We just love Danish pastry!! This is my attempt at making a "smoerkage", which would translate into "buttercake". It turned out delicious. There are many recipes out there for Danish pastry but they continually seemed to be missing the point. The dough has to be "sweet", without being sweet. It also needs to be flaky, without being too flaky. I tried for years to get the delicate balance between the dough and the filling and we saw anything from a soupy mess to something like a solid coffee cake.
So, here is my way of doing it and you are welcome to try it. If you find a better way or make an improvement, please let me know.
Dough:
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
1 1/2 dl. water
1 egg
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
pinch ground cardamom
about 325 gr. flour
300 gr. sweet butter, cool room temperature
Make a dough of the first 7 ingredients, using just enough flour to be able to roll the dough out. Chill the dough 1/2 hour. Roll dough out to a square. Cut the butter in slices and lay in a square in the middle of the dough. Fold the four corners of the dough in on the butter and roll the dough out in a rectancle. Use a little of the left over flour if needed. Fold in thirds, wrapped in clingfoil and chill 1/2 hour. Repeat this two more times and chill dough. Dough is now ready to be shaped into any type of Danish Pastry. For this particular type, I mixed together a bit of soft butter, powdered sugar, and almond paste and spread it thinly out on the dough. I had rolled out 2/3 into a rectancle as if I were to make cinamon rolls and the other 1/3 is used as crust in a 9"-10" spring pan. Drizzle a few raisins on the butter/sugar and then a thin layer of custard. Bake on 350 F until brown and done. Drizzle with glaze. Next time I make it, I will take pictures of the process and post them too. That should clarify these instructions.
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