Sweet and savoury Danish pastries

With apologies to anyone still on a January diet, who doesn't love pastry? Danish pastry is an enriched pastry (has egg in it) and is made like puff pastry, with a slab of butter and lots of folding to create the crispy layers. I've made two fillings: the sweet one is a traditional almond butter filing; the savoury one is a winning cheese and mushroom combo.

The pastry and sweet filling recipes are adapted from 1970 cookbook Scandinavian Cooking for Pleasure, sourced from a secondhand bookshop/cafe/bar in a converted chapel in Broadstairs. Thankfully, it's one with photos, as some of the pastry designs are quite complicated. I've stuck with what they call 'snails', where the pastry is rolled into a swiss roll shape and cut into slices. I also got some tips and the savoury filling idea from Paul Hollywood's Bread book. Pretty sure Paul was alive in 1970 so that's fine...

Ingredients

Danish pastry

(Makes 20 snails)

250g unsalted butter

500g strong white bread flour

7g salt

2 tsp easy bake yeast

80g caster sugar

1 egg, beaten

260ml milk

Optional: 1 tsp of ground spices such as cardamom or cinnamon (depending on final flavours)

Cheese and mushroom filling

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

100g mushrooms, finely chopped  (I used portabella as they're a bit meatier than normal mushrooms)

6 slices emmentaal 

Almond filling

50g flaked almonds

50g caster sugar

50g unsalted butter 

3 drops vanilla extract 

Method

1. Roll out the butter into a 30cm x 15cm rectangle by putting it between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper. Chill in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Mix the dry ingredients together (including any spices if using). Add the egg and most of the milk, and combine to make a soft dough. Add the rest of the milk if the dough doesn't come together. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and shiny, then wrap and chill for about 2 hours.

3. Roll the dough into a 50cm x 20cm rectangle. Lay the sheet of butter over the top - it will be shorter than the dough, so move to one end and fold the unbuttered pastry over the butter, then fold the top third over that - you should have 3 layers of dough and 2 layers of butter. Seal the edges, wrap and chill for 15 minutes.

4. Roll the dough out to the original size, fold in 3 again, at right angles to the first folds, wrap and chill for another 15 minutes. Repeat twice more, then wrap and rest in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before shaping and filling. You can also leave the dough in the fridge overnight, or freeze at this point. If you cut the pastry in half, you should be able to see well defined layers.

5. To make the savoury filling, fry the onions in a little olive oil for a few minutes, then add the mushrooms and cook until soft. Season and cool before using to fill the pastries.

6. To make the sweet filling, blitz the almonds and sugar together to make a crumb-like texture, then add the vanilla extract and work in the butter. Chill until needed.

7. To fill the pastries, roll out half the dough into a 20cm x 30cm rectangle with the long side facing you - it will be quite stiff and takes some elbow grease! Also, have you noticed I can't roll a rectangle?! Spread the cooled savoury filling over the dough and top with the slices of cheese. 

8. Roll into a Swiss roll by lifting the top corners and rolling towards you , keeping the pastry as tight as possible. Seal the join by pinching along the seam. Cut into 10 slices, each about 2cm thick, and place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Cover lightly with cling film and leave to prove for 30 minutes.

9. Roll out the remaining half of the pastry to the same size as above. Put the almond filling between 2 sheets of cling film and roll out to a slightly smaller size than the dough. Place over the top of the pastry and roll and slice as above. Place on a second lined baking tray and prove for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C

10. Glaze the pastries with beaten egg or milk and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown. I did get a bit of butter leakage, especially in the sweet pastries. Try and wait until they've cooled a little bit before eating.

The Bearded Argentnian rated these in my top 10 bakes, and I have checked that I've baked more than 10 things, so they must be pretty good. I thought they were so good, I swore out loud when I took the first bite...

Italian Moka cake: a crunchy coffee and almond dessert

It's been a while since I baked a cake, and as I got an icing turntable and palette knives for Christmas, it seemed like a good time to rebel against kale crisps and eat cake. In celebration of Fake New Year (a belated party with all our friends who were away over the festive period), I decided to bake two, both from Italian Pastries and Desserts (1974). The Moka cake caught my eye because a) there was a photo of it and b) the decoration looked classy but achievable. The second cake was a Sacher Torte and I'll post it later this week. Spoiler alert: not as good as this cake.

Aside from the decoration, the cake itself, a genoese sponge, was a new challenge for me, although it makes regular appearances on the Great British Bake Off. The ingredients don't include any raising agents, such as baking powder or self raising flour, so you need to incorporate plenty of air as you whip together the eggs and sugar, then make sure to keep the air as you fold in the butter and flour. This should result in a light but firm sponge, and is used as the basis for many patisserie creations. I can't find any reason why this method is better than using chemical raising agents, so maybe it's just a fun way to stress out home bakers.

Ingredients

For the Genoese sponge:

250g caster sugar

8 eggs

250g plain flour

100g unsalted butter 

A shot of kalua and a shot of amaretto (optional, and unpictured as decided to add halfway through...)

