Danish Pastry Braid

I found this recipe for a Danish pastry braid in the cookbook "Baking with Julia," by Dorie Greenspan. I've made the recipe twice, since I made enough pastry dough for two braids, and the practice certainly made it look a lot better the second time around. I found it helpful to watch the "Baking with Julia" episode where Beatrice Ojakangas demonstrated how she makes the braid to get an idea of technique. I found the trick is to be careful not to overfill the dough, so that the jam and cream don't spill out as you braid the dough together. If you make the dough in advance, you can make this pastry in just about an hour, as it takes very little time to bake. It tastes delicious with coffee for dessert, or even a luxurious breakfast. You can also glaze the pastry (with regular or coffee glaze) but I found that it was sweet enough without, so I chose to omit that step. If you're looking for a fun challenge, I recommend giving this recipe a try. Enjoy!

Danish Pastry Braid Dough

• 1 recipe Danish pastry dough 
• 1 egg yolk

Raspberry Jam Filling

• 2 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen)
• 2/3 cup sugar

Confectioner's Cream

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1.5 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. On a well-floured surface, roll out dough into a 10" x 16" rectangle.
3. Mentally section the dough into thirds, and cut 1" strips of the dough slanted away from the center on both the left and right sides. A video with the proper technique can be found here.
4. Spoon the jam filling down the center of the braid, being careful to stay away from the edges where the strips have been cut. 
5. Soon confectioner's cream over the jam in dollops.
6. Braid the dough strips (as shown in video) over the filling. 

 

   7. Brush the braid with egg white

   8. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve cool. Enjoy!