← Nouns Cooking · Bakery

Ingredients

• 500 g plain flour (or half strong flour), plus extra for dusting
• 50 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2¼ tsp fast-action dried yeast (one 7 g sachet)
• ½ tsp ground cardamom (optional)
• 150 ml cold milk
• 75 ml cold water
• 1 large egg
• 250 g unsalted butter, cool but pliable
• 150 g Cream cheese
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• ½ tsp Vanilla extract
• 150 g apricot or raspberry jam
• 1 egg, beaten, to glaze
• 100 g icing sugar mixed with 1 tbsp water, to drizzle

Method

1. Mix the flour, sugar, salt, yeast and cardamom, then add the milk, water and egg and mix to a soft dough. Knead briefly until smooth, about 3 min. Wrap and chill for 1 hour.
2. Roll the butter between baking paper into a 20 × 15 cm rectangle and chill briefly. Roll the dough to 40 × 22 cm, lay the butter on one half, fold over and seal.
3. Roll into a long strip about 50 × 20 cm, fold in three like a letter, wrap and chill for 30 min. Repeat twice more, turning a quarter each time.
4. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, yolk and vanilla until smooth. Roll the dough to a 40 × 40 cm square about 5 mm thick and cut into 16 squares of 10 cm.
5. For windmills, cut from each corner towards the centre, stopping 1.5 cm short. Put a teaspoon of the cheese filling in the middle and fold every other point into the centre, pressing to stick. Top with a little jam and set on lined trays.
6. Cover loosely and prove at warm room temperature for 45–60 min until puffy. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, 400°F).
7. Brush the pastry with egg and bake for 15–18 min until deep golden. Cool on a rack, then drizzle with the icing.

Tips

• Keep everything cold: if the butter starts to smear or poke through, chill the dough for 15 minutes.
• Swap the cheese filling for custard, or for marzipan for a classic almond Danish (which then contains nuts).

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food King Arthur Baking