These Danish are probably the most popular part of the Danish Pastry family. In Denmark these pastry are better known as Spandauer which is just a name and cannot be translated directly to English. I guess this is why them simply just got the name Danish when bakers from outside Denmark started to make them.
They are popular all over the world and every time I see them outside Denmark, they make me feel good. It is nice to know that people around the world also like this Danish pastry like we do in Denmark.
In Denmark, they are traditionally eaten as an afternoon snack often together with a cup of coffee. In general, the afternoon coffee is traditionally accompanied with some kind of delicious snack like Danish Butter Cookies or some Danish Pastry. I have recipes for both Danish Butter Cookies and different Danish pastry here on my blog. Simply just browse to the 'Traditional Danish' section or use the search field on the front page.
Base Pastry Dough
Making a good Danish is actually easy once you have learned a few tricks. The first thing you need to do is to make a base pastry dough. The pastry dough is the base for all the Danish Pastry recipes I have here on my blog. So once you have learned to master this part, you are able to make several Danish pastry. Because, this dough can be a little tricky and because it is used for several other recipes, I have decided to make a stand-alone recipe for this part. You can find the recipe by searching, on the front page, for 'Danish Pastry Dough' or you can click the link here.
As mentioned above, start this recipe by making a base pastry dough. Find the recipe here on my blog. Once this dough is ready, it is actually quite easy to follow the last steps.
On your tabletop, use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a 60x40 cm (24x16 inch) rectangle. Then cut 10x10 cm (4x4 inch) squares. At the center of each square, place two teaspoons of your favorite filling which could be vanilla cream, strawberry, raspberry or blueberry jam.
Fold the four corners over the filling and gently press them together sealing the filling inside. When the Danish are baked, they will open up like flowers. Before baking them, let them rise for 30 minutes. Bake them in a 220 C (430 F) preheated oven for 5 minutes before turning the oven down to 200 C (400 F) while continuing baking them for another 13-15 minutes.
Let them cool off on an oven grid before serving them.
Ingredients
- 1 serving of Danish Pastry Dough find the recipe here on NordicFoodLiving.com
- 1/2 litre vanilla cream filling (Homemade recipe on NordicFoodLiving.com)
- 100 g jam (strawberry, raspberry, blueberry or similar)
- 1 beaten egg
Instructions
- Start by preparing a basic Danish Pastry Dough, which can be used to make all kinds of Danish pastry. You can easily find the recipe for this dough on www.NordicFoodLiving.com by search for it on the front page.
- Cover you table top with a little all-purpose flour. Use a rolling pin to flatten out the dough into a 60x40 cm (24x16 inch) square.
- Use a knife to cut 24 squares measuring 10x10 cm (4x4 inch).
- Place 2 teaspoons vanilla cream on 12 of the squares and 2 teaspoons of your preferred jam on the rest.
- Now fold the four corners over the cream/jam and lightly press the edges together sealing the filling inside. When you bake the pastry, they will open up again like a flower.
- Cover the prepared Danish with a clean dishtowel and let them rise somewhere warm for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 220 C (430 F).
- Gently brush the Danish with a beaten egg. This will give them a nice golden color when they are baked.
- Place the pastry in the middle of the oven and bake them for 5 minutes at 220 C (430 F). Then turn down the heat to 200 C (400 F) and bake them for another 13-15 minutes. They should now open up nicely revealing the delicious filling.
- 10. When they are done, let them cool off on an oven grid.
Notes
Gudrun Krompocker
Hi, love your site! just wondering, do you make a Copenhagen? I have looked everywhere for a recipe, but can't find one! the Copenhagen I am talking about starts with a thick pastry, then topped with apples and on top is a pastry filled with either marzipan or almond paste, and a small amount of icing on top; I used to get this at 2 different bakeries near where I used to live, but they are gone now :( the Copenhagens I see now at places are so small, and have some sort of custard instead :( Thanks :)
Kim Nielsen
HI. Thanks for your nice comment. I'm happy that you like my site. I have to admit that I'm not sure what a Copenhagen is. Maybe it is something that you local bakeries came up with? I will try to think about it and come back if I find an answer :-)
Bronza
According to Culture Trip (https://theculturetrip.com/europe/denmark/articles/are-danish-pastries-really-from-denmark/) "Copenhagener" is just the German name for these Spandauer or "Danishes"! I would be curious to hear Mr. Krompocker's experience with "copenhagens" and how they differ from the Spandauer you describe here.
I'd also like to second his comment that your site is really cool! I found a recipe for "cream cheese danishes" in a Mennonite cookbook from the Shenandoah Valley. I was curious about why they were called "danishes" and what the original pastry was like before it was translated into American cooking terms and ingredients. ^_^ I've loved learning about your culture! Thank you.
