i have been craving pastry. especially rhubarb pastry.
not that i had ever eaten such a pastry. but this is the season to try it out!
i turned to julia (child). and found this beatrice ojakangas recipe for danish dough. what? no layers? just toss the butter chunks in? i thought:
clearly this woman is nuts.
but i trust julia. so proceeded with the recipe below.
and then topped each pastry with a cream cheese mixture (also below)
and fresh rhubarb! and then frozen blueberries (mostly for color. but partly because people are afraid of rhubarb.)
BASIC DANISH PASTRY (Quick Method)
1/4 cup warm water, 105*F. to 115*F.
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 sticks cold unsalted butter
Pour water into bowl; add yeast and let stand for 2-3 minutes until yeast foams. Add milk, egg, sugar and salt and whisk to mix; set aside.
Measure flour into food processor with metal blade in place. Cut butter into 1/4 inch thick slices and drop into flour. Pulse 8 to 10 times, until butter is cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
Empty flour mixture into bowl with yeast and with rubber spatula, gently fold the two mixtures together just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Don’t be too energetic! The butter must remain in pieces so that you will produce a flaky pastry, not a bread dough or cookie. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or up to 4 days to suit your schedule).
Lightly flour a work surface; turn dough out onto it, and dust dough with flour. Using the palms of your hands, pat dough into a rough square. Roll out to 16 inches on a side. Fold dough into thirds, like a business letter and turn it so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Roll out again, into a long narrow rectangle, about 10 inches wide by 24 inches long. Fold into thirds again. Roll out to make a 20-inch square. Fold square into thirds again to make a long, narrow rectangle. Then again, fold into thirds to make a square. (If at any point in this procedure the dough gets very soft, cover and chill it for 30 minutes or so.) Cover and chill the dough before final shaping. You can store the dough in the refrigerator for 4 days or wrap it air tight and keep it frozen for 1 month; thaw overnight, still wrapped, in the refrigerator.
cream cheese filling
8oz cream cheese (softened)
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs flour
mix the ingredients together and chill for at least 30 minutes.
preheat oven to 400f.
roll out the dough. cut into desired shapes (i made rectangles)
top with cheese. and then fruit (add extra fruit. mine were skimpy). brush edges with egg. sprinkle with sugar. and bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden.
