This gorgeous blueberry Danish braid is buttery, flaky homemade Danish pastry filled with a simple sweet blueberry compote. A lovely sweet breakfast or brunch.
Ingredients
THE DANISH PASTRY
- 1 cup whole milk cold (250ml)
- 2 ½ teaspoons instant or active dry yeast
- 425 g plain flour (all purp flour) (3 ¼ cups / 15oz)
- ⅓ cup white granulated sugar (66g / 2.3oz)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 283 g unsalted butter cold (1 ¼ cup/10oz)
BLUEBERY FILLING
- 1 kg fresh or frozen blueberries (~ 2lb)
- ⅔ cup white granulated sugar (66g /~ 2 ½oz)
- 1 tablespoon cornflour (US cornstarch)
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (notes 1)
TO FINISH
- 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon milk (the egg wash)
- ¼ batch raw streusel topping optional, notes
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- Rolling Pin
- Box grater
- Sharp knife and ruler
- 2 Baking sheet
Instructions
- MAKE THE DANISH DOUGH:Prep the yeast (to make sure your yeast is working): Warm ½ cup of the milk in the microwave for about 25 seconds or in a small saucepan, just until warm to the touch (not hot) or about 40C/104F. Too hot and you'll kill the yeast, too cold and the yeast won't bloom.
- To the warm milk, add 1 tablespoon of the sugar and all the yeast and mix. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to become frothy. If it doesn’t look puffy or frothy, the yeast is no good and you’ll need to start again with a new pack of yeast.
- Combine dough ingredients: To a medium bowl add the flour, remaining ¼ cup of sugar and the salt. Give it whisk to combine.
- Whisk the remaining ½ cup milk and the egg into the yeast mixture until well combined, then pour it into the dry ingredients. Use a spoon or spatula to mix the ingredients together to a rough and sticky dough.
- Rest the dough: Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- While the dough rests, grate the butter on the large grate side of a box grater and place back in the fridge to stay cold. TIP: Make sure to handle the butter shreds carefully just with your fingertips so you don’t press it all back together.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently shape it into a rough rectangle shape. Re-dust the work top with flour if needed but be careful not to add too much flour as it will dry out the dough.
- Add the butter: Roll out to a large rectangle roughly 25x35cm (10x14inches). Scatter the butter over two thirds of the dough starting on a short side and working towards the middle. It will look like a lot, just press it down a little so it holds together. Now fold in thirds, first the end with no butter over the middle, then the opposite end over the top.
- Roll and folds: Roll the Danish dough out to a large rectangle again sprinkling over a little flour to stop it sticking to the rolling pin or worktop if needed. Fold, letter style again.
- Repeat the roll and fold 4 more times. Each time you fold it, brush off any excess flour from the folded section. The last time, the dough will be quite tight and tough to roll out. If it’s too tight, just let it sit there for 5-15 minutes to give it a chance to relax and come back to it.
- Chill the Danish dough: Place the dough onto a plate and cover completely but loosely with plastic wrap (this will allow it to rise a little while it chills). Place into the fridge for 4 or up to 24 hours.
- MAKE THE BLUEBERRY FILLING:In a medium saucepan over medium heat combine the blueberries, sugar, cornflour (cornstarch) lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir to combine.
- Cook stirring regularly so it doesn’t catch on the bottom. The blueberries will release a lot of moisture which will boil and eventually thicken until you can drag a line through it with the spatula that takes a couple of seconds to fill again about 15-20 minutes after starting. You want the liquid to have almost disappeared completely.
- Remove from heat. Tip through a strainer into a bowl, and keeping it all together, chill completely before adding to the Danish.
- If using, you can make the streusel now.
- ROLL OUT THE DOUGH:Cut the dough into two squares. This recipe is enough for 2 braids, so you can freeze one portion of the dough for another time or go ahead and assemble both, cooking both or freezing one for later.
- Roll one square of dough out into a rectangle about 30x25cm (12x10 inches) keeping the sides as straight as possible. You want it to be about 5mm/⅕ inch thick - no thicker. Trim if you need. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the second, using a second baking sheet.
- SHAPE THE DANISH (see detailed process shots in the post above): With the longest side closest to you, measure or eyeball 10cm (4inches) in from each side and score a line down towards you, don’t cut through, just score so you can see three sections easily. So, with the longest side toward you, you should see a left side, a middle section and a right section.
- On the left and right sections using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut 1 inch thick strips, on an angle, starting from 5mm (⅕ inch) away from the scored line next to the middle section all the way to the edges. Remove the two top and bottom strips on each side. You should get around 7 strips.
- Spoon half of the cold blueberry filling down the central portion leaving at least 1 inch clear at the top (furthest from you) and bottom (closest to you). Drizzle just about 2 teaspoons of the thick syrup over the top of the blueberries.
- Fold the top, middle portion of dough, up to hold the filling in and press the edges down against the strips next to it.Pull a strip from the left or right over the top of that to hold it in place, pressing the end down on the other side of the blueberries (at the base of the strip on the other side).Now fold the opposite strip over, slightly angling it, and pressing down on the other side of the blueberries against the base of the next strip.Repeat this process until you get to the last two strips.Fold the bottom, middle portion up to hold the blueberries in, then fold then next strip over that to hold it in place, pressing down at the end again. With the final strip, try to wrap it around that bottom piece a little to hold it in tightly. Wet the end with just a touch of water, and tuck it underneath.
- You can repeat the last 4 steps with the other piece of Danish dough or you can freeze it for another time.
- Brush the egg wash over the Danish braid then scatter over half of the streusel mix, crumbling it as you go and pressing it in gently where needed.
- Chill for 30-60 minutes which will help it hold it’s shape better when you bake it.
- BAKE THE DANISH: Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan forced) / 395F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until deep golden brown and the pastry is cooked through. Let it cool 5 minutes before eating as the filling will be piping hot.
- Once cool, mix together the icing sugar and milk drizzle over the top of the Danishes.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- This recipe makes 2 Danish braids.
- Rolling the dough to no thicker than 5mm (⅕ inch) is key to the pastry baking through in time in the oven. A little thinner is fine, just trim the sides to get back to the rectangle size noted in the recipe.
- Nutrition details are approximate only - scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
Have you tried this recipe?Don't forget to leave a rating and comment below and let me know how it was! I love hearing from you. Nutrition information is approximate and derived from an online calculator. The brands you use may cause variations.
