Raspberry and marzipan Danish (spandauer)

“What we might call a “Danish” is actually an entire range of pastries known in Denmark as Wienerbrod, or Viennese bread. Of all of these, the spandauer is possibly the most popular, and that’s named after a German prison. Confused yet? Well, it doesn’t matter because they’re absolutely delicious. This recipe is inspired by the one I had from Danni and Helle Nielsen's bakery.” Adam Liaw, Destination Flavour Scandinavia

• makes

  20

• prep

  2 hours

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Ace

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 545 g (1⅔ cups) raspberry jam, or to taste
• 70 g (⅔ cup) flaked hazelnuts or almonds
• 125 g (1 cup) icing sugar

Dough

• 400 g cold unsalted butter  
• 100 g cold eggs (about 2)
• 200 ml ice-cold water
• 30 g fresh yeast, crumbled   
• 450 g (3 cups) plain flour, chilled in the freezer overnight,plus extra for dusting
• 40 g caster sugar
• 2 tsp salt

Marzipan cream

• 100 g caster sugar
• 100 g marzipan
• 100 g unsalted butter, softened, quartered  

Resting time 2 hours

Chilling time 1 hour

The following recipe has been tested and edited by SBS Food and may differ slightly from the video.

Instructions

To make the dough, place the butter between 2 sheets of baking paper and beat with a rolling pin until it forms a 1.5 cm thick square, then place in the refrigerator while you make the dough. The butter should be cold but still malleable when rolling with the dough. 

Place the eggs, iced water, yeast, flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix and knead on the lowest speed for no longer than 4 minutes to ensure you do not overwork the gluten, then transfer to a lightly floured work surface. The dough should feel soft but not sticky - if necessary add a little extra flour. Roll out into a 1.5 cm-thick square, then place the butter on top of the dough diagonally. Using a rolling pin, beat the two opposite corners of the butter to flatten slightly, then bring the two corners up to meet in the centre. Repeat with the opposite sides, so that the butter is completely encased in the dough - use your hands if necessary to pat down the dough and seal well. It is important there are no holes in the dough.   

Making sure your work surface is always lightly dusted with flour, roll out the dough into a rectangle about 20 x 60 cm long. Fold the rectangle from one long end by one-third, then fold the other long end over the top so you have 3 layers of butter. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. Repeat the rolling, folding and resting process twice more, reach time rotating the dough 90 degrees so that when you roll it out you are stretching it in the opposite direction to the previous fold. Once the dough has been rolled and folded 3 times, refrigerate for another 20 minutes.

While the dough is resting, to make the marzipan cream, beat the sugar and marzipan in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for 3-4 minutes on medium speed until the sugar has dissolved and combined. Add the butter, one piece at a time just until combined- don’t over mix. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 2 cm nozzle and refrigerate until needed. The mixture will harden if refrigerated too long, so if necessary stand at room temperature until softened enough to pipe.

Cut the dough in half and keep one half covered and refrigerated while you roll and assemble the remaining dough. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 21 x 51 cm rectangle about 5 mm-thick, then trim the edges to straighten. Cut the dough into 10 x 10 cm squares about and place on a large baking paper-lined baking tray in well-spaced intervals. Pipe a little marzipan cream into the centre of each square, then fold the corners into the centre and press your thumb into the centre to secure well. Repeat with the remaining dough and marzipan filling. Cover loosely with a tea towel and stand in a warm, draught-free place for 1½-2 hours or until almost doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC.  

Brush the lightly beaten egg all over the pastries, then dip 2 fingertips of each hand into the egg wash and push into the centre of each pastry to make hollow in the centre for the jam. Spoon 1 tablespoon jam into the centre of each pastry, then scatter with flaked hazelnuts. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until golden and cooked through, then stand on the trays to cool until warm. 

To make the icing, combine the icing sugar and 1 tablespoon hot water in a bowl until smooth, then spoon into a piping bag fitted with a very small nozzle (or pour into a zip-lock bag and snip off one small corner) and pipe a ring of icing around the edge of each Danish. Best eaten on day of making.  

Note

• All ingredients need to be ice cold. The ingredients need to remain under 5˚C to ensure the yeast is not activated.

• It’s best to use fresh yeast as it is slower to activate, however if you can’t find it use 15 g (2 sachets dried yeast instead).

Photography, styling and food preparation by Adam Liaw.

Visit the Destination Flavour Scandinavia program page for recipes, videos and more.

View recipes from past seasons: Destination Flavour Down Under, Destination Flavour Japan, Destination Flavour S1.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.