For the coffee cream icing:

1/2 pint milk

3 drops vanilla extract

130g caster sugar

4 egg yolks

150g unsalted butter

2 tbsp instant coffee 

3 handfuls flaked almonds

Method

Make the sponge a day or two before decorating (and eating) the cake.

1. Beat together the sugar and eggs vigorously (with an electric mixer if you have one) over a pan of water, heating gently. Keep mixing until it has doubled in volume and the whisk leaves ribbons in the mix - it will take a good few minutes.

 2. Take off the heat and whisk in the liqueur if using. Fold in the flour using a figure of eight movement to avoid knocking out the air. Warm the butter and dribble down the side of the bowl and fold in gently.

3. Lightly grease and line a deep 20cm cake tin with baking paper, and sprinkle with flour. Pour in the cake mixture.

4.  Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 50 minutes, or until the whole cake is golden brown. This leaves plenty of time to go to work on licking the bowl...

5. Leave to cool, remove from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container until ready to decorate.

For the icing and decorating:

1. Make a crême anglaise by heating the milk gently to boiling point, adding the vanilla and taking off the heat.  Beat the eggs and sugar together then add the cooled milk.

2. Return to the heat until the cream has thickened enough to coat the back if a spoon. Cool, then pour onto the butter in a bowl and combine, add the coffee and mix well. 

3. Toast the flaked almonds in a dry frying pan, shaking regularly.

 4. Cut the cake in half horizontally and spread some coffee cream over the bottom layer, smoothing with wet palette knife.

5. Add the top half of the cake and cover completely with the cream. When set, decorate with the toasted almonds and a sprinkling of icing sugar.

The final cake has a moist sponge with a hint of coffee and almond from the liqueurs, and a rich creamy coffee topping balanced with the crunchy almonds.

Serve with prosecco and complimentary friends for a very happy new year!

Slow-cooked Hungarian Goulash for a cosy night in

Cold, damp January evenings call for comforting stews and warm bread for dunking, eaten by candlelight with thick woolly socks on - or a 'Hygge' night in as its now commonly known. If you were lucky enough to get a slow cooker for Christmas, this is a straightforward dish to try out your new toy, and slow cooking is ideal for using cheaper cuts of meat if the purse strings are a little tight this month. Just don't go mad and slow cook everyday, as stews can get a bit "samey" and may lead to remarks such as "is there a war on?"...

Goulash recipes have remained fairly unchanged over the years, with beef, tomatoes, red pepper, paprika and caraway seeds as the staple ingredients. I used a recipe from Crockery Pot Cooking published in 1978, with some adaptations from Miss South's Slow Cooked, one of my favourite present day cookbooks. One difference was the addition of carrot in the 1978 recipe, which I kept in the spirit of hitting 5-a-day, but on reflection didn't add to the final dish. I also left out the wine and just used stock, which may seem surprising but Felicity Cloake reported in her Perfect column that it was wasted in this stew, and that's the last thing I want to do with wine!

To brown or not to brown: slow cooker recipes offer conflicting advice on this. Some claim browning the meat before slow cooking seals in the flavour, while others feel that you leave behind the best bits in the browning pan. My slow cooker comes with a removable crock pot that can be use on the hob, so I brown the meat and get to keep all the best bits too. 

The Bearded Argentinian suggested serving the goulash with spätzle, a German/Austrian gnocchi-like pasta - this is a very common combination in Patagonia, so much so that the Bearded Argentinian isn't quite sure which bit is goulash and which is spätzle... I've included a brief bonus recipe for the spätzle within the method as I just got it off t'internet. Mashed potato also goes very well.

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

600g braising steak, in large chunks

2 tbsp plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

2 carrots, chopped into medium sized chunks 

1 red pepper, chopped

1 tin chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp paprika (sweet smoked is best)

1tsp caraway seeds

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tin plum tomatoes

500ml beef stock

Sour cream and chives to serve

Method

1. Coat the meat with flour, season and brown all over in a little oil 

2. Add the onion, garlic and carrot and cook for a few minutes until softened (spot the deliberate mistake - forgot to add the carrot!). 

If you don't want to brown the meat and veg, just add everything raw from steps 1 and 2 to the slow cooker and go straight to the next step.

3. Blitz the can of chopped tomatoes with the red pepper and spices to make a purée.

4. Add the purée to the meat and veg and stir to coat everything.

5. Add the plum tomatoes and stock, put on the lid and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Don't peek! However tempting it is, lifting the lid can add up to 20 minutes to the cooking time, so be patient and just enjoy the lovely warm smell...

Bonus spätzle recipe (from AllRecipes.co.uk): mix 125g plain flour with a grating of nutmeg and a pinch of salt and pepper. Beat 2 eggs with 4 tbsp milk then stir into the flour and leave for 15 minutes. To cook the spätzle, push the batter through the holes in a colander or steamer into a pan of boiling water to make their characteristic noodle shape, and cook for 5 minutes. Before serving, brown the drained spätzle in butter.

When the goulash is ready, the meat will fall apart, the carrots will be soft and the sauce will have thickened slightly.  Serve with a generous dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of chives.

Happy Hygge!