Danish Pastry:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp yeast
2 cups warm milk
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
6 cups flour
Pastry:
Place butter and sugar in 4 qt.
bowl, pour heated milk over fat.
Let stand while yeast dissolves in 1/2 cup.
water and 1 tbsp.
sugar.
Stir and let stand for 5 min.
When yeast is dissolved and bubbly, add eggs and beat well.
Add yeast/egg mixture to cooled milk mixture.
Add salt to flour in sifter and sift in to bowl of above ingredients.
Beat with a spoon until all flour is added to make a soft dough.
Let rise until double.
Heat milk.
Mix sugar, salt and flour together and stir into hot milk.
Stir until thick, beat egg yolk and gradually add hot mixture to yolk until hot and then add back to origional mixture.
Cook 1 minute more.
Let cool.
Assembly:
Divide dough into 3 portions, or, make up to 12 small pastries.
Roll out to about 1/4 to 1/2 thick rectangles, long side perpendicular to you works best.
Prune or Apricot Filling:
Have ready an unbuttered baking sheet. Place in saucepan and brinto a boil.
8 oz dried prunes or dried apricots
1 cup water or cider
1/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
Reduce the heat and simmer until the prunes are very soft, 20 to 30 minutes. (some fruits are drier than others--add more liquid and cook a bit longer if necesary to soften.) Stir in:
2 tbsp lemon juice
Tranfser to a blender of food processor and puree.
Danish:
Cut dough in squares and place the prune or apricot filling. Cut into eighteen 3-inch squares.
Place a scant tablespoon of prune or apricot filling in the center of each square in place of am. Gather the 4 corners of the dough and pinch together above the filling. Place the pasteries 2 to 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. Let rise until pastry, 30 to 60 minutes.
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
