Food Processor Almond Danish Braid

Man, I gotta give my self a pat in the back. I never would have thought I'd make danish pastry EVER! Okay, I cheated a little. I used Nigella Lawson's food processor recipe. See even the goddess herself cheats! Haha. This is what I love so much about Nigella. She makes everything simple and approachable to mere home cooks like me. Do try this recipe if  the task of laminating butter between layers of dough scares and intimidates u as it always did to me... and still does. I'll never attempt the proper old-school way of making danish pastry - why would I when it is so easy this way!

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #10: Easy as Pie (August 2011), hosted by Janine of Not the Kitchen Sink! If you would like to join, please see details here.

Food Processor Almond Danish Braid
(Recipe adapted from  Nigella Lawson's 'How to be a Domestic Goddess' cookbook)

Ingredients:

 

 

For the pastry dough:
60ml warm water
125ml milk, at room temperature
1 large egg, at room temperature
350g white bread flour
7g (1 package) rapid-rise yeast or 1 tbsp fresh yeast
1 tsp salt
25g caster sugar
250g unsalted butter, cold, cut into thin slices

For the filling:
150g ground almond 
80g icing sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
½ tsp almond extract (I used vanilla)
1 large egg white, beaten lightly

For the egg glaze:
1 large egg, beaten with
2 tbsp milk

For the clear glaze:
100g caster sugar
60ml water

For the sugar glaze:
100g icing sugar
1-2 tbsp warm water


Method:

To make pastry dough:

Pour the water and milk into a measuring cup and add the egg, beating with a fork to mix. Put to one side for a moment. Put the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in the processor, and give one quick whizz just to mix. Add the cold slices of butter and process briefly so that the butter is cut up a little, though you still want visible chunks. Empty the contents of the food processor into a large mixing  bowl and quickly add the contents of the cup. Use your hands or a rubber spatula to fold the ingredients together, but don’t overdo it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, put in the refrigerator, and leave overnight or up to 4 days.

To turn it into pastry, take it out of the refrigerator, let it get to room temperature, and roll it out to a 20-inch (50 cm) square. Fold the dough square into thirds, like a business letter, turning it afterward so that the closed fold is on your left, like the spine of a book. Roll out again to a 20-inch square, repeating the steps above three more times. Cut in half, wrap both pieces in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Or you can refrigerate one (up to 4 days) to use now (for the Almond Danish Braid) and put the other one in the freezer to use later.

To make the almond filling:
Beat the butter until soft. Mix in the ground almonds and powdered sugar. Then add the almond extract and 2 tbsp of the egg white. You can make this in advance and keep it in the fridge for up to a week.

To make danish braid:
(You'll need only 1/2 quantity of the pastry dough above)
Roll the pastry out to a big rectangle. Slice the left and right thirds of the dough at an angle and parallel to the other side into 1/2 inch wide slices.Spread the filling on the middle of the dough.
Fold the top and bottom flaps over to hold in the filling. Fold the slices of dough from the left and right sides of the middle, alternating and forming a braid.

Place on the baking sheet and brush with the egg glaze. Leave to rise until it doubles in size and feels spongy like marshmallow, about 1 ½ hours. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 175°C. Once risen, bake for 30 minutes or until golden.

Remove to a wire rack and make the two remaining glazes.

To make the clear glaze:
Heat the granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil then take off the heat.

To make the sugar glaze:
Add the water to the confectioners’ sugar a little at a time to make a runny icing. Brush the braid with the clear glaze first once it has cooled a bit; then when almost cold zigzag the sugar glaze over it.

Yummy moist almond filling which is not too sweet.

Mazarin Tarts

Mazarin tarts are small Swedish almond tarts, oval shaped with a tender buttery crust and an even more buttery and moist cake-like almond filling, topped with sweet icing sugar glaze. Very fattening & rich but I absolutely love these delectable tarts and eating just one is never enough for me - I don't care even if they add extra inches to my thighs!  Unless I fly to Sweden, the only place I could get them is from Ikea Stores in Singapore and KL, both of which are sadly thousands of  miles away across the South China Sea from my place. Fortunately, I have a kind aunt who brings these tarts over whenever she comes to visit, but unfortunately, she does not visit often enough.  Thus, savouring these tarts is just a once-a-year indulgence for me. Not enough I say.   

