Coffee Custard Danish Pastries
These require some effort, but there are lots of options to help you get ahead. If you don’t have time to make the topping, you could use 525g shop-bought fresh custard instead.
Hands-on time 1hr 30min, plus chilling, cooling, rising and setting. Cooking time about 40min. Makes 16
FOR THE DOUGH
500g strong white flour, plus extra to dust
400g unsalted butter, chilled 50g caster sugar
25g dried skimmed milk powder 7g sachet dried fast-action yeast 2 medium eggs, beaten
FOR THE FILLING
1tbsp dried skimmed milk powder 400ml whole milk
11/2tbsp instant espresso powder 5 medium egg yolks
100g caster sugar
2tbsp cornflour
2tsp vanilla bean paste TO FINISH, OPTIONAL
100g white chocolate, melted
1 To make the dough, put the flour into a large bowl and rub in 50g of the butter using your fingers, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar, milk powder, yeast and ½tsp fine salt. Add the eggs and 225ml tepid water, and mix to make a dough. Tip on to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5-10min, until smooth and elastic. Return to the bowl, cover and leave to rest for 10min.
2 Meanwhile, roll/bash the remaining butter between 2 sheets of baking parchment to a roughly 20.5cm square (about 1cm thick). Chill to firm up.
3 Re-flour the work surface, roll out the rested dough to a roughly 25 x 45cm rectangle, with a short edge closest to you. Place the flattened butter on the lower ½ of the rectangle and fold the top ½ of the dough down to cover it.
4 Roll dough out again to a roughly 25 x 40cm rectangle, with a short edge closest to you. Fold the bottom ⅓ of dough into the middle, then fold the top ⅓ down to cover the folded bottom. Place on a large baking sheet lined with baking parchment, cover and chill for 20min.
5 Always starting with a short edge closest to you, repeat flouring (if needed), rolling, folding and chilling 3 more times. This process creates layers in the final pastry.
6 On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the finished dough to a roughly 35cm square. Slide back on to the
lined baking sheet, cover and chill for at least 20min (up to 24hr).
7 Meanwhile, make the filling. In a medium pan over medium heat, cook the milk powder for 2min, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan, until lightly toasted. Remove from the heat and whisk in the milk and espresso powder. Return to the heat and cook, whisking occasionally, until just steaming.
8 In a large heatproof bowl, whisk 3 of the yolks, the sugar and cornflour until combined. Gradually whisk in the hot milk mixture. Return to the pan and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thick. Remove from the heat, whisk in the vanilla and lay clingfilm/baking parchment directly on the surface; cool completely.
9 Cut the chilled pastry into 16 squares and arrange on 2 baking sheets lined with baking parchment, spacing slightly apart. Using a small knife, score a 1cm border in from the edge of each square, being careful not to cut all the way through. Leave uncovered to rise at cool room temperature (see GH TIP) for 45min, or until noticeably puffed.
10 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Whisk the remaining 2 yolks and use to brush over the pastry borders to glaze. Bake for 15min, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and carefully push down the risen pastry inside the borders with the back of a spoon. Spoon in the cooled filling, smoothing to level if needed.
11 Return to the oven for 7-10min, or until the filling feels fairly set, but still has a slight wobble. Leave to cool completely on the sheets.
12 To finish, drizzle the melted chocolate, if using, over the pastries. Leave to set before serving.
PER PASTRY (without chocolate) 400cals, 8g protein, 24g fat (14g saturates), 37g carbs (12g total sugars), 1g fibre
GET AHEAD Prepare to end of step 8 up to a day ahead. Chill filling once cool. Complete recipe to serve, mixing the filling to loosen before using. Alternatively, make pastries to end of step 9. Freeze on lined sheets until solid, then stack in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to a month. To serve, make filling and complete recipe, baking the pastries from frozen on lined sheets for 17-20min before adding filling.