Danish pastry with vanilla pastry cream and caramelized cinnamon apples

Danish pastry with vanilla pastry cream and cinnamon apples

Danish pastry is of course very popular in Sweden. I think the most common filling is pastry cream or pastry cream and berries/jam. I have made the perfect autumn flavour, caramelized cinnamon apples, paired with delicious homemade vanilla pastry cream. The recipe also includes homemade pastry dough but go on with store bought if you want to. But if you ask me, the dough is not that difficult. Yes, it takes time, but is quite easy to make.

My pastry dough and pastry cream recipe is inspired from this recipe, but I have decreased the amount of butter, and changed the amount of some other ingredients too. I have also changed placing the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes to 10 minutes in the freezer. Worked well for me, so try to use my recipe for you next quick pastry bake! This recipe makes 30 small but delicious pastries.

Want more recipes with cinnamon apples? Try my easy cinnamon apple cake with dulce de leche! 

Recipe for my danish pastry with pastry cream and cinnamon apples (Wienerbröd med vaniljkräm och kaneläpplen)

PASTRY DOUGH:
  • 2 dl milk, chilled
  • 30 g fresh yeast
  • 0.5 dl sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 20 g salted butter, room temperature
  • 8 dl flour (approx.)
  • 400 g salted butter, chilled (use to fold in to the dough)
VANILLA PASTRY CREAM:
  • 4 large egg yolks or 5 small
  • 1.25 dl sugar
  • 0.6 dl corn starch
  • 0.25-0.5 tsp vanilla powder (add more according to taste)
  • 3 dl milk
  • 25 g salted butter, room temperature
FILLING:
  • 2 large apples (or 3 small)
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon, ground
  • 1 pinch of cardamom, ground
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • Pastry cream (see recipe above)
TOPPING (optional):
  • 1.25 dl icing sugar
  • 1 tbsp water

Pastry cream:

Mix egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a bowl. Heat the milk in a saucepan together with the vanilla. Bring to boil while stirring, and the turn the heat off. Add the egg mixture to the milk and whisk together everything until smooth. Heat again on medium heat stirring constantly until it becomes a thick cream. Pour the cream into a bowl and add the butter. Let it melt and mix. Put a plastic wrap on top and let cool and chill until you are going to use it.

Pastry dough:

Dissolve the yeast in the milk. Add the remaining ingredients and work the dough together in a machine for a few minutes. Let the dough rest in the freezer for 30 minutes. While you are waiting for the dough to rise, prepare the cinnamon apples. Peel and chop the apples, mix with sugar, cinnamon and cardamom, and fry in the butter for a few minutes. Turn the heat off, and add the lemon juice.

Line two trays with parchment papers. Cut the chilled butter into around 8 slices and put back in the fridge.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle (approx. double the size of the butter slices together), place the butter on the dough and fold over the dough so that it covers the butter. Fold the sides and pinch together the dough so the butter gets locked in. Start by rolling out the dough into a square and then fold the dough three times, plastic wrap and let the dough rest in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Roll out the dough again into a rectangle and fold three times, plastic wrap and let rest in the freezer for 10 minutes. Roll out the dough again and fold three times for the last time, plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes in the freezer.

Making of the pastries:

Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 5 mm thick, 40 x 48 cm. If the edges are not straight, cut them off to get a really nice rectangle. Cut out 8 x 8 cm squares and fold in the edge of each square towards the middle and press together. Place on the parchment papers and let rise for at least 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Fill the centre of each pastry with pastry cream, and top with a teaspoon of cinnamon apples. Bake for around 15 minutes until they are dark golden brown. Let cool completely.

Mix the icing sugar with the water until smooth. Drizzle the mixture on top of each pastry. Voila! Enjoy as soon as possible.

Variation ideas for this fika

Use this recipe for any danish pastry! Fill with your favourite filling. Pastry cream is always good, but combine with fresh berries or jam for the classic danish pastry!

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