave it a go!
Start by putting 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of butter, diced, in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until only pea sized pieces remain.
Add 2 tablespoons of water and toss with a fork until everything is moistened.
Gather dough together in a ball, knead a few times to get smooth, and divide in half. Press each half into a strip about 12 inches long and 3 inches wide on a baking sheet.
Next, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of butter and 1 cup of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and add the almond extract. Then whisk in the flour all at once until smooth.
Add the eggs, one at a time, fully stirring in after each addition. Switch to a wooden spoon for this – the whisk won’t work great.
Spread half of the batter over each strip of dough, using an offset spatula to smooth the top.
Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes to an hour, until the top is puffed and browned.
The puffy part will settle down as the cool. Once cool, drizzle with confectioners sugar icing (I did 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons water). Sprinkle chopped nuts over the icing (I did walnuts).
Not having heard of Danish Puff before, I have no idea if this is what it was supposed to look like (I’m sure my mom will tell me once she sees it), but we decided to cut it in strips and have a piece with our coffee this morning.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Enjoy!
Danish Puff
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour, divided
- 1 cup butter, divided
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons water, divided
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- Confectioners sugar icing
Directions:
- In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of flour with 1/2 cup butter, diced. Cut butter into flour using a pastry blender until mixture is size of small peas.
- Add 2 tablespoons of water and toss with a fork to moisten.
- Gather dough into a ball and divide in half. Press each half into a strip about 12 inches long and 3 inches wide on a baking sheet.
- In a medium saucepan, combine remaining 1 cup water and 1/2 cup butter, sliced. Bring to a boil.
- Remove from heat and whisk in almond extract.
- Add remaining 1 cup flour all at once and whisk until smooth.
- Stir in eggs, one at a time, with a wooden spoon until creamy.
- Spread half of mixture over each dough strip, using an offset spatula to smooth the tops.
- Bake at 350°F for 45 to 60 minutes, until browned and puffy. Allow to cool to room temperature.
- Make a quick confectioners sugar icing by whisking together 1/4 cup confectioners sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons water. Drizzle over puff pastry and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Cut into bars.
