cookCaramelised apple Danish with cardamom icing

From: gourmettraveller.com.au
SERVES 4-6

7 gm (1 sachet) dried yeast
90 ml pouring cream, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
240 gm plain flour
180 gm chilled butter, diced
30 gm raw caster sugar
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
¼ tsp ground cardamom
To serve: coarsely chopped roasted almonds (optional)
Caramelised apple filling
40 gm butter, diced
2 each Granny Smith apples and pink lady apples, cored and cut into eighths
80 gm icing sugar
50 ml dessert wine
Juice of ½ lemon
Cardamom icing
160 gm icing sugar, sieved
¼ tsp ground cardamom
1½ tbsp buttermilk
2 tsp lemon juice

Combine yeast and 80ml lukewarm water in a bowl and set aside in a warm place until foaming (4-5 minutes), then add cream and egg, and whisk to combine. Pulse flour, butter, sugar, rind and cardamom in a food processor until butter is pea-sized, then add to cream mixture and mix to form a rough dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate to rest (at least 4 hours or overnight).

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, knead and form into a rough disc, then roll out to a 30cm square. Fold the top third down and the bottom third up to cover (like folding a letter), then do the same with left and right edges – you will end up with a small square. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate to rest for 30 minutes. Place dough seam-side down on a lightly floured work surface and repeat rolling, folding and resting twice more. (At this stage the dough can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen; defrost in the refrigerator before serving.)

For caramelised apple filling,
heat butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until foaming, add apples and cook, tossing occasionally, until beginning to soften around the edges (2-3 minutes). Sieve icing sugar over apples, toss to combine and cook, tossing occasionally, until apples begin to caramelise (6-8 minutes). Add dessert wine and lemon juice, and cook, tossing apples occasionally, until glazed and tender, and liquid reduces to a caramel (2-3 minutes). Cool to room temperature and pour off any juices that pool in the bottom.

Preheat oven to 180C. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a 28cm x 30cm rectangle. With the shortest side of a 15cm x 25cm cake tin facing you and the longest side of the pastry facing you, place the pastry in the cake tin so it overhangs the sides of the tin evenly. Spread caramelised apple filling evenly over the pastry lining the tin, then cut overhang at a 45-degree angle into 1cm strips up to the edge of the tin (using kitchen scissors is the easiest way to do this). Fold strips alternately from each side to form a lattice pattern, then brush with eggwash and bake until dark golden (15-20 minutes). Cool in tin for 15 minutes, then transfer Danish to a wire rack to cool.

For cardamom icing, mix ingredients in a bowl until smooth, drizzle evenly over Danish, scatter almonds over and serve. This Danish is best eaten on the day of making.

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