Danish Braid Attempt #2

Don’t go looking for attempt #1.  I didn’t put anything about it on the blog.  It was a result of my own arrogance in assuming I could just find any old recipe and throw it together.  Well, ask for humility, and you get it, and while everyone who ate it said it tasted good, it was a horrible mess and didn’t turn out anything like it was supposed to.

I found this recipe:

http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com/2008/06/daring-bakers-june-challenge-braided.html

I didn’t know making a pastry was supposed to be difficult.  Then I found out.  So, this is my 2nd attempt:

First off, Craig thought the orange flavor of the first one was weird, so I left off the orange zest and replaced the OJ with water.  I also left the cardamom out … because it’s crazy expensive.

The first change this time was that I didn’t warm the milk up before putting the yeast in it.  I always warm the milk to make dinner rolls or bread, so I had warmed it the first time.  Then, in my googling and you-tubeing after my first attempt, I found out the dough is supposed to be very cold.  So I didn’t warm the milk.

So I carefully put together the ingredients for the dough, following a pastry chef’s instructions to only touch it with my fingers, so it will stay cold, and not kneading it much at all. Then I wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.  Already this batch looked a lot more like the recipe, and less like the first attempt.

Then I prepared the butter block.  Yes, this is a pastry.  Yes, there is an absurd amount of butter in it.  But this time I knew my folding would go easier if my butter block was the same consistency as my dough.  So, instead of warming it, so it would spread easily, I beat it with the four until it was just a little soft, barely spreadable.

The dough, after sitting in the fridge for a half hour, rolled out quite nice, and I was able to get a lot more of a rectangle shape out of it than last time.  It looked *almost* like some of the examples I saw.

The butter was just smooth enough to spread, and I was feeling pretty confident right about now that it might actually work.  I folded the sides over, as instructed, and put it in the fridge to sit.

When I rolled it out the second time during my first attempt, I had butter squishing out the sides.  This time, it didn’t happen, and my 2nd turn was without incident.

It was followed by a third:

and a fourth:

… successful turn, with no leaking butter!  Then into the fridge to sit overnight.  I forgot to take any pictures as I rolled it out and put in the strawberry filling, but here is the end result, after all those turns, a night in the fridge, and a little cutting and shaping.

Then it went into a warm oven (not even on, just warmed up – it’s supposed to rise at 90 degrees, and it’s not that warm in my kitchen!).  Then I baked it …

It wouldn’t win any awards, but considering the way my last one opened up and unrolled and rose every which way, I was pleased that this one turned out even this well.

I hadn’t put in enough filling, so it was just in that tiny portion at the bottom, so I just topped it with more strawberry glaze and whip cream. 

As we were eating it, C said, “You know what would be really good?  If you stuffed it with pulled, barbeque pork!”  Well, his birthday is coming up, and I haven’t perfected my technique, yet.  Twist my arm a little more, will ya?