Danish Puff

I was looking for something on the web (I don’t remember anymore what it was) when I ran across this recipe for the Danish puff I am writing about today.

Thoughts of eating healthy flew out the window and all I could think of was this Danish, it looks so delicious… I guess that is not entirely true, I am still eating healthy.

I feel that you have to indulge a little bit once in a while. So I made this and I gave most of it way because I knew I would want to eat all of it myself.

This Danish recipe is not your traditional Danish recipe; there is no yeast so no waiting for it rise, but it is very similar to the dough that you would make for a cream puff. But the end result is truly amazing. There is almond extract that is used in the dough and in the icing which plays a large part in the wonderful flavor.

If you love Danish like do, but don’t have a lot of time give this a try… it is amazing.

Danish Puff (Source: adapted from bettycrocker.com)
Ingredients:
Pastry-
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened and cut into pieces
2 tablespoons water
Topping-
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs
Creamy Almond Glaze-
1 1/2 cups powder sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 to 2 tablespoons warm water
Optional: chopped almonds
Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Place 1 cup flour in medium bowl. Cut in 1/2 cup softened butter, using pastry blender until particles are size of coarse crumbs. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons water over mixture; toss with fork.
2. Gather pastry into a ball; divide in half. Pat each half into 12×3-inch rectangle, about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. The pan should be large enough to hold both pieces of dough, leaving 3 inches on either side of each piece of dough, for expansion.
3. In 2-quart saucepan, heat 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water to rolling boil; remove from heat. Quickly stir in almond extract and 1 cup flour. Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat. Add eggs; beat until smooth. Spread half of the topping over each rectangle.
4. Bake about 50 minutes to 1 hour or until topping is crispy and brown, remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely.
5. In a medium bowl, mix all glazed ingredients except almonds until smooth and spreadable. Spread over top of pastry; sprinkle with nuts.