I have bookmarked this Mazarin recipe for the longest time and had told myself to make many times over, but I just never did. Honestly, to me pastry in general is such tedious work - a real challenge to my lazy bones, not to mention the most unconducive hot weather we're experiencing these days! However much I dread pastry making,  I do not want to miss out this month's  Aspiring Bakers   (everyone is challenged to make pies and tarts and all things pastry), and for my entry I'd like to finally give this Mazarin recipe a try.  And boy did all that 'hard' work paid off!  My homemade tarts were deliciously buttery and utterly moist with a bright hint of refreshing orange zest. Totally yum! What's more, my opinionated Mom raved about them and said they were better than those from Ikea! 

*Smug smile*     

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #10: Easy as Pie (August 2011), hosted by Janine of Not the Kitchen Sink! If you would like to join, see details here.

 

Mazarin Tarts

(Recipe adapted from here)

Wish I have oval shaped tins!

Makes about 15 tarts
 

Crust: 
150g flour
80g sugar
110 g butter
1 egg yolk

1 tsp rum

Filling:  

100g butter 

100g sugar 

2 eggs 

150g ground almonds
finely grated zest of 1 orange 

Glaze:

150g icing sugar

about 3 Tbs water 

Method:

Make tart crust: 

Using a food processor, blitz the flour, sugar and butter together until crumbly. Add the lightly beaten egg yolk and rum and blitz again, just until dough forms. Tip the dough out, gather into a ball then flatten into a disk. Wrap the dough/disk in cling wrap and place in refrigerator to rest & firm up for at least half an hour. Pinch a small ball of dough and press evenly into each tart tins.

Make Filling:
Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly. Mix in grated orange zest and then gently fold in the ground almonds. Fill the tart shells with the  almond batter, smooth surface and then bake in the oven at 175 °C for about 20 minutes or till the tops turn a crisp golden brown and skewer comes out clean when tested. Wait till the tarts cool before glazing - the filling is likely to sink slightly during cooling.  

Make Glaze:
For the glaze, mix 3 tablespoons water with  the icing sugar to a spreadable consistency.  With the back of a spoon thinly cover the the tops of the cooled tarts with glaze. Let the glaze set and harden.

Almond Tuiles

If you have lots of leftover egg whites and don't know what to do with them, do try this super thin and crisp almond tuiles to impress your family and friends (and yourself!). The recipe for the batter is a breeze to whip up with minimal ingredients, but I forewarn u first, this is a very time consuming recipe to bake!

To make these tuiles, you need to spread a thin layer of  round circles about 2 inches wide on a baking paper lined tray, and then sprinkle some flaked almonds on top before sending to bake. Each process makes only a few pieces at a time and need to be repeated until you've finished your batter. 

After about  a couple times of spreading -baking-cooling, I got tired & bored. I mixed the flaked almond with the batter and then spreaded the batter into a big rectangle instead. Once cooled, the big rectangular piece was broken into smaller random pieces (you can see from the photos the irregular shaped ones at the bottom). Of course, the round ones definitely look a ton better but if you don't mind and you're not a perfectionist, do try the short cut way.


ALMOND TUILES  
(Recipe taken from 'No Frills Recipes' here )

Ingredients
2 egg whites lightly beaten
60 gm caster sugar
2 Tbsp or 30 gm butter  (melted)
50 gm plain flour
1/4  tsp vanilla
Almond flakes/Pumpkin seeds (amount as desired)

Method

1. Sift flour into a mixing bowl, add in sugar, mix well.
2. Make a well in the centre, add in the melted butter, lightly beaten egg whites and vanilla.  Mix till well combined.
3. Let batter rest for 30 mins.
4. Drop 1 leavel teaspoon of batter onto a baking tray, lined with baking paper.
5. Using the back of the spoon, slowly spread the mixture as thinly as possible to a circle about  2 inches in diameter.
6. Sprinkle some almond flakes onto the centre of the batter.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 deg C for about 3 mins, or till lightly brown.  
8. Let stand for a minute and carefully lift the biscuits from tray to cool on a wire rack.
9. When completely cooled, store in an air-tight container or jar.
10. Makes 34 pieces. 

Note:

• I baked my almond tuiles at 160 deg C for about 20 minutes. At 180 deg C, my almond tuilles were not browned evenly. They were almost burnt at the edges and the middle still pale, undercooked and chewy. Please do a small test batch to find which temperature is suitable to you.
• I used baking paper and didn't need to grease. The tuilles were easily removed while they're still warm. I used a pallete knife by sliding it underneath the tuilles, then lifting up from the baking paper.
• I've lightly pre-roasted the flaked almonds  first for better aroma. I did this by dry-frying on a pan on the stove. Becareful not to burn! 

Super thin & crisp!

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #3: My Favorite CNY Cookie (Jan 2011). Details can be found here.