MAKE WAY FOR THE DANISH BRAIDERS…Ooooops, I mean the DARING BAKERS!!
‘Danish Braid’ from Sherry Yard’s ‘The Secrets of Baking’
Agony because anything to do with pastry & oodles of butter doesn’t augur well at 40 degrees C + temperatures…I had visions of rivers of butter & runny pastry dough! Ecstasy because I love a good Danish & would have never attempted such a wonderful pastry had it not been posted in a DB challenge! 
Up close & personal…check out my braid!
Thoughts flew though my head…the first one obviously being fellow DB Jasmine @ Confessions of a Cardamom Addict! Then thought of how the men in my house would love it because DH is almost a cardamom addict & the son is not far behind. The daughter is an ‘anything Mama makes’ addict….very safe ground for all culinary adventures. The only thought that bothered me was egg in the pastry dough…did put me off initially…but daring I have to be, so firmly banished any such eggy thoughts from my mind!
A delightful experience it was… only wish it were winter. Chilling didn’t matter because of the ‘virtual oven’ outdoors & I procrastinated for LONG! Postponing the bake day by day. Destiny stepped in…the monsoons arrived 2 weeks ahead of time for the first time ever recorded( in a 108 years!!). Waited a day to make sure the weather would hold, & despite high humidity levels got started. Handling the dough was a pain, but the overall feeling was pure JOY!!! Thank you Kelly & Ben (my dear blogging friend who I share my ‘yeastly‘ strengths with)…this has been my most enjoyable & yummy DB challenge to date. Think you can fathom my sheer JOY by the number of pictures I clicked!!
Just before it disappeared…
Peach preserves that I made the Julia Child way… peel, pit & chop peaches. Put them in a microwaveable bowl with 1/2 cup sugar & any spices you like (I added cardamom & cinnamon to tie up the flavours). Microwave for 18 minutes, uncovered, mash around a bit, squeeze a lime in & cool. Chill until ready to use!! You can find my marzipan recipe here.
Danish pastry is a sweet pastry which has become a speciality of Denmark and is popular throughout the industrialized world, although the form it takes can differ significantly from country to country. The ingredients include flour, yeast, milk, eggs, and generous amounts of butter. A yeast dough is rolled out thinly, coated with butter, and then folded into numerous layers. If necessary, the dough is chilled to ease handling. The rolling, buttering, folding, and chilling is repeated several times to create a dough which is buttery and flaky. 
Savoury Danish…Mushrooms, Garlic ‘n’ Cheese
Here’s what I did for the filling…Sauteed some chopped garlic in olive oil for a minute, tossed in finely sliced button mushrooms & stir fried them till all the liquid dried up, added lots of finely chopped coriander leaves, seasoned it with salt & pepper, added the squeeze of a lime…
Cooled the filling, rolled out a 1/4 of the same (very slightly sweet but it was fine) dough to a rectangle. Spread the filling uniformly, grated cheddar on top & rolled it like a Swiss roll. Sealed the 2 open ends, gave it a brushing of egg-white , made some knife cuts on top & gave it a generous sprinkling of sea salt. Baked it for 10 minutes on 200degrees C, & a further 10-12 minutes at 165 degrees C. Was delicious!
Made for a delicious meal with blanched green beans tossed in grill seasoning, a tsp of butter & a dollop of cream cheese; a cold potato-onion salad in hung yogurt with herbs & lime juice; & stuffed grilled chicken breasts.
Stuffed the chicken with a bit of the same mushroom filling to tie up all the flavours together!
And the Danish adventure continued…
…In the evening, the last 1/4 of the dough went into smaller sweet Danish pastries. Shapes etc taken from an old baking book, ‘Baking Course’ by Isabel Moore which I had bought more than 20 years ago. Had always looked at the shapes longingly, & never thought I would get as far as making them. I DID!! This challenge gave us 3 days of delecable happiness!
You can find the recipe at Bens‘ here or Kellys‘ here…it’s a great experience & shall most certainly be made again in winter, cardamom & all. Please do stop by HERE & see the rest of the Danish Braiders, ooops again, Daring Bakers (DB’s whichever way you look at ’em) enjoying braiding this beautiful pastry!
Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
51 Comments
Lauren
the shapes are beautiful!! glad you got a chance to try them!
Dolores
I love your savory selection. Mushrooms, garlic and cheese… yum! And your shapes are gorgeous. Great job!
familiabencomo
OMG! You are way too darn clever! I love everything that you did here. How brilliant to have some savory flavors here. I’m too much by the book – give me some time. Glad to see that you suffered through the heat for this one. Trust me, I was thinking of you.
Hope you had a nice holiday. Glad you’re back. I’ve missed you!
Tanti baci, my friend,
Amy
p.s. I have to wait until Sunday here to post… I have it on a timer – I hope it works this time. Sweet dreams from California! Oops, good morning to you!
kellypea
What an impressive job you’ve done with this! The peaches sound so delicious, and your savory version includes some of my favorite flavors. AND little Danishes? I’m so impressed. It makes me want it all over again!
Manggy
Welcome back Deeba! Beautiful braid! I would have thought the butter would squish around all over the place, too. 🙂
Rachel
Amazing..the braids,,,fillings..croissants and everything…..good job!!!
Aparna
Well done, Danish Braider. Great looking pastry. I know, we ate our way through the stuff and a friend dropped by just in time to try the last bits!
I was lucky it was raining so no squishy butter.
Ann
All of your pastry shapes are so beautiful! And I love the fillings you chose, too!
