Its June, Really... Danish Braids

I know that you haven't read enough about danish braids, but here at feeding maybelle more is more. While there is no particular difficulty in the recipe from Sherry Yard’s The Secrets of Baking that was chosen by Kelly at "Sass & Veracity" and Ben at "What’s Cookin’?", the time involved made me (and my friend M--) come to the conclusions that a.) laminated pastry is a cruel mistress and b.) it should no longer be classfied as a breakfast bread, unless you mean, breakfast the next day.

From my pastry, I wanted something neutral so I could try a variety of filling experiments and so I omitted the cardamom and used lemon rind instead of orange.

The braiding process was very easy and satisfying, though I felt a little like I was swaddling something. And, each time I did it, I got a slightly different look.



The most successful was a braid filled with cherry preserves and cream cheese. It was very nice.


Then, I went mad scientist and made an Asparagus, Scape and Cream Cheese braid. When warm, this was nice; it would have been perfect with goat cheese and black pepper.


After the two braids, I made danish:
Apricot and Ginger (because the RFJ habit is tough to kick) Needed icing but good.



Spicy Balsamic Cream Cheese Claws. Kimchi Powder in a Danish, oh kimchi everywhere.


Fig, Balsamic and Cream Cheese Danishes. Fancy and very nice.


Raspberry and cream cheese. Normal but tasty.


Fava bean, dill, and scape with cream cheese. Springy and nice though they look like little tacos.



Gooseberry and (yes, you guessed it) cream cheese. Okay but it needed something.


Sugar and cinnamon Donkeys. Bray, bray.



And then a very tiny braid.... because mini rules.