Lorna's Danish Pastries

You'd better clear a good 4 hours for this! It's not all work, a lot of roll, fold and chill for the pastry but it does take a while.

Ingredients:

Pastry:

500g white bread flour

360g butter, softened

1 sachet dried yeast

65g caster sugar

150ml lukewarm milk

2 eggs, beaten

Fillings + Toppings:

maple syrup

caremel sauce

pecans, chopped

100g icing sugar

Method:

Mix the flour and the sugar and rub in 60g of butter. Stir in the yeast, make a well in the centre and add the milk and eggs. Mix until combined to a dough. Knead for 15 minutes on the worktop until smooth and elastic. Place in a bowl covered with clingfilm and leave in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.

Tip out, and roll into a 8x14" rectangle. Lay on your worktop with so it's short and wide. Take half of the remaining butter (150g) and dot the right two-thirds of your dough with it. Then fold the left third (not buttered bit) end over, followed by the right third on top of that,  to end up with 3 layers o dough with butter in between each layer.

Seal the edges of the dough, turn 90 degrees (so the sealed edges are left and right as you see it). Roll out into a rectangle again maintaining, and repeat the same process. Once folded up, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes. Roll out, fold up and chill 3 more times (same as before but no butter).

Finally you'll have some dough you can actually use! Cut into 4 equal portions, and shape each section into one of the below:

Pinwheels:

Roll into an 8" square, and cut into 4. With each small square, cut into the corners diagonally into the centre, but not all the way. Place some maple syrup in the middle and sprinkle with pecans. Then take alternate corners and fold into the middle to create a pinwheel.

Kites:

Roll into an 8" square and cut into 4 smaller squares. In two opposite corners make 2 cuts about 1/2" in, as if to be cutting out a smaller square from the one you have, but don't go all the way around. Put maple syrup and pecans in the middle, then lift each cut corner across the middle and over to the other side.

Crescents:

Roll into a 9" circle and cut into 4 quarters. For each quarter, place some caramel sauce along the long arc, and roll fat end to thin. Curve into a crescent shape.

Plaits:

Roll into a 6 x 11" square, and cut into four 3x5.5" rectangles. With each rectangle, lay it so it looks long and thin. along each side, make 4-5 evenly spaces cuts that go a third of the way in. Put maple syrup and pecans down the middle third, then fold in each strip alternately over the pecans to make a plait shape.

Lay your pastries out on a greased baking tray, and leave in a warm place for 30min-1hour until well risen.

Wash with beaten egg and bake at 220C for 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Mix the icing sugar with a few teaspooons of water so it's pourable but thick, then drizzle over the pastries.

They are best eaten fresh, and can be frozen.