More Layers & Behind The Curtain Dessert Challenge

Just as my life is getting a wee bit busier I decided to join another group ~ Behind The Curtain Dessert Challenge.  BTCDC is a blog hop.  

Each month we are given a couple of ingredients and we post a recipe that uses those ingredients.  This month's ingredients are almond paste and pastry dough.

Since I have been working with Danish pastry dough I figured perfect time to use a batch of dough!  I made what some may consider a classic Danish coffeecake but it is perfect for dessert also.... I love things that blur that line!

Let's get going!
Once again I have used Joe Pastry's recipe and techniques for making these Danishes.
The recipe can be found here.
The laminating process is here.
Based on The Classic Coffeecake.

I started with making almond cream cheese filling.
My cream cheese and almond paste were both at room temperature.  And I thought, never actually having worked with almond paste, that I could simply cream the two together with my hand mixer.  This was not the case at all.  The almond paste was much stiffer than expected.  So I took a fork and mashed up the paste then blended it with the cream cheese.
I added the rest of the ingredients to the mixture, whipped it for a minute and then set it aside.  There were still small blobs of the paste in the cream but not large enough to be a taste issue.

Got out my Danish dough and cut the piece in half to make two pastries.

Oh how I love seeing all those LAYERS!!  Yes i know it is like a layerfest at my house lately.  Trust me when I say there have been no complaints!

I rolled out my dough into a rectangle - or at least it was close to that shape once I whacked off a wavy edges.

I spread a generous amount a Bing Cherry jam onto half of the dough (made by your's truly *wink*).  Be sure to leave an edge without the filling.  This edge is needed for your eggy glue line.

I decided that piping the almond cream onto the pastry would be easier.... so bagged and went to work.  I made three lines of the almond cream.

Next I moistened the edges with egg wash (one egg white whisked with a splash of water).  Then I folded the plain side over the filled side.  Smooshed down the edges for a nice tight seal.

Now came the task of picking up and moving the pastry to a parchment lined baking sheet.  I was such a pansy with this one!  I thought I would never get it onto the sheet and that it would survive would be a miracle.

Ok, fine!  It really was not a big deal.  It survived, I survived and even the dog that was under my feet survived!

Once on the sheet pan I cut vents in the top and egg washed it.  Set it aside to work on the second pastry.

My son decided that chocolate sounded good to him and me being the awesome mom I am, agreed!

Made a quick chocolate filling of 3 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate and half an ounce of butter.  Microwaved until all melted and mixed together.  

Rolled out the second piece of dough, spread the chocolate filling on and piped on the almond cream.

Folded it over, transferred, vented and egg washed.  Time to let the pastries just hang out for about 45 minutes. Preheated the oven to 400 degrees and gave them a final egg wash before going into the oven.  

As soon as I put them into the oven I turned the temperature down to 375 degrees and baked them for just under thirty minutes.  Took them out of the oven when they were awesome brown and crispy-flaky looking.

Let the cool before applying the icing and slicing.

Filled Danish

by My Sister's Table

Components:

the Danish dough

the almond cream ~ recipe below

jam of choice or chocolate filling

the icing

Begin by making your almond cream.  Set the cream aside to work on your dough.

Roll your dough out into a rectangle   Spread or pipe your filling(s) onto one side of the dough, leaving a sealing edge.  Egg wash the edges, fold the dough over and press down the edges to seal.

Transfer the pastry to a lined baking sheet.  Cut vent holes in the top with scissors or a sharp knife.  Egg wash the top of the pastry then allow to rest for about 45 minutes. 

While the pastry to proofing preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

At the end of the 45 minutes egg wash the pastry again and put into the oven.  Turn down the oven to 375 degrees and bake for about 30 minutes, turning halfway through the bake time.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before icing and serving.

Almond Cream

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

3 ounces tube almond paste, at room temperature

1/3 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp. brown sugar

dash of fresh ground nutmeg

Using a fork smash and break up the almond paste.  Using a hand mixer, beat together the almond paste and cream cheese.  Once as mixed as can be, there will be small bits of the paste throughout, add the rest of the ingredients and beat until combined.

Printable recipe here.

Enjoy!

: )