If you ever wanted to make strawberry Danish pastry at home, this is it! The dough is a gem of a recipe, made partially in the food processor and braided because it's the best way of making and eating a flaky, creamy and fabulous, breakfast pastry with minimal fuss.
A superb Danish recipe
Do you see the flakiness of the dough, the creamy filling, the baked strawberries inside? I can almost taste it just by looking at the pictures and wish we could all have it for breakfast every week.
This is the home baker's version for making traditional laminated yeast dough. It's not really fast or simple, like, for example, an almond croissant, but it's easier than the classic one.
Once you get the hang of it, you'll want to make it often and with different fillings. Any combination works, and it doesn't have to include fruit. You can make a cream cheese jam version.
And finally, I love fresh strawberries, but I'm not particularly fond of baked ones. Or so I thought.
Because then this filling came to be - with almond cream, cream cheese, and lime zest - it entered the intricate pattern of this braid, baked till it puffed and the strawberries softened, got a tingle from the lime glaze, and suddenly boom!
Baked strawberries are at the top, first in the line. They sure earned it, with this recipe and with the Brown Sugar Strawberry Crisp one too.
Words elude me when I try to explain how incredibly amazing and delicious this strawberry danish braid is.
Danish pastry dough recipe
So, let's take it one step at a time, starting with the dough.
If you love pastries as much as I do, you'll go nuts about this quick Danish dough recipe.
Though quick is a stretch, probably in this tech time when we have instant access to so many things, this is the fastest way you can make it while still getting great results.
If you ever made a Danish dough from scratch, you know exactly what I'm talking about. With this recipe, the first part is made in the food processor, so there's no more making a butter block, waiting for it to be at the perfect temperature and then adding it to the dough rectangle.
The quick Danish dough that I use is a miracle in itself, a recipe from Beatriz Ojakangas, who wrote quite a few books and specializes in Scandinavian baking; despite all her credits as a baker and author, I will advocate this single quick Danish pastry recipe as one of the best things to ever appear in my baking universe. It's gold.
Steps for the dough
- You simply mix part of the dough ingredients together with the butter in the food processor. The crucial step is to leave the butter pieces the size of kidney beans (image 1). This is very important to achieve flakiness in the end.
- The mixture from above is mixed with the rest of the ingredients which include the activated yeast (image 2).
It's a very rough dough (image below, bottom) at first, very. You might think you need to knead it more, but you don't. You wrap it and it goes into the refrigerator like this for several hours. - Then comes the folding, or lamination. This is what makes it flaky. Each fold of the dough onto itself makes another layer of flakiness. This is the way croissants are made. The refrigeration time is essential for the dough to relax so you can roll it and fold it easily, and especially important when you have doughs with yeast.
- It is folded a total of 3 times, with resting periods in between. The dough is rolled into a rectangle, short side parallels to the counter, and a third is folded from the bottom up and the other third from the top down. You give it a quarter turn to your right and that way you have like a flyer folded in three parts. That's a complete fold.
- Below you can see how rough the dough with 1 fold (image 3) and how much smoother it is after 3 folds (image 4). You can see how the dough comes together with each fold and becomes less rustic and rough.
The cheese filling
I choose to use fresh strawberries with almond cream (or frangipane as it's also called) and limes.
They are incredibly good together! The creamy almond is soft and a very traditional filling. The strawberries add sweetness and freshness, and the limes add a tang that balances the butter and sugar perfectly.
It's such an amazing synergy of flavors I was completely caught off guard when I took the first bite. I wasn't expecting it to be so good.
Making the braid
When the dough is laminated and ready to be used, it is rolled into a large wide rectangle.
It's important to have enough dough were to make the cuts and then fold each strip to the other side, covering most of the filling, making a criss-cross pattern. If the strips are too short, they will puff and open during baking and the filling will be too exposed. This will make it less creamy as it will be exposed to direct heat.
Kitchen Notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, utensils and equipment needed, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Baking time: consider that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as possible, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer (like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend tracking how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Pastry dough: make sure you process the butter until it's the size of kidney beans, not smaller. That makes a difference.
- Resting: the dough needs to rest in the refrigrator the hours stipulated so that it can bake and puff as it should.
- Glaze: you can use lemon or another citrus, or even liquor. But lime is a great partner to the other flavors.
- Fillings: you can use a good berry jam, or another berry instead of strawberries, quince jam or just cream cheese with powdered sugar instead of the almond cream.
Related recipes you might like:
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Strawberry Danish Braid
Ingredients
For the danish dough:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, or up to 2 ½ cups
- large pinch salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into medium pieces
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- ¼ cup water , tepid or warm (not hot)
- ¼ cup heavy cream, barely warm (not hot)
- pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons sugar
For the filling:
- 1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, sliced
- ⅓ cup cream cheese
- ⅔ cups almond paste, recipe below
- ½ teaspoon lime zest
For the almond paste:
- ½ cup almond flour, or ground almonds
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 egg white
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
- ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced, to serve
Instructions
For the quick danish dough:
- Put 2 cups all-purpose flour and large pinch salt in the work bowl of a food processor, fitted with the steel blade.
- Add ¾ cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks, and process until the butter is the size of kidney beans. Don't let it get too small. Medium sized butter pieces is the key to this dough.
- In a bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon active dry yeast in ¼ cup water . Let stand 5 minutes until foamy, and then stir in ¼ cup heavy cream, pinch ground nutmeg, 1 egg and 2 tablespoons sugar. Mix very lightly with a fork.
- Transfer the flour and butter mixture to a large bowl; add the yeast mixture and mix lightly with a fork or spatula just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Don't overdo it. Similar to scone mixing.