Ann at Redacted Recipes
Sunshinemom
One look at all those great pics and I know you went crazy on this one! I skipped this time but yours have ensured that I am making this soon:)
Sunshinemom
Forgot to mention that I loved your mushroom garlic and cheese filling! Lovely version:)
Pearlsofeast
Lovely savory filling Deeba,seems to be a great challenge.
KALVA
Way to go girl.. lokk at the pics.. awesome
DK
that savoury fillings sounds out of this world! Will try that next time I make it. I made it with the apple filling only – loved it though. Like ur shapes 🙂
Mallika
What a great idea to go savoury! They look so good… maybe you could go into business…
azcookbook
Deepa, you went really creative with your Danish:) Everything looks amazing here! What can I say? You are one talented baker!
Lorrie
wow your pastries are so creative and delicious look! wonderful!
Kevin
Nice looking braid and pastries. I like the sound of the savoury one.
Prudy
Oh my goodness-lovely, lovely! What a vast array of shapes, fillings. All beautiful!
meeso
Wow, that looks amazing!!!
jasmine
Brava! I really like your stars…they look as if they are dancing 🙂
j
Nags
and u too :)i am just back from visiting so many lovely danish breads 🙂 its truly a yummy ride from one blog to the next during the DB posting time!
Ben
Great job on all your creations! You always surprise me, my friend. There is a lot we DB’s can learn from you 🙂
Thank you for baking with us 🙂
Dee
Great ideas deeba, I especially like the savoury ones and the shapes… I thnk you should start your own bakery!!
Rosa's Yummy Yums
Very well done! Both your braids and Danish Pastries look delicious! I really like the fillings you chose! Yummy!
Cheers,
Rosa
Lore
Tummy all set. Those little pastries look great and so does your Danish braid!
Aran
oh wow… great filling and great shapes!!!
mimi
love both your braid and pastries, the fillings sound so wonderful!
JMom
Wow, I can’t believe how many ways you did with this recipe. I am definitely trying out the savory version with mushrooms. I can just imagine the flavors!
~JMom @ Cooked from the Heart
PAT A BAKE
Hi Deeba..ha ha I know your name too ;). Lovely Danish Braid – and seeing so many pixs (each better than the other) of your experiment proves that you did have a good time. I did too; but my dough failed to rise ;). Its hot and humid and sunny here in Abu Dhabi. Welcome, if you dropping by this side..i could learn a ting or two from you Baking Fairy !!!!!
A&N
This is not funny! You REALLY need to work on a technology that enables us to reach into the screen and sample this stuff! To tantalize all of us with these pics is so not fair 🙂
Seriously, hats off!
A&N
This is not funny! You REALLY need to work on a technology that enables us to reach into the screen and sample this stuff! To tantalize all of us with these pics is so not fair 🙂
Seriously, hats off!
JennDZ - The Leftover Queen
Wow, the first savory one I have seen! Sounds heavenly!
That being said, all of your other creations look awesome too!
Bharti Khemani
Beautiful Deeba! I’m so glad you overcame all the challenges posed by the weather! I wish I could eat that right now!
Dana McCauley
I love that you used this challenge to experiment and try new things! I particularly love your savoury use of the dough….I could eat some of that right now in fact.
Clumbsy Cookie
Amazing fillings options and the little ones are as cute as they can be!
Mallugirl
Nice looking braid and pastries..i have never attempted anything so complicated!!
Proud Italian Cook
You are just amazing girl!!! You can box them all up, and I’ll take them home!
Cakelaw
Your braids and indivudal danishes look delightful. And thanks for the marzipan recipe – to date, if you’d have asked me where marzipan comes from, I’d have said from the box of Balckwoods at the supermarket.
Ivy
Welcome back Deeba. All your braids look delicious but your sweet one is the best especially with cardamom. You’ve done a terrific job.
BTW voting has started for the Fat Chefs or Skinny Gourmets? and you can vote for your favourite recipe and your friends can vote for you.
Divya
Deebaaaa….your danish braid pastry looks soooo yummy!!!and the savoury filling with mushrooms are simply too good..great great entry!!absolutely loved it!!
Kalai
Off the hook amazing, Deeba!! Both versions are just to die for! I just might have to try this out… One day when I have oodles of patience! 🙂
Laurie
Oh my gosh!! What a fabulous job you did..AGAIN!!
I love all the versions..but please save me some of those savories!! 🙂
xoxo
Cakespy
You really DID have an adventure!! The savory one looks really delicious, and since most people’s were sweet that one really grabbed my attention! But the little pinwheels look and sound gorgeous. Really I am on overload–it all just looks so good!
Divya
Deeba..great to hear that you had a nice time in chennai..missed meeting you!!we could have gone nuts in nuts n spices,hehe.my e-mail id is right up thr on my blog-divyakudua@gmail.com.pls mail me,would love to hear abt ur chennai experience..and you can delete this comment soon after ok..bye.
arundati
OMG!! what a fabulous job!! and i love the savoury fillings….garlic mushrooms and cheese!! wowie!! fantastic!!
chriesi
Fantastic job!
Bellini Valli
I can see why they would all have been gone in an instant Deeba.Beautiful braids:D
my food affair
mushroom, garlic and cheese!! that sounds like a wonderful combination for the braid. I also had to deal with the heat while rolling the dough out and kept thinking cool thoughts. heehee =P
breadchick
I’d be right over for the savory version of your danish! Well done.
Ruth Elkin
Your braid looks fabulous!!!! I’d love a piece of that! Love what you did with the extra dough! Beautiful shapes.
Claire
Wow…this looks fantastic! I love the savory filling and those peach preserves…so easy!