How to make Orange and Almond Danish Braid,
If you happen to have some marmalade or any other kind of jam laying around then this can be a quick dessert considering you have the other ingredients on hand. Puff pastry is one of those doughs that has a lot of potential to make ordinary ingredients extraordinary. I recently made an orange and almond cake and had some of the filling left over. All I did was take equal parts marmalade and almond paste and you have an amazing filling for cake or danish. Homemade almond paste is as easy as put all the ingredients in a food processor and pureeing it, so you don’t have to be intimidated by the word if you have never made it before. Here is the recipe for almond danish braid, I hope you enjoy it!
Recipe Ingredients
Almond paste
1 1/2 cup almond meal
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 egg white
2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup of orange marmalade
1/2 cup of almond paste
1 box of puff pastry
1 egg wash
sugar in the raw for sprinkling on top
Recipe Instructions
How to make Almond Paste,
Place powdered sugar, almond flour in a food processor. Turn on the processor and let the ingredients combine well. Then add egg white and almond extract. Combine until smooth. Take a rubber spatula and remove the paste from the food processor.
Then in a bowl place equal parts almond paste and orange marmalade into a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
How to make Almond Danish Braid,
Take the puff pastry and unwrap the first piece of puff pastry (should be 2 total). Cut the puff pastry in half lengthwise. Then cut about 7-10 slices about 1/8 inch apart starting at the top of the puff pastry following down both one side lengthwise and then mirror the same cuts down the other side lengthwise. Make the cuts only 1/4 inch long at most. You want to leave plenty of room in the middle of the puff pastry for the almond marmalade filling.
Then place a few spoonfuls of almond marmalade filling the the center of the puff pastry leaving a little empty space both at the top and bottom of the puff pastry. Then take the cuts from each side and alternate them to give a braid type look. Continue the process all the way down the puff pastry until the danish is completely wrapped up. Continue with the rest of the puff pastry which should give you 4 danish braids. Then brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar in the raw. Place on a bake sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for approximately 30 minutes. Take out and cool for at least 5-10 minutes or until room temperature. Serve and enjoy!
