Danish Puff

Danish Puff

printable version

I believe I may have some Danish ancestry on my father's side.  Definitely Swedish.  My parents lived in England for a time and my mom acquired a bunch of Danish teak furniture.  I don't know if either of those aspects are the origin for this recipe.  I don't ever remember eating this growing up.  It was quite easy to make and rather tasty - but I have no memory of it.  The not knowing is annoying.  It makes me want to set up a regularly scheduled cooking day with my grown children so we can pass on true family recipes.

I don't have the fancy pastry cutter thingy so I just use a fork.  To make it a little easier on my hands I let the 1/2 c. butter (1 stick) sit on the counter for about 1 hour before I used it.

It came together pretty easy.

And then I added 2 TBSP water.

It was easy to make into a ball and split and make into two balls.  

I did not use a rolling pin.  I made it Play-doh style where I mushed the ball into a snake and rolled it back and forth until it elongated to 12 inches.  I set it on the pan and then mushed the width out to 3 inches with my fingers.

I keep a tape measure in my kitchen cabinet for just such occasions.

My butter was frozen (less one hour it had sat on the kitchen counter) but it didn't seem to affect the recipe.  It melted just fine and boiled with the water.

I discovered that almond extract in the cake/party section of Walmart is much cheaper than almond extract from the baking aisle of Walmart or HEB.

I mixed everything with a whisk.

The ingredients were easy to mix.

It was no longer on the heat but started pulling away from the pan because it was so unified.

I added eggs one at a time - putting them straight into the mix, without slightly blending ahead of time.

They incorporated easily.

And made a pretty shade of yellow.

I used a rubber spatula and took half of the mixture out of the pan and blobbed it onto one of the dough strips.

I got it all spread on top, as close to the edges as I could.

I put the pan in the pre-heated oven and set two timers for 60 minutes.  I had to leave but instructed my husband to take the pan out when the timer went off. (I put one timer right next to where he sat on the sofa in case he should doze off and not hear the oven timer.)  This is what I saw when I got home - looks like it was the perfect amount of time.

I made powdered sugar drizzle from an internet recipe: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 TBSP milk and 1 tsp vanilla.  We used a whole batch on just one puff.  It was a little dry.  I also found the almond flavor to be a little strong but still very enjoyable. 

It was easy to cut with just a plastic spatula and some downward force. Some people ate theirs with a knife and fork - I just used my fingers.  This was our Valentine's night dessert.

I put the leftover puff in a Tupperware and re-invented it for Sunday brunch.

I cut it in half and put Vanilla Custard Sauce inside.  It was not as thick as i had hoped.  I was trying to create a Long John / Filled Bar donut with Bavarian cream in the middle and chocolate on top.  The cream soaked into the puff.  

I was glad to use an old can of chocolate frosting from the pantry that was well past needing to be used.  I put it in a sauce pan over low heat and stirred so it became drizzly.

It wasn't quite the donut re-creation I'd hoped for.  I preferred the original version with the powdered sugar icing drizzle only.