AI-generated image
Wienerbrød
Spandauer: laminated Danish pastries with custard centre and icing
What the world calls a Danish, Danes call wienerbrød, 'Viennese bread', after Austrian bakers who brought laminated pastry to Copenhagen in the 1850s. The spandauer is the classic: a square of flaky, buttery dough folded in at the corners around a dollop of vanilla custard or remonce (almond butter cream), baked until puffed and glazed with icing. Copenhagen bakeries sell them warm in the morning. A common mistake is letting the butter warm and melt into the dough; the layers vanish. Chef's tip: work cold, chill between every fold, and bake hot, so the butter turns to steam and puffs the layers.
- Total time
- 110 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 ⅛ lb plain flour
- 1 ¾ oz sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ cup cold milk
- 1 egg
- 10 ½ oz cold butterin a block
For the custard
- 1 cup milk
- 1 ¾ oz sugar
- ⅔ oz cornflour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
To finish
- 1 eggbeaten
- 2 ⅞ oz icing sugarmixed with 1 tbsp water
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Fresh ingredients (5)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Whisk 2 egg yolks, 1 ¾ oz sugar and ⅔ oz cornflour. Heat 1 cup milk, whisk in, return to the pan and cook until thick. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract, cover and chill.
8 minStep 2: Mix 1 ⅛ lb plain flour, ¼ oz fast-action dried yeast, 1 ¾ oz sugar, 1 tsp salt, ¾ cup cold milk and 1 egg into a dough. Knead 5 minutes, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
5 minStep 3: Beat 10 ½ oz cold butter between baking paper into a 20 cm square. Roll the dough into a 30 cm square, put the butter on it diagonally and fold the corners in to enclose it.
Step 4: Roll into a 20 × 60 cm strip, fold in three, wrap and chill 20 minutes. Repeat twice more. Common mistake: warm butter; the layers vanish.
60 minStep 5: Roll out to 5 mm and cut into 12 squares. Fold the corners to the centre, pressing down, and put a spoon of custard in the middle.
Step 6: Rise on lined trays for 40 minutes in a cool room. Heat the oven to 400°F (fan 375°F).
40 minStep 7: Brush with 1 egg and bake for 15–18 minutes, until puffed and deep golden. Cool, then drizzle with 2 ⅞ oz icing sugar.
18 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 380 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 23 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does wienerbrød take?
- About 110 minutes in total: 90 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of fast-action dried yeast?
- Fresh yeast, three times the weight.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Moist banana bread
The blacker the bananas, the better the loaf. This one is mixed in a single bowl with melted butter and a little brown sugar, so it's soft, deeply banana-y and keeps well for days.
American
Ma'amoul
Ma'amoul are delicate shortbread-like pastries made for Eid and Easter across the Middle East. A soft, rose-scented butter dough is wrapped around a filling of dates, walnuts, almonds and pistachios cooked with cinnamon, marked with a fork, baked pale and dusted with icing sugar. Makes 35; they keep well in a tin.
Tarte au sucre lilloise
In Lille and across the Nord, a sugar tart is not pastry at all but a flat round of soft brioche dough, dimpled and covered with brown cassonade sugar, butter and a little egg and cream, which bakes into a sticky, caramelised top over a fluffy base. Families buy it from the boulangerie for Sunday breakfast and goûter, or bake one when guests come for coffee. The Nord's own beet sugar, vergeoise, gives it a deep, almost molasses flavour; soft dark brown sugar is the closest swap. Chef's tip: press deep dimples into the risen dough with your fingertips before adding the topping; the sugar and cream collect in them and bake into little pools of caramel.
French