Make the Bread, Buy the Butter - Jennifer Reese [28]
1 cup milk, at room temperature
4½ teaspoons instant yeast
½ cup sugar
Up to 5½ cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (or ½ teaspoon ground cardamom plus 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg)
1 pound (4 sticks) cold unsalted butter
About 1 cup jam
1. Pour the milk into the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle on the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Let the yeast dissolve, and allow the mixture to sit until the yeast is bubbly and puffy.
2. Add 4 cups of the flour, the remaining sugar, the eggs, salt, and lemon zest or spices. Mix until combined, then knead with the dough hook until you have a smooth, elastic dough. Sprinkle the dough with flour, wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cut each stick of butter lengthwise into 4 slices.
ENVELOPES
1. Roll your dough and cut into squares.
2. Now you have a square.
3. Fold each corner into the center.
4. Filling goes in the center.
SNAILS
1. Cut the dough into strips.
2. Twist a strip like a corkscrew.
3. Now coil the corkscrewed strip of dough into a nest.
4. Put filling in the center—Danish!
4. Liberally sprinkle the counter with flour and roll the chilled dough into an 11 by 18-inch rectangle, about ⅛ inch thick. Mentally divide the dough into thirds. Place half the butter slices in the middle third of the dough in a single layer, crowding if necessary. Fold over the top third of dough and on top of that place the remainder of the butter. Fold the bottom third of the dough up over that. Seal the edges. Sprinkle with flour again, wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
5. Turn out the dough so the narrow side faces you. If you’ve already wiped down your work surface, flour again. Roll out the dough to an 8 by 18-inch strip. Fold both narrow ends in to meet in the center, then fold in half, making four layers. Wrap again and chill another 20 minutes.
6. Repeat step 5.
7. Repeat step 5 again, but this time chill for 2 to 3 hours or overnight, until you are ready to shape, bake, and eat your pastries.
8. Cut the dough into quarters. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Flour a surface and roll out the dough into a rectangle that’s less than ¼ inch thick.
9. There are dozens of shapes for Danish pastries. Here are two easy ones.
a. Envelopes: Cut dough into 3-inch squares. Now roll out just a bit more—you want the dough quite thin. Fold each corner of the square in toward the middle so they all meet. Press to seal. Place on the baking sheet. Cover with a cool, damp dish towel.
b. Snails: Cut the dough into 1-inch-wide strips, each about 10 inches long. Gently twist each strip of dough so it coils. You’ll end up with a long, twisted strip. Now form each strip into a round nest. Place on the baking sheet and cover with a cool, damp dish towel.
10. Let the dough rise for about an hour and a half in a cool place.
11. About half an hour before you bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
12. About 10 minutes before baking, put the pastries in the freezer. Take them out when you’re ready to bake and, using your thumbs, make a deep indentation in the center of each nest or snail. Put about 2 teaspoons of jam in the indentation. Slide the sheets into the oven.
13. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden.
14. Pour yourself a shot of aquavit. Skoal! You’ve earned it.
Makes about twenty-one 3-ounce pastries
SCONES
Even though they were supersized, doughy, and coated with artificial-tasting maple frosting, I could not get enough of the 500-calorie scones in the display case at my local Starbucks, circa 1995. Then I started making scones at home and I loved them more. Homemade scones are delicate and moist, tender and buttery, and you can make them very petite, which is better for your BMI.
MAPLE NUT SCONES
Make it or buy it?: Make it.
Hassle: These aren’t effortless. Scones are a weekend treat.
Cost comparison: Homemade scones: $0.18 per ounce. A Starbucks scone: $0.39 per