What are Danish Pastries?
Well, let’s start with the name. Wienerbrød is what we call Danish pastries in Denmark, which translates to “Vienna bread.” This is because Austrian bakers were actually the first to bring these techniques to Denmark. The irony is that nowadays, these pastries are known as “Danishes” throughout the rest of the world, but “Vienna bread” in Denmark!
Wienerbrød is a general term that refers to lots of different pastries, including spandauer, tebirkes, kanelsnegle, frøsnapper, and many more. Wienerbrød can be filled with marzipan, custard, jam, or a variety of other fillings, but what they all have in common is the same dough: wienerbrødsdej, or Danish pastry dough. These can be a challenge to bake, so today’s blog post explores the five most essential tips you need to know for a successful bake!
1. Use the correct type of butter!
To make this dough, you start with a regular enriched yeasted dough, similar to what you would use to make any type of sweet roll or bread. Then, you roll that dough out into a square, place a block of butter in the middle, and fold in the corners of the dough so that the butter is enclosed. Then begins the lamination. You roll the dough out into a rectangle and complete a letter fold. Think of your dough as being split into thirds, then fold bottom over middle, top over bottom. You repeat this rolling out and letter fold process two more times (three total). This gives you 27 layers in your dough, making the final pastry flaky and buttery.
The butter you choose is incredibly important to the outcome of your pastries. For an optimal bake, use only European-style butter. Why should you do so? Well, European-style butter has a higher fat percentage (between 82 and 85%) than other butters, such as American or sweet cream. This means that it contains less water and will be more pliable, ensuring less breakage and smooth layers. It will also not melt as quickly or absorb into the dough, which means you will be able to get those flaky layers throughout your pastry dough. Some brands that we would recommend include Plugra (the European-style butter, not the other types), President, and Lurpak. It always helps to look online ahead of time to see which brands your grocery store might have in stock!
2. Prep your butter properly.
As mentioned above, you don’t want your butter to break up into chunks in the dough when you are completing the lamination process. We have experienced this, and it means that you don’t get clear layers in the final product. In order to have smooth sheets of butter in between layers of dough, you first need to use European-style butter. We have already explained this, but it really does matter, as it is way more pliable and resistant to breaking up into chunks. Next, prep your butter. You want to use cold butter, but very cold butter will not be pliable, so you need to prep it. Wrap your butter in cling film, and hit with a rolling pin to slightly soften it. Then roll it out and fold it over itself to make sure there are no gaps in the butter from the different sticks. You may have to repeat this process 2-3 times. The butter should be able to fold without breaking – that’s when it’s ready for lamination!
3. Let your dough rest between folds…don’t force it!
When laminating your dough, you have to roll your dough out and fold it over itself three times. Each time you work with the dough, the gluten develops and becomes more elastic, so it needs to rest in order for the gluten to relax again. If you begin to roll out the dough and it springs back and is difficult to roll out, that means it needs more time to rest. Between each fold in the lamination process, we like to rest ours for 15 minutes in the fridge, then 15 minutes at room temperature. This keeps the butter at an optimal temperature so that it doesn’t get too cold or too warm.
4. Pay attention to proofing temperature.
This is essential to baking with yeast in general, but it is especially key when you are also working with lots of butter! It can be tempting to proof your pastries at a higher temperature so that they rise faster, but be careful. Too warm and the butter will start to melt, which will be a huge issue when you bake them. They will not be able to hold those flaky layers together and the butter will leak out and pool under all the pastries. While it is not the end of the world if that does happen (seriously, these pastries take practice to perfect), it is not optimal. So pay attention to the proofing temperature and aim for about 24-27 degrees C (75-80 degrees F).
5. Be patient and let the pastries proof for as long as it takes.
These pastries, especially when they have fillings, can take hours to proof fully. The many layers of butter inhibit the rising process, and you can’t just proof them at a higher temperature to speed up the process, since the butter would melt. Therefore, you have to exercise patience and let them take as long as they need. If you underproof them, the butter will leak out, which you definitely don’t want! Once ready to bake, they should be extremely jiggly and puffy-looking. Again, do not worry too much if you mess this up. You will learn with each time you try baking them and eventually you will know exactly what every step should look like!
Good Luck!
Even though these pastries can seem really challenging, we hope you try them out. If anything, it’s a fun challenge that you will hopefully enjoy, even if they don’t turn out perfect the first time. Thanks for reading and leave a comment down below if you have any questions or feedback for us!
