Danishes, Part 1
Well, really. Have you ever seen anything so gorgeous? Lightly browned, flaky, with creamy cheese centers. And completely from scratch. Nothing fake about it. All real food.
Now hold on there, you might say. I thought you guys said something about losing weight if I eat real food.
Well, we did. And we meant it.
One of the things we talk about endlessly in REAL FOOD HAS CURVES, our seven-step plan to get off processed food is making sure you occasionally treat yourself. You should eat dessert. (Right before I sat down to type this entry, I had a snickerdoodle and a glass of iced tea while sitting on the back deck, listening to the birds. I should shoot you guys a video of it. We live in a symphony here in the New England woods. And I should also add that that snickerdoodle was made with lard. Bruce's own. Rendered right here at home. And here.)
So OK, let's talk about treats. First off, they should be just that: treats. I would suggest if you're having more than one a day, there may be another problem you want to address.
Second, they should NEVER be eaten on the run. If you're going to have a treat, sit down and have it. Enjoy it. Every bite. It's worth it. I did it with my cookie on the deck. And I did it with these cheese danishes the other morning.
Finally, keep this in mind: all treats are empty calories. So they should be hard to make. That's right: should be. Part of the root of the American weight gain--and now indeed the global weight gain--is that the emptiest calories are available with ridiculous ease. There aren't lovely broiled fish stands lining our roads. Instead, there are fried chicken joints. And bakeries with pastries. And ice cream stands. And even cheesecake parlors.
In other words, all the stuff that's hard to make. And it's hard for a reason. Because you're not supposed to eat it every day. (Well, it's hard for other reasons, but you know what I mean.)
So cheese danishes. They're hard to make. It'll take us three days on this blog to get through Bruce's recipe. Bear with me. We'll have fun. And it's a crazy thing to do: make your own sweet rolls. But they freeze perfectly. (So you can have one, save one back for breakfast the next day, and squirrel the rest away for company visits this summer.) And they're a great way to have a fun weekend project, something to push your boundaries a bit. And it doesn't get much more human--or real--than learning new things and having a treat at the end!
So let's get to it.
First, put 1/2 cup cake flour and 1 cup (that is, 2 sticks or 16 tablespoons) cold, cubed, unsalted butter in a big bowl. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the butter into the flour, working it through the tines repeatedly and often until the entire mixture resembles coarse sand. It'll take lots of repositioning, reworking, and scraping those tines clean before you end up with the right consistency. Work efficiently but patiently.
Why cake flour? You want fewer glutens coating the butter. This is the first step in making a modified, yeast-raised, homemade puff pastry. (Wow!) So this step is all about getting the butter cut into pinhead bits, each protected by a tiny coating of low-gluten flour.
And another thing before we move on: that butter should be cool. Right out of the fridge. If it's slightly warm, it'll start to melt. And you'll end up with a greasy mess.
OK, once you've got the butter and flour combined, sprinkle a few--a very few--water drops on your work surface and lay a large sheet of wax or parchment paper on top. (The water droplets will keep the paper from slipping around. But too many will turn the dough soggy.)
Sprinkle a little cake flour on the wax or parchment paper, then gather the dough together and set it on top of the flour. Mush it out a bit, then dust it lightly with cake flour. Lay a second large sheet of wax or parchment paper on top.
Roll the dough blob between the sheets of paper into a rectangle that's 9 inches on one side and 12 on the other. Note what words are intentionally missing from my description: about and approximately. Be precise. (For my Aussie friends, that's 23 x 30 1/2 cm.) Use a ruler.
And don't just roll one way and then the other to make the rectangle. Keep repositioning the rolling pin so that you roll slowly and gently various ways to create the most accurate length and width you can.
Once you've rolled the dough to the right size--and note in this picture that Bruce's has rounded corners; so while length and width precision are important, the corners can be, as we say in the South, "close enough for government work"--once you've done that, pick up those sheets of wax or parchment paper with the dough still between them, put the whole kit and caboodle on a big baking sheet, and set it in the fridge for at least 24 hours or up to 48 hours.
The filling up next, right here.
butter, cheese, cheese danishes, homemade pastry, pure bliss, pure decadence, real food
Reader Comments (7)
What a lovely concept - that treats should be hard to make. My all-time favorite dessert memories are of making raspberry pie and "elk turds (a cinnamon monkey-bread type dish)" with my Gran. When I look back, I can remember that both of these desserts took eons to make. But the pleasure in creating them, the anticipation, the aromas of them baking, were all a part of the treat.
Mark, can this be made in the food processor? To stop the butter melting too much? I'm impressed by the ratio of twice the amount of butter to flour.. :)
We don't get cake flour here in Oz, so I'm guessing plain (AP) flour is an ok sub?
Thanks, looking forward to part 2!
Celia
Buttery: It is a great concept. I have really put it into practice in my life. I don't buy cookies out--or cakes or pies or things like that. It's just too easy. If I'm going to have them, I make them. I realize that's not a solution for everyone, but it's worked for me.
Celia: Yes, you can make it in the food processor, but you have to pulse and pulse, not just run the thing. No cake flour in Australia? I think that was true, but I'm told by other sources it's available at the Coles supermarkets under the Anchor brand. But if that's not possible, then use 15 tablespoons all-purpose flour (that is, 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon).
M.
I think you're missing something here. We go straight from pinhead-bits of combined butter and flour to gathering the dough and rolling it out. Looks like the addition of water, egg, or some other liquid got skipped. As it is, there's nothing to roll.
I want those. Now. Harriet
BKeith: Trust me, there's plenty to roll! There's so much fat and so little flour that the dough comes together quite easily. This is way more fat than used for a pie crust or a dough. Way more. Basically, you're just getting the butter coated in flour so you can roll it out on its own. Then it will be used to create the puff pastry in the next step.
M.
I agree that treats should be hard to make -- or at least time consuming. I've found that chocolate pudding isn't nearly time consuming enough! Like you, with rare exceptions I make my own treats. There are a couple of vendors at the farmer's market who make things that I wouldn't (or couldn't) make and occasionally I'll buy one. I also go to a restaurant where all the food, including desserts, is made from scratch. If the dessert selection appeals, I'll have something. She makes a killer German Chocolate Cake!
I think part of the reason we overeat treats is not only because most of them are faux food, but we don't pay attention when we're eating. We're distracted and don't even remember eating a treat, so then eat more.