Apple Danish

By littlejordan

Ingredients

• For Dough:
• 2 1/2 cups white bread flour
• 3/4 cup butter, well chilled
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 oz active dry yeast
• 2 tbsp superfine sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 tbsp lukewarm water
• milk, for glazing
• For Filling:
• 2 baking apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
• grated rind of 1 lemon
• 4 tbsp sugar

Details

Servings 16

Preparation

Step 1

Place the flour in a bowl and rub in 2 tbsp of the butter. Set aside. Chill the remaining butter in the freezer until hard but not frozen. Dust with flour and grate coursely into a bowl. Chill.

Stir the salt, yeast, and sugar into the flour mixture. In another bowl, beat the egg with the vanilla extract and water, then add to the flour and mix to form a dough. Knead the dough for 10 minutes on a floured surface, then chill for 10 minutes.

Roll out the dough to 12 x 8 inches and mark it lengthwise into thirds. Sprinkle the grated butter evenly over the top two-thirds, leaving a 1/2-3/4-inch boarder around the edge, and press down lightly.

Fold the bottom third of dough over the center, then fold the top third down. Press the edges of the dough with a rolling pin and give it a quarter-turn (so the short edge is nearest you). Roll out as big as the original rectangle. Fold the bottom third up and the top third down again. Press the edges. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Repeat this rolling, folding, and turning four times, chilling well each time. Finally, chill the dough over night.

Preheat the oven to 400'F. Grease two baking sheets. For the filling, mix the apples with the lemon rind and 3 tablespoons of the sugar. Roll out the dough into a 16-inch square and cut into 16 squares. Pile a little of the apple filling in the center of each square, reserving any juice to glaze. Brush the edges with milk and fold the corners together into the center over the filling. Place on the baking sheets and chill for about 15 minutes.

Brush the pastries with the reserved juice and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350'F and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until browned.