Layer after layer of crispy, chewy, buttery pastry dough, shaped into a darling pinwheel and topped with a gruyere cheese sauce, mushrooms, and prosciutto. If that isn’t the perfect morning indulgence, then I haven’t been studying brunch like it was my job for the past thirty-odd years.
I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t I just say a few weeks ago that I wouldn’t attempt to laminate dough? Why yes, I did. But my craving for a savory breakfast treat (and my blind baking ambition) got the better of me. I got an extra boost of pastry confidence when I picked up Nancy Silverton’s Pastries from the La Brea Bakery at my library a while back, and I discovered that she had an easy-to-follow recipe for danish pastry dough. I figured, I do write a baking blog, so why not attempt to make a real laminated dough and see how it goes?
Much to my surprise, it went pretty well. I should say up front that making danish pastries from scratch takes some time. The reason that danishes and croissants taste so good is that the dough is rolled out, topped with butter, folded in on itself, rolled out again, and folded again. Then it’s chilled for at least an hour, then rolled-folded-etc again. And chilled and rolled and folded again. That’s how you get all the layers that make each bite a crispy, buttery delight. The actual labor wasn’t that hard; you just need to have the time to wait in between each step for the dough to cool back down. So if you have a few hours at home one day and feel like pretending to be a fancy pastry chef, then this recipe is for you.
I’ve developed some confidence in my recipe creation skills, but for something this classic (that I’ve never even attempted before), I stuck pretty faithfully to the original recipe in Nancy Silverton’s book. I’m glad I did, because there’s no way I would have known how to fold the dough, or how many times to fold it, or how long to let it rest between folds. In this case, let’s follow the experts.
If you want to add your own spin, the filling is the place to do it. You could use your favorite jam, or a cream cheese mixture. I decided to go savory, with mushrooms, prosciutto and a gruyere cheese sauce. I was inspired by a recipe Candice made on this season of The Great British Baking Show (I’m pretty sure she won the challenge, and after tasting these, I can see why). I will choose a savory brunch dish over a sweet one almost every time, and the the salty prosciutto, earthy mushrooms and creamy cheese were the perfect match for this pastry dough. Now, onto the recipe!
To form the pastry dough, place the yeast and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let stand for a few minutes. Sprinkle the sugar and salt over it, then add the eggs and room-temperature butter. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed for a minute or two until combined. You may still see small pieces of butter in the mixture; this is fine.
Turn off the mixer and add the flour, then mix on low for about a minute, until the dough is smooth but still sticky.
Now it’s time to start rolling. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll it into a 12 by 6 inch rectangle. Lift up the dough to get sharp corners. Since I was taking the scientific, follow-the-experts route on this recipe, I used a ruler to check the size. Don’t have a ruler (or in my case, six rulers in our art cart… I think it’s time to clean…)? Use a regular piece of printer paper for scale. Once you’ve gotten it to 12 by 6 inches, wrap the dough in plastic and chill for fifteen minutes while you get the butter filling ready.
After cleaning the bowl of your stand mixer, add two sticks of cold butter to it. Beat the sticks on medium until they are softened but still cool. It should be the consistency of really thick frosting. Take the dough back out onto your floured counter, then spread the butter as evenly as you can over it, leaving a ½ inch border along the edges. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter.
Gently roll over the dough a few times, keeping the rectangular shape. Wrap it in plastic and chill for an hour.
Turn the dough back out on the counter and dust it with flour. Roll it into a 16” by 6” rectangle, about ½ inch thick. Fold the left half of the dough to the center and fold the right half to the center, leaving a ½ inch gap in the center.
Gently roll over the dough to widen the rectangle slightly. Fold the left half over to meet the edge of the right to form a 12” by 4” rectangle, just under ¾ inch thick. Roll to widen slightly, then wrap in plastic and chill for another hour.
On a lightly floured surface, roll to a 24 x 8 inch rectangle and repeat the folds once more. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes, then roll the dough to widen the rectangle slightly. Wrap in plastic and chill for 3 hours or overnight.
The fillings are relatively simple to make. I cooked the mushrooms and prosciutto in butter and olive oil until the mushrooms were browned and had released all of their liquid. The cheese sauce is a simple bechamel base. You start by making a roux with flour and butter, then slowly whisking in milk and letting the sauce thickened. Then you take it off the heat and stir in a bit of dijon mustard and a bunch of grated gruyere cheese. Yum.
Two hours before you’re ready to bake, take the dough out of the refrigerator and place on a floured surface. Roll out to a 16 x 18-inch rectangle, about ¼ inch thick, flouring the surface of the dough as necessary to avoid the rolling pin sticking and lifting the dough and adding flour underneath to avoid sticking there.
