Saturday, July 26, 2008

Quick and Easy Apricot Danish


Ready-made puffed pastry makes a quick alternative to traditional Danish pastry. For a different fruit flavored pastry, replace the apricot jam with plum jam and use 12 chopped pitted prunes in place of the dried apricots. Recipe makes 12 pastries.

Ingredients:

2 sheets frozen ready-rolled butter puffed pastry, thawed
1/3 cup apricot jam or preserve
12 plump dried apricot halves, diced
Beaten egg, to glaze
1/2 cup icing sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 440 degrees F (220 degrees C). Place one pastry sheet on a lightly floured work surface; brush lightly with cold water. Place the second pastry sheet on top and roll over lightly to seal together. Roll out the layered pastry sheets to a 16 x 12 inch (40 x 30 cm) rectangle. Trim the edges with a sharp knife and cut into twelve 4 inch (10 cm) squares.
2. Mix the jam and apricots together in a small bowl. Spoon the jam mixture evenly onto the center of the pastry squares. Fold over 2 opposite pastry corners to the center. Fold the remaining corners over to the center to enclose the filling.
3. Transfer the pastries to a non-stick or greased baking tray. Brush pastries with beaten egg, avoiding cut edges. Bake for 10 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Using an egg flip, transfer the pastries to a wire cooling rack.
4. Sift the icing sugar into a small bowl. Stir in 2 teaspoons of warm water to make an icing thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.
5. Spoon the icing over the pastries while they are still warm. Leave the icing to set.

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