Returning to the Classics!
We haven’t shared a classic Danish pastry recipe in a while, so we’re super excited for today’s post! When we started our blog, we very quickly developed and posted recipes for our favorite traditional Danish pastries, like spandauer, kanelsnegle, and tebirkes. Then, we shared recipes for some variations of those pastries, like our chokoladesnegle and krydrede kanelsnegle. Now, we’re trying to return to some of the classics that we have yet to post! Today’s recipe is for studenterbrød.
What is studenterbrød?
This is a pastry that you will find in any Danish bakery, and it’s a very uniquely Danish sweet treat. It is called studenterbrød, or “student bread,” because it is usually very cheap and therefore a go-to option for students. Why is it so cheap? This is because the filling is made with leftover pastries and cakes, so it is a way for bakeries to reduce waste and make a little bit of extra money without charging a lot from customers.
Homemade Studenterbrød
Now, while it doesn’t make all that much sense as a homemade dessert, since it requires a separate leftover dessert, it is super delicious! So, if you’re ever in a situation where you have some muffins, cake, pastries, or anything sweet leftover, it’s an amazing recipe to use. Also, if you screw up a homemade cake, then this is a really useful recipe to redeem it and still serve dessert. Or, you can do what we do, which is intentionally make a separate cake in order to make this dessert, because it’s just that good!
How to make Studenterbrød
The recipe itself is pretty straightforward and not too complicated. We start by making the dough for the pastry base, which is just a shortcrust pastry. This has to chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes before you can roll it out and put it on a baking sheet. Then, bake this for about 15-20 minutes on its own, then allow it to cool completely. While it cools, make your filling by combining the filling ingredients. Spread a thin layer of jam on the cooled pastry, and then press the filling on top, making it as even as possible. Refrigerate this briefly until it is firm, then decorate with icing and sprinkles. Trim the edges of the filling so that the filling and pastry line up and make a neat rectangle. Enjoy, and please leave a comment below if you try it!
Studenterbrød (“Student Bread” Pastry)
Ingredients
PASTRY BASE
- 150 grams (1 1/8 cup) all purpose flour
- 25 grams (1/4 cup) powdered sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 100 grams (7 tbsp) unsalted butter
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
CHOCOLATE LAYER
- 600 grams pound cake, leftover cake, muffins, or cookies
- 150 grams (about 1 1/2 bars) dark chocolate, melted
- 4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 5 tbsp jam
- 3-4 tbsp rum
ICING
- 240 grams (2 cups) powdered sugar
- Splash of water
- Sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Combine flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. You can also do this by hand in a large bowl! Add cold butter and pulse in the food processor until it looks like sand. If doing this by hand, just break up the cold butter with your fingers and crumble until you get to the sand-like consistency. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and pulse or combine with your hands until the dough begins to stick together (it’s okay if it’s still a little bit crumbly!)
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Line a large baking pan or sheet pan with parchment paper.
- After refrigerating, roll out the dough into one large rectangle, trimming the edges if needed (you can always bake the scraps separately if you roll them out again!). Transfer the dough rectangle to your baking sheet.
- Prick the top of the dough with a fork to prevent bubbles from forming.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until the dough is lightly golden around the edges. If your oven runs hot, make sure to check it around the 15 minute mark!
- While the pastry is cooling, prepare the cake mixture. Crumble the cake into a bowl and add cocoa powder, melted chocolate, 4 tbsp of the jam (reserve one for spreading on the pastry), and rum.
- Press together until it forms a thick paste consistency.
- Spread a thin layer of jam over the pastry using the last tablespoon of jam.
- Press the cake mixture on top of the jam, creating an even layer. It’s okay if it doesn’t go all the way to the edge; we will clean up the edges later!
- Chill the assembled pastry for 15-20 minutes in the fridge. Once chilled, mix together icing by combining icing sugar and a splash of water. Spread over the top of the pastry. Add sprinkles if you would like!
- Leave the icing to set for about 15 minutes, either in the fridge or on the counter. Trim off the edges and cut into ~15 squares. Enjoy!
Hello – here in the South West of the UK we have a similar cake called Nelson Squares. It has a pastry base and top, sugar sprinkled. The filling is made up of left over bread, cake or anything similar with spices e.g. nutmeg or mixed spice and dried fruits.
I live in a Navy port so I am guessing we get it from them, with the name of Nelson Squares. My local bakery makes very good version – yum.
Hi Neal – thank you so much for your comment! I love learning about how baked goods are so similar across countries and cultures, yet each still have their own nuance. I’m now very intrigued by Nelson Squares and might have to try my hand at making them at some point!
After a recent family holiday to Denmark, we enjoyed trying this. I’m so happy to have found your recipe! I made this today, and split the mix in half, to do one half without alcohol, and the other half with. My husband had finished his bottle of rum, however I did have some Crowberry infused Gin we had made in the drinks cabinet so I used it in the recipe. It was delicious, I hope my hubby enjoys it, he’ll be able to try it when he returns from work 😊
Thank you for the recipe.
That’s great, so happy to hear it! I love gin, so I’ll definitely try that next time I make these! Thanks for using our recipe and leaving a lovely comment 🙂