Danish Cream Cheese Cylinders
Calories: 208kcal
Adjust Servings Here: 32 Pinwheels
Description
Do you want to learn how to make buttery, flaky, bakery-style Danish pastry yourself? Danish pastry is made with a laminated dough, similar to croissants, but they are sweeter and have more butter and eggs.
Ingredients
Full batch makes 32 Pinwheels
Danish dough
- 4 cups (500 g) All-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup (240 ml) Milk full-fat
- ¼ cup (50 g) Sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoon Instant dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1 Egg large
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (4.00 tablespoon) Butter unsalted
Butter block
- 1 ½ cup (340 g) Butter 3 sticks, unsalted, room temperature
- 4 tablespoon All-purpose flour
Cream cheese
- ½ cup (113 g) Cream cheese 35% or more
- 2 tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Lemon zest
Apricot glaze
- ½ cup Apricot jam
- ¼ cup (60 ml) Water
Plus
- 1 Egg beaten
- ½ cup Jam I used homemade blackberry
Instructions
Apricot glaze
Cream cheese spread
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.½ cup Cream cheese, 2 tablespoon Sugar, 1 Egg yolk, ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon Lemon zest
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. Pro tip - Salt slows fermentation so we add it to the flour rather than directly into the wet mixture.4 cups All-purpose flour, 2 teaspoon Salt
- Yeast mixture - In a measuring cup or bowl, combine milk, sugar, yeast, egg, and vanilla extract. Pro tip - you don't need to activate the instant variety but, I like to ensure my yeast is good. So, I leave the mixture aside for 3 to 5 minutes, if it foams it's good to go.1 cup Milk, ¼ cup Sugar, 2 ¼ teaspoon Instant dry yeast, 1 Egg large, 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- Wet to dry - Then, add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Combine on medium-high until all flour is incorporated. Knead a minute more.Pro tip - the dough will be soft and sticky but do not add any more flour just yet.
- 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.¼ cup Butter
- 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.Pro tip - Unless the dough is too soft and sticky you do not need to add any more flour. Also, if necessary add a few tablespoons only.
Butter blocks
- Template - Use a parchment paper to create a template 12 x 6-inches (see video) - set aside.
- Cream - In the same bowl of the 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 of the template towards the corners (see video).1 ½ cup Butter, 4 tablespoon All-purpose flour
- Divide - Use a ruler to mark them at 6 inches. So, now this will give you two 6 x 6-inch blocks (see video). Pro tip - we need 2 sheets of butter 6 x 6 inches each. You can use a 6-inches square baking pan to make two such blocks. This 12 x 6 method ensures the blocks are even. Pro tip - be gentle with the rolling pin using a spreading motion so the butter doesn't come out of the corners.
- Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.Pro tip - We want the fat to be cold but still be flexible so that when we roll it will spread between the folds. If you chill too long it will break rather than spread.
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. Pro tip - Now you should have layers of dough, butter, dough, butter, dough - makes sense?
- Chill - Wrap the dough, place it on a baking sheet, and into the refrigerator - chill for 15 minutes.Pro tip - if the dough and butter are still cold when you wrap you can continue with the first fold. Also, in warm places, you may need more cooling time.
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-inch 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-inch 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.Pro tip- it is very important that the dough be well cold before using; otherwise, the folds will blend ruining all your effort.
- Divide - Roll the dough into a 6 x 12-inches rectangle. Divide into 2. Place one in the fridge while you work on the second one.Pro tip - you want to work in batches so the dough stays cold at all times. Also, it means you won't roll too thick.
Shape the Danish Cylinder
- Roll - Roll the dough to about 12 x 12-inch square. Trim edges so you have straight sharp edges.Pro tip - I roll to about 13 x 13 so I can trim the edges on all sides and get a 12 x 12-inches square. Trimming will open the layers and give a better rise.
- Squares - You can use the sheet as a whole or cut it into 3 x 3-inch squares, (about 16). Mark at 3-inch from either side as shown in the video. Pro tip - Place the squares in the fridge to keep cold. Work with a few at a time especially if you like in hot and humid conditions.
- Fill - Pipe a tablespoon of cream cheese on the square diagonally. Then, pipe some jam in the center of the cream cheese - (see video).½ cup Jam
- Fold - Fold two sides over each other diagonally (see video). Make sure to press firmly to prevent opening.
- Proof - Place on a baking tray and cover the pinwheels with a clean kitchen cloth - let poof for 45 minutes.
Bake the Danish cylinders
- Oven - Preheat the oven at 375°F/ 190°C / Gas Mark 5. Brush the pastry with a beaten egg.1 Egg
- Bake - Bake in the hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes until rich golden brown. Pro tip - if the pastries become too dark while baking, tent them with an aluminum foil.
- 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. (below) Pro tip - if you brush while the pastry is very hot it will absorb all the glaze and become too sweet and you won't have that shiny appearance.
- 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.
Recipe Notes
- Knead the dough soft, not firm consistency. This will make it easier to roll. So, avoid adding too much flour.
- Chill the dough well before lamination, this will help the butter in the dough chill and make it easier to roll.
- When laminating the dough, ensure the butter is cold but not hard. Seal the butter properly so it does not come out.
- While chilling the dough is important, overchilling can cause the butter to shatter into pieces when rolling.
- Fold the dough - for the purpose of home baking we have used the classic book fold. This is done three times for croissants and danish pastry. There are other types of folds that we will cover in future recipes.
- It is very important to chill the dough for at least 30 minutes between folds so the butter is cold but still spreadable not hard.
- When the dough is done, after folding it three times, the dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 48 hours.
- Alternatively, you can freeze it for up to 3 months. I divide my dough into 2 and use one portion at a time.
- Don't roll the dough too thin. This will give you more pastries but the layers will be lost.
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
Did you make this recipe? Share it with me.Tag @veenaazmanov on instagram or #hashtag it #veenaazmanov