Kitty Baker
Both my parents came from Denmark. My father owned a Danish bakery in South Dakota. I want to make Weinerbrod but I can't find the recipe on your site. I know I use the basic dough but I don't know the recipe for the almond paste filling. I also want to make a Dagmatart (some call it Six Sisters or something like that). I don't know what kind of custard is used and I think the same almond paste is used over the bottom layer. Can you help me? By the way, my children and I are going to Denmark in April. All my relatives live there. Can't wait to get to a real Danish bakery. My family here is very traditional and, of course, we keep all the Danish traditions and foods. I love your site.
Kim Nielsen
In Denmark we use the word Weinerbrod as a cover of all the danish pastry. I have recipes for Spandauer which is a type of Weinerbrod. I don't have a recipe online for Dagmartart and I don't know why! This tart is just fantastic! This will be my project for the weekend, thanks for turning my thoughts towards this tart :-)
Alie
Wou je recept opslaan maar nu verwijs je naar vanille crème vulling en die staat hier op de site maar als ik er naar zoek vind ie hem niet
Kim Nielsen
Hi- You can find the vanilla cream filling here on my site. Just click on the link or search on my site for "vanilla". Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Ian
I found a recipe that complements this really well: equal parts of caster sugar, unsalted butter and marzipan. Pipe a small amount (about an inch) across into the centre of each spandauber before sealing and letting rise for 90 minutes. Then wash with beaten egg, depress 5he centre, add either vanilla cream or jam into the depression, then bake for 20 minutes. Yum!
Danika
Hej Kim! I just wanted to say how much I love your blog. I’ve consulted it many times when trying to make my favourite Danish food that I can’t get here in Canada. Tusind tak!
Kim Nielsen
You are very welcome. I'm just happy that you like my blog. It's comments like yours that make me happy and wanna continue the work :-). Thanks!
Jikke
Hallo Kim,
Can you explain what you mean with 'vanilla cream filling'?
I don't know anything that looks like that in Holland.
During our holiday in Denmark, my husband liked the spandauer with vanilla the best.
I would like to make them myself.
Thanks for your answer,
Jikke
Kim Nielsen
Hi Jikke. The vanilla cream filling is a kind of vanilla pudding. In denmark you an buy small packages in Lidl and Aldi with a powder which turnes into vanilla cream when mixed with milk. You can also make a thick version of this recipe here. https://nordicfoodliving.com/homemade-vanilla-cream/
Mo
Oh boy, I moved to the US a while ago and my in-laws + wife have always lamented that they can't get Danish pastry here in the states. I am totally making this for them as a surprise!
Do you have similar recipes for 'romsnegl' and 'thebirkes'? :)
Great blog!
Kim Nielsen
Thanks! I'm happy that you like my blog. Unfortunately, I don't have the recipes online for Romsnegl and Thebirkies. I'll put them on my to-do list :-)
Dixie Durkee
I just made the Danish Pastry. The dough was amazing!! I do have a question about rolling it out to 24" x 16", this seemed very thin, I was only able to roll it to 24" x 12" and my dough looked very thin to the one you had in the picture. Did I do something wrong? My husband can not stop eating them, so I will make again.
Kim Nielsen
I'm happy that you have had success with the recipe for Danish Pastry. You are right 24" x 16" might be on the edge - I believe mine is the the range 24" x 12-16" so it sounds like you are doing everything right :-) And you are right - the biggest problem is that they are impossible to stop eating. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Bryan Gogal
I'm always interested in the etymology of a word. Quirk that I have. Anyways, after checking, I learned that many oddly named pastries are in fact named after geographical locations. In the case of Spandauer, apparently the name comes from the fact that there was a well known prison located in Spandau (a suburb of Berlin) . And the pastry’s shape is supposed to suggest that the pastry rim ‘traps’ the filling on the inside. Makes sense to me - a plausible story.
Kim Nielsen
That is a funny fact - I din't not know that the word Spandauer is originally from Berlin. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Britt
In one of the comments above, Kitty Baker said, "I want to make Weinerbrod but I can't find the recipe on your site. I know I use the basic dough but I don't know the recipe for the almond paste filling." I think she was referring to Kringle, which is what I was hoping to find a recipe for here. Could you please, please, please include a recipe for that?
Kim Nielsen
Hi Britt. You are right I don't have a recipe online for Kringle. I will put it on my to-do list and post a recipe when I can. In the mean time you can take a look at my recipe for Kanelstang (similar to kringle). It is also very delicious. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Britt
Kringle is similar to kringle? ;-) But, yes, that kanelstang does look delicious, too. I can just smell it now!
Kim Nielsen
Haha I made a mistake - I can see that you know what I was trying to say :-) Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)