- Shape into a square, it will be very irregular, transfer to a piece of plastic wrap, cover it completely and refrigerate for 4 hours or up to 4 days.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board; dust with a little flour. Flatten with a rolling pin to make a 16 to 20-inch (40x51cm) square. Lightly flour the surface as needed so you can work with the dough, but don't go overboard; add flour only as needed.
- Fold into thirds, top ⅓ down and remaining ⅓ up, making 3 layers. Turn dough a quarter to your right, as if it were a book, so that the large open part it on your right, and roll again.
- Repeat the three folds two more times for a total of three times. Like puff pastry. This should result in a sort-of square. Wrap and chill the dough 30 minutes or as long as overnight.
- When ready to bake, take the dough out of the refrigerator and transfer to a floured surface.
- Roll into a 12x6-inches (30x15cm) rectangle. Place on a baking sheet that has been covered with lightly buttered and floured parchment paper or Silpat. What did we do before Silpat??
- Spread the almond cream cheese filling, down the length of the center of the strip. Top with 1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, sliced.
- Cut slanted or straight strips along both sides towards the center using a dough scraper or a pastry wheel. Be very careful and gentle when doing this; I slashed one of my beloved Silpats. Fold strips over the filling in a crisscross pattern.
- Let rise 1 hour (more or less depending on the temperature), just until the pastry appears puffy. It will not double. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.
- Turn on the oven to 375ºF (180ºC) about 20 minutes before baking.
- Bake about 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and puffed. Make sure the dough is fully baked. The filling will bubble and might spill in parts.
- Frost with lime glaze and top with 1 cup fresh strawberries cut into chunks.
Almond cream or frangipane:
- Combine ½ cup almond flour and ⅓ cup powdered sugar.
- Add ¼ cup unsalted butter, 1 egg white and whisk energetically until it's well integrated and creamy.
- Sprinkle 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour, ⅛ teaspoon almond extract and ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract, and mix just until combined well.
For the strawberry cream cheese filling:
- Mix room temperature ⅓ cup cream cheese with ⅔ cups almond paste until smooth.
- Add ½ teaspoon lime zest and mix well.
For the lime glaze:
- Mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon lime juice in a bowl until completely smooth.
- If you want it thicker or thinner add more or less juice.
Notes
Dough barely adapted from The Great Scandinavian Book, by Beatriz Ojakangas
Mary Callan says
This is absolutely gorgeous - all the flavors and we've got a ton of strawberries - YUM!
Mary x
Deb says
What a stunner! We are blessed with fresh local strawberries 9 months of the year and enjoy them during the whole time! I have no fear of laminated dough and can't want to try this wondrous recipe!
The Ninja Baker says
Mmm-wah! That's an air kiss for you Paula for making this incredibly sophisticated bread look do-able!
P.s. Your photographic skills are stellar...Your homework shows =)
The Narrowboat Baker says
Wow! That looks amazing and something Id love at breakfast! Loving the blog, new reader here 😉
Pink Patisserie says
Oh, that beautiful Paula. Flaky and light and those berries are really vibrant and lovely! That cookbook is my hands down favorite for Scandinavian baking. Beatrice is a genius!
Jodee Weiland says
I just pinned this, so I don't lose it! Looks absolutely delicious! I tweeted it, too! Great recipe!
Andrea_TheKitchenLioness says
Paula, if you have some left over, please send some, the kids will devour it on the spot! Very, very lovely looking Danish Bread filled with glorious strawberries and cream cheese!
Anne ~ Uni Homemaker says
Oh my! That looks amazing. Strawberry lime and almond? What a great combination for a danish bread. 🙂
Cocoa and Lavender says
Paula - I feel like you wrote this for me - my fear of yeast is great. It is time to tackle it and Danish dough may be one of the first! (Pain de Miie is the first!) Thanks for the boost in courage! Also - love the strawberry and lime together! ~ David
Jeannie Tay says
Good looking danish braid, I love strawberries, fresh or baked:D
Holly @ abakershouse.com says
I haven't made danish dough before and will try my hand at your recipe. This could go well with so many fruits, love it with strawberries!!
Abbe@This is How I Cook says
I used to bake something similar with apricots. But this looks incredible, Paula. You have inspired me to do this soon! And I can't wait!
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious says
Just WOW! I want this one, AND I want the prune-filled version too. Great #TwelveLoaves choice, and I know I will be coming back here for the dough recipe.
Angie Schneider says
I sure can't stop eating the bread until the whole loaf is gone!! The strawberry filling looks so great.
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
What an absolutely lovely danish with all the beautiful berries inside.
Noelia says
I love it! Its perfect for spring 😀
Liz Berg says
Oh, my. Your dough must be incredible...as is your berry filled danish! I have SO many of those old posts with sub-par photos! Maybe someday I'll get them all re-made and photographed....in all my free time 😉
Lora CakeDuchess says
We are still getting some gorgeous berries here this month. I prefer strawberries cooked in a sauce or in a cake or in a gorgeous bread such as this one. Wow, Paula. Love the addition of lime to give it a little zing. So perfect for our September challenge. Thank you for all you do with the group xx
laurasmess says
Wow! I've never made danish or puff pastry before... it's always looked like such a labour intensive, time consuming process. This beautiful, fruit-stuffed braid has definitely made me want to try though. I'm enticed by the sound of the almond cream with the gorgeous strawberries and flaky pastry! Yum! You make the most wonderful treats Paula. I love the photos too xx
Karen @ Lemon Grove Cake Diaries says
It is the middle of strawberry season in Australia and this looks like the perfect recipe to use them in 🙂