Danish Pastry Pinwheels
Calories: 10
Adjust Servings Here: 32 Pinwheels
Description
Make bakery-style buttery flaky Danish pastry pinwheels in your own kitchen with this step-by-step tutorial and video. Today, we top these pinwheels with cream cheese and jam.
Ingredients
Full batch makes 32 Pinwheels
Danish dough
- 4 cups (500 g) All-purpose flour
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1 cup (240 ml) Milk full-fat
- ¼ cup (50 g) Sugar
- 2 ¼ tsp (7 g) Instant dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1 Egg large
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (4.00 tbsp) Butter unsalted
Butter block
- 1 ½ cup (340 g) Butter (3 sticks) unsalted, room temperature
- 4 tbsp (30 g) All-purpose flour
Cream cheese
- ½ cup (100 g) Cream cheese 35% or more
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 1 Egg yolk
- ½ tsp Vanilla extract
- ½ tsp Lemon zest
Apricot glaze
- ½ cup (120 g) Apricot jam
- ¼ cup (60 ml) Water
Plus
- 1 Egg beaten
- ½ cup (170 g) Jam I used homemade blackberry
Instructions
Apricot glaze
- Heat the apricot jam and water on low heat until dissolved. Strain through a sieve - set aside until ready to use.
Cream cheese spread
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
Danish dough
- Dry ingredients - In the bowl of a stand mixer with the hook attachment, combine flour and salt. Set aside. You can also use a food processor to make this dough.
- Yeast mixture - In a measuring cup or bowl, combine milk, sugar, yeast, egg, and vanilla extract.
- Wet to dry - Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Combine on medium-high until all flour is incorporated. Knead a minute more.
- Knead - Then, gradually add the room temperature butter, one tablespoon at a time. Then, knead for 3 minutes on medium. Alternatively, you can knead by hand for 5 to 7 minutes.
- Rest - The dough will be soft and slightly sticky. Remove from the mixer and shape into a ball. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for 15 minutes.
Butter blocks
- Template - Use a parchment paper to create a template 12 x 6 inches (see video) - set aside.
- Cream - In the same electric mixer bowl (no need to wash), cream the butter and flour just until combined. Transfer to the prepared parchment paper template. Spread evenly with a spatula. Use a rolling pin to guide it inside the template towards the corners (see video).
- Divide - Use a ruler to mark them at 6 inches. So, now this will give you two 6 x 6-inch blocks (see video).
- Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Laminate the dough
- Roll - Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Roll to a long rectangle of 7 x 18 inches.
- Fold - Open the butter block and divide it into 2 at the mark you created. Now you should have two 6 x 6-inch blocks. Place one block over the center. Fold one side over. Then, place the second block on top and fold the other side over.
- Chill - Wrap the dough, place it on a baking sheet, and put it in the refrigerator - chill for 15 minutes.
Folds / turns
- Turn the dough - Roll the chilled pastry dough into a rectangle, with the short side facing you. Roll to a rectangle approximately 6 x 12 inches.
- First fold - Fold the dough lengthways into thirds like a business letter (see video). Wrap in plastic on a baking sheet and place into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
- Second fold - Roll the dough lengthways again with the short side facing you (see video) to about 6 x 12 inches long again. Fold the dough into thirds again like a business letter (see video). Place in the fridge for 30 minutes if necessary.
- Third fold - Roll the dough lengthways again with the short side facing you - (see video) to about 6 x 12 inches long again. Fold the dough into thirds again like a business letter (see video).
- Chill - After the third fold, chill in the fridge for at least two hours or until well chilled. This can be chilled for up to 48 hours.
- Divide - Roll the dough into a 6 x 12-inch rectangle. Divide into 2. Place one in the fridge while you work on the second one.
Shape the pinwheels
- Roll - Roll the dough to about a 12 x 12-inch square. Trim edges so you have straight, sharp edges.
- Squares - You can use the sheet as a whole or cut it into 3 x 3-inch squares (about 16). Mark at 3 inches from either side as shown in the video.
- Shape - Cut the corners of the square three-quarters of the way towards the center. Fold every other point towards the center. Press to seal in the center.
- Proof - Place on a baking tray and cover the pinwheels with a clean kitchen cloth - let poof for 45 minutes.
Fill and Bake
- Oven - Preheat the oven at 375°F/ 190°C / Gas Mark 5. Brush the pastry with a beaten egg.
- Bake - Bake in the hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes until rich, golden brown.
- Glaze- Remove from the oven and let cool on the tray for 10 minutes. Then, using a pastry brush, glaze them with the prepared apricot glaze.
- Cool - Transfer to a cooling rack and cool them completely before storing. These pastries are best enjoyed on the day they are baked. But they also freeze well for months.
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
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