This dough is so versatile that I cannot keep myself from using it for more and more projects. Giant blueberry Danishes filled with cream cheese and custard are hard to beat when it comes to pastries. These bad boys are crispy, flaky, slightly sweetened, and full of fresh juicy berry goodness. You can swap the berries for other ones if you like.
This recipe makes 6 pastries and one delicious reject that you can stick together from the trimmings.
Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.
Ingredients
For the pastry –
250g (8.8oz) white bread flour
3g (0.1oz) instant dry yeast or 3.6g (0.13oz) active dry yeast or 9g (0.32oz) fresh yeast
4g (0.14oz) salt
20g (0.7oz) soft butter
150g (5.3oz) water
For the layers –
2 x 100g (3.5oz) frozen butter sticks
1 egg for glazing
For the cream cheese filling –
80g (2.8oz) full fat cream cheese
20g (0.7oz) sugar
1 egg yolk
3g (0.1oz) vanilla paste
For the custard –
10g (0.35oz) cornstarch
20g (0.7oz) sugar
1 egg yolk
3g (0.1oz) vanilla paste
100g (3.5oz) milk
Blueberries for filling and topping
Icing sugar for dusting
To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.
The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration.
If you are using active dry yeast, then you may need to let it sit in the water for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.
Method
- Make the dough. Combine the water, yeast, salt, and butter. Mix well to dissolve the salt and yeast. Add the flour and mix to a dough. Desired dough temperature around 24C (75F).
- Cover and ferment for 20 minutes.
- Fold #1.
- Ferment for 20 minutes.
- Fold #2.
- Ferment for 20 minutes.
- Roll the dough out to a large rectangle. Grate one of the butter pieces evenly over 2/3 of the surface. Fold the dough into three layers.
- Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough out to a large rectangle once again. Grate the second piece of butter and repeat the same fold as previously. Repeat the rolling and folding two more times.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. I left mine in the fridge overnight.
- Make the filling. Mix all ingredients until smooth and leave on the side.
- Make the custard. Combine all ingredients in a small pan and set it on medium-high heat. Cook for around 3 minutes until thickened. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and leave in the fridge to cool down.
- Roll the dough out to slightly more than 30cm x 20cm (12in x 8in). Trim the edges and cut it into 6 equal pieces measuring 10cm x 10cm (4in x 4in).
- Shape the pastries as per video. Place on a non-stick paper lined baking tray. Cover and proof for 2 hours.
- Fill the middle of each pastry with the cream cheese filling. Add a few blueberries. Brush the edges with egg.
- Bake at 180C (355F) fan on or 200C (390F) fan off for 25 – 30 minutes.
- Leave to cool down.
- Whisk the custard until smooth. Fill the cooled pastries with custard and top with blueberries. Dust with icing sugar and devour!
Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.
Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.