Trim the edges to form a 13 x 15 inch rectangle. Again, pick up the dough to see if any spots are sticking, and add flour underneath as necessary.
Cut into twelve equal rectangles, each 3 ¾ x 4 ⅓ inches.
To create pinwheel shapes, use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to make diagonal cuts from each corner toward the center of the rectangle, making sure not to cut the rectangle in half. You’ll end up with four triangle shapes cut into the rectangle. Brush the dough with melted and cooled butter.
Take the right-most corner of each triangle and fold it into the center of the rectangle, creating a pinwheel shape. Repeat with remaining rectangles, then brush with melted butter again.
Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the cheese sauce into the center of each pinwheel, followed by a spoonful of the mushroom and pancetta mixture.
Allow danishes to rise until puffy and are spongy to the touch, about 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake the danishes for 20-25 minutes, until nicely browned. Toward the end of the baking time, watch the danishes closely to make sure they don’t burn.
These danishes are ready to eat once they’ve cooled slightly, and will keep for a day or two. It was a joy to wake up the next morning, grab a cup of coffee, and savor a crispy and savory danish.
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted and cooled, for brushing pastry
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 oz mushrooms (cremini or white)
- 1 slice prosciutto
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- ¾ cup shredded gruyere cheese
- Place the yeast and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let stand for a few minutes. Sprinkle the sugar and salt over it, then add the egg and room-temperature butter. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed for a minute or two until combined. You may still see small pieces of butter in the mixture; this is fine.
- Turn off the mixer and add the flour, then mix on low for about a minute, until the dough is smooth but still sticky.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll it into a 12” by 6” rectangle. Lift up the dough to get sharp corners. I used a ruler to check the size. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for fifteen minutes.
- While the dough is chilling, clean the bowl of the stand mixer. Add the two sticks of chilled butter and, with the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed for two minutes, until the butter is softened but still cool.
- Place the dough back on the counter. I left the plastic underneath it; you could also place it on the counter as long as it is floured. Smear the butter as evenly as you can over the dough, leaving a ½ inch border. I used a spatula and then my fingers to smooth it out. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter. Gently roll over the dough a few times, keeping the rectangular shape. Wrap it in plastic and chill for an hour.
- On a lightly floured surface, dust the dough with flour and roll it into a 16” by 6” rectangle, about ½ inch thick. Fold the left half of the dough to the center and fold the right half to the center, leaving a ½ inch gap in the center. Gently roll over the dough to widen the rectangle slightly. Fold the left half over to meet the edge of the right to form a 12” by 4” rectangle, just under ¾ inch thick. Roll to widen slightly, then wrap in plastic and chill for another hour.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll to a 24 x 8 inch rectangle and repeat the folds once more. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes, then roll the dough to widen the rectangle slightly. Wrap in plastic and chill for 3 hours or overnight.
- Two hours before you’re ready to bake, take the dough out of the refrigerator and place on a floured surface. Roll out to a 16 x 18-inch rectangle, about a ¼ inch thick, flouring the surface of the dough as necessary to avoid the rolling pin sticking and lifting the dough and adding flour underneath to avoid sticking there. Trim the edges to form a 13 x 15 inch rectangle. Again, pick up the dough to see if any spots are sticking, and add flour underneath as necessary. Cut into twelve equal rectangles, each 3 ¾ x 4 ⅓ inches.
- To create pinwheel shapes, use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to make diagonal cuts from each corner toward the center of the rectangle, making sure not to cut the rectangle in half. You’ll end up with four triangle shapes cut into the rectangle. Brush the dough with melted and cooled butter. Take the right-most corner of each triangle and fold it into the center of the rectangle, creating a pinwheel shape. Repeat with remaining rectangles, then brush with melted butter again.
- Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the cheese sauce into the center of each pinwheel, followed by a spoonful of the mushroom and pancetta mixture. Allow danishes to rise until puffy and are spongy to the touch, about 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake the danishes for 20-25 minutes, until nicely browned. Toward the end of the baking time, watch the danishes closely to make sure they don’t burn.
- Add the butter and olive oil to a pan over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted and hot, add the mushrooms and pancetta. Cook until the mushrooms have released their liquid and the liquid is mostly evaporated, 5 to 8 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the flour and whisk together for 1 to 2 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown. Slowly pour in the milk, continuing to whisk. Heat until the mixture is bubbling, and then cook, whisking occasionally, until the sauce has thickened, about five minutes. Turn off the heat and add the mustard and gruyere cheese, stirring to combine. The sauce should be very thick.
- Allow both the sauce and the mushroom-pancetta mixture to cool before placing on the danishes.
