Dark Berry Danish

When it comes to danishes, I will try them all. Store bought doughy pastry with a dollop of sweet lemon lemon or bakery style crunchy-crisp pastry with cherry cheese, apple cinnamon or mixer berry filling.

When Claire said in her video for this recipe that the ‘best danish is the one you make at home’ it made me think. I’ve made danish a few times in the past, and it's very true that when they are fresh out of the oven, they are quite the delicious accomplishment.

So, when an opportunity came up recently to flex the pastry skills this recipe was top of mind. The other thing that intrigued me was this recipe’s use of Kougn-amann dough, which to my nerdy baking alter ego was an added bonus. The dough itself has a bit of sugar in it, and this was an opportunity to use European style which provides a higher fat content.

Note: Kougn-amann dough is known by some as the fattiest of pastries. In traditional preparations the dough gets rolled in sugar and formed into a little cake.

I have to say, I really enjoy lamination. I just find it fascinating that after a series of folds you can create this truly impressive flaky, crisp and buttery pastry. It's magical, don't you think?

Right, so my next thought was, how should I fill it? Claire used cherries in her book and blueberries and blueberry jam in her video. Cherries were not in season, so I landed on wild blueberry jam, but wanted to pair it with a fruit that provided tartness. And then, on a trip to the grocery store I came across these gorgeous dark jewels: fresh blackberries. I love the tang and slightly bitter aftertaste of a blackberry. And to temper and enhance the flavour I decided on adding a bit of ginger.

At the end, what resulted were deeply buttery, crisp and crunchy layers, fresh tart berries, sweet blueberry jam and tangy cream cheese filling. I think the reason they are made small (apart from being a neat little package) is so that you can eat as many as you want without guilt.

Note: The fruit filling does release water when you cook the danish, and as they rise you can get some spillage. Make sure to prick the pastry with a fork a few times where you intend to put the filling. And, if there's still spillage, don't worry you can always redistribute the filling when they come out of the oven!