Danish pastry comes from Denmark, right?

Well, yes.
And no.

According to legend, the pastry was created by mistake.
A French baker’s apprentice had forgotten to mix the butter in the dough and tried to save it by adding it in pieces instead.
To his surprise, it was a huge success.
The recipe was transported to Austria, where bakers brought it to Denmark.

The Danes understood the potential of this pastry and made it famous.
If you believe in legends, that will say.
I’m suspect that my neighbors in the west may object to this story.
Anyway, it’s incredibly delicious, and baking naturally leavened Danish pastry is something I’ve wanted to try for a long time.

Most recipes you find for Danis pastry are with baker’s yeast.
But there was no baker’s yeast in the middle of the 19th century when the bread became popular, so of course, it can be baked with a sourdough starter.

So that’s what we are going to do. Baking some sourdough danish pastry.

For this recipe, I have used a stiff starter or a Lievito Madre, as they call it in Italy.
I gave life to a new starter just for that purpose, and I will write about that process in another blog post in the future.
That doesn’t mean that you have to do the same. You can mix a stiff starter with your existing sourdough starter.
I will, of course, give some instructions about that.

ABOUT INGREDIENTS IN THIS RECIPE

FLOUR	PROTEIN CONT. %	WEIGHT GRAM	BAKER’S %
Wheat flour (bread flour)	13	200	100

Water		83	41.5
Sourdough starter		75	37.5
Egg		65 (approx)	32.5
Sugar		11	5.5
Salt		2	1
Butter (unsalted)		200	100

MAKING A STIFF LEVAIN

I suggest you mix your stiff levain the day before it’s time to bake. It will need more time to develop than a more liquid starter.
The goal is to have a starter with a hydration of 47-50%.
If your original starter has a hydration of 100%, it’s easy.
Mix as follows:

50-gram ripe sourdough starter.
100-gram bread flour.
35-gram water.

If your starter has another hydration, I suggest you take a part of it and add water or flour until you get 100% hydration. Then you can follow the above recipe.

What’s the reason for using a stiff starter, then?
Can’t I use the starter I already have?
Of course, you can. You just add some extra flour, depending on hydration, when mixing the dough. If you want to use a starter with 100% hydration, you can add 11 grams more flour and reduce the water by 14 grams

The reason I wanted to try a stiff starter was that it’s considered to give a milder taste.
More suitable for pastries, so to say.

MIXING THE DOUGH

You can mix all ingredients for this dough immediately, as it doesn’t make much sense to perform an autolyse.
You should also use as cold ingredients as possible, so my usual advice to pre-heat the water is not valid for this recipe.

The dough is quite stiff, so you have to knead it for a while to distribute the stiff starter and make sure that all flour is hydrated.
When you have a smooth dough that doesn’t stick to the sides of your mixing bowl, you are ready. It should take about 5-10 minutes.
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and let it rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

ADDING BUTTER

Roll out the dough to a square, 12″x12″/30×30 cm in size. Place it in the refrigerator.
Take out butter from the fridge and place it between two pieces of cling film.

Beat the butter with your rolling pin to a square, about 8″x8″/20×20 cm in size. Return the butter into the refrigerator without removing the cling film.

It’s important to keep the butter cold during the preparation of the dough. If the butter gets too soft and starts to melt, it can ruin everything.
After 10 minutes, you can take out the butter from the refrigerator.

Remove the cling film and place the butter on the dough, as shown in the picture below.
Fold the corners of the dough over the butter like an envelope. Wrap the dough in cling film and place it in the refrigerator again for 30 minutes.
We want the dough and butter to get the same temperature.

FIRST ROLL-OUT

Place the dough on a lightly floured working surface and roll it out carefully to a rectangle, 20″x8″/50×20 cm in size.
Fold the rectangle in half and then in half again.

Roll out the dough again into a rectangle, 23″x7″/60×18 in size.
Repeat the folding process and place the dough into the refrigerator again for 15 minutes.
I know it sounds tedious, but it’s important to keep the dough cold.

SECOND ROLL-OUT

Again, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle, 16.5″x8.5″/41×21 in size. Trim the sides of the dough to get a perfect rectangle, 16″x8″/40×20 in size.
Now we are done rolling.

SHAPING

Divide the dough into two equal parts lengthwise. Each one should measure 4″x16″/10×40 cm.
Cut the parts into 4. You now have eight squares measuring 4″x4″/10×10 mm.
Take each corner and fold it into the center of the square. Press firmly with your thumb in the middle so that the edges cannot unfold again.

PROOFING

Place each square of dough on parchment paper and cover with cling film.
Now it’s time to muster some patience.
The dough is heavily enriched, which will slow down the proofing process.
We also have to be careful with the temperature. If it gets too hot, the butter can start to melt and ruin everything. Try to keep the temperature around 70-72°F/21-22°C. It can take up to 5-6 hours for the dough to double in size.
When I say double in size, look at the thickness of the dough and not the overall shape.

TOPPING

In traditional Danish bread, vanilla cream or Creme Patissiere is used for topping. But you can use whatever you prefer.
Here is a recipe almost identical to the one I use.

BAKING

Start by pre-heating the oven to 430°F/220°C.
Brush the small pieces of bread with beaten egg and a pinch of salt.
Place a dollop of your topping in the middle of each bread and put them into the oven.
Baking time is 15-20 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’ve loved Danish bread since I was a kid. We all know that butter is irresistible. And when combined with multiple layers of dough, you get a light, flaky little wonder.

This sourdough danish pastry has a hint of sourness but not much. It’s lurking in the background, and you may miss it. But I think it’s lifting this pastry a notch, making it more interesting.

One thing I want to emphasize one more time is the importance of patience during proofing. If you don’t give the dough enough time, you may end up with a dense and boring pastry

But trust me. It’s worth waiting for.