Wienerbrød – Danish Pastry Braid

January 10, 2011 by mydanishkitchen

Danish Wienerbrød

A couple of years ago my husband and I attended a week-long seminar at the John C. Campbell Folk School in beautiful Brasstown, North Carolina. The school is based on the Danish design of a “Folkehøjskole” which is a non-competitive setup and emphasizing on teaching practical skills. They offer classes in anything from Clay to Dance to Knitting to Music to Woodworking, and so much more. Your days at the Folk School are filled with many activities from sunrise to sunset, but although busy it is also relaxing and the school is set in an incredibly peaceful environment. Joe took Blacksmithing and I took Scandinavian Baking. The baking class was taught by Kim Hendrickson who was full of useful baking/cooking tips and who had answers to all of my 101 questions about yeast and baking techniques. It was a week filled with baking delicious treats, some of which I was familiar with and some which were new to me. I hope that Joe and I can one day go back to the Folk School for more classes for we had such a wonderful time there and we got to meet so many interesting people.

I have known Wienerbrød my entire life but I had never attempted to make it until my Folk School stay. Wienerbrød is a Danish specialty and outside of Denmark it is referred to as a “Danish”, but believe me, it is nothing like the Danish that you pick up at your local 7/11. Wienerbrød comes in many different shapes and with numerous types of fillings. There are two ways to make this dough, that I know of. The traditional way is to roll out the yeast dough, cover parts of it with thinly sliced butter, fold into numerous layers, roll out and repeat folding and rolling. This process of rolling and folding the dough with the butter is what gives the pastry a crisp and flaky texture. The second method is the “quick” method where flour and butter is combined in a food processor and pulsed until the butter is the size of kidney beans. You still have to roll and fold the dough several times and so I’m not really sure it’s any quicker, but the dough turns out perfectly. Wienerbrød is a time-consuming pastry to make but the outcome is super delicious and so if you decided to make it, I am confident that you won’t regret it. Please enjoy.

Update: This recipe makes 2 braids. You can easily freeze half of the dough for later use. Wrap dough in cling wrap, then wax or parchment paper and finally a freezer bag. When ready to use defrost in refrigeator.

Wienerbrød

Makes 2 pastry braids.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups flour (480 grams or 19.9 oz)

1 1/2 cups cold unsalted butter (345 grams or 12.2 oz)

4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (or 50 grams cake/fresh yeast)

1/2 cup warm water (100 – 110 degrees Fahrenheit) (118 milliliter)

1/2 cup heavy cream (118 milliliter)

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar (55 grams or 1.9 oz)

Filling:

seedless raspberry preserves

Glazing:

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons water

pearl sugar, for topping

sliced almonds, optional, for topping

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar (100 gram or 3.5 oz)

2-3 teaspoons warm milk

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:

Place flour into bowl of food processor with steel blade. Cut butter into 1/4 inch slices and add to flour. Pulse flour and butter until the butter is the size of kidney beans.

In a large bowl, dissolve active dry yeast in warm water (between 100-110 degrees F). Let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in the cream, cardamom, salt, eggs and sugar. Using a rubber spatula, turn the flour/butter mixture into the liquid and carefully mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours, overnight or up to 4 days.

Turn the dough out onto a moderately floured surface. Roll out dough to make a 16 to 20 inch square. Fold dough into thirds, rotate dough a quarter of turn and fold into thirds again, making a small square. Turn over dough. Repeat rolling and folding another two times (making it a total 3 times of rolling and folding). Ending with a small square, wrap dough and chill for 30 minutes or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Divide the chilled dough into two parts. Roll each part into a 6 x 12 inch rectangle. (If not making both braids at the same time, wrap the second half of dough and place in refrigerator until ready to roll out).

Spread filling down the length of center of each rectangle. Cut slanting strips at 3/4 inch intervals along both sides towards to center. Fold strips over the filling in a criss-cross manner. Place both braids onto baking sheets and let dough rise for 15-30 minutes until pastry appears puffy. It will not double in size. Lightly beat the egg and water for the glaze. Once dough has been allowed to rise, brush the pastry with the glaze. sprinkle with pearl sugar and/or almonds.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. To make icing, mix together powdered sugar, warm milk and almond extract. Drizzle icing on top and let set before cutting. Enjoy!

Sliced butter and flour, pulse

notice butter is the size of kidney beans

fold dough into thirds, then into thirds again, roll out

place filling in center, make cuts slated towards center

fold strips in a criss cross manner

Wienerbrød

Source: Kim Hendrickson at J. C. Campbell Folk School

41 Responses

on March 1, 2016 at 11:03 Sarah

How necessary is the cardamom? If I don’t have any, can I use a replacement or go without?
- on March 1, 2016 at 12:00 mydanishkitchen
  
  The pastry is your creation and you can make it whichever way you like, with or without cardamom 😉
on April 13, 2012 at 13:00 C

Hi i just did the dough and over pulsed my flour/butter mixture (because i did it by hand) and i think my butter is a little too much but only by a little. And i ended up with a really wet dough ):
I chilled it for 10 hours, and i just finished rolling the really wet mixture with much difficulty. and chilling it now.
Is it ruined, or will the end product just be not as flaky, or do i try to salvage it by adding lots more flour?

PS i halved the recipe and followed it to a T except for slightly overdosing the butter by say 20g at most?

Hope you could reply soon! Thanks so much 🙂
- on April 13, 2012 at 14:19 mydanishkitchen
  
  Sorry this is not a quick reply, it’s not every day I make it on the pc. You do not want to over pulse/mix the dough, but it sounds like it needs a little more flour. Hope it turns out for you!
on April 8, 2012 at 21:30 C

hi that’s a really gorgeous braided pastry! 🙂 was wondering if you have any idea how to alter the recipe if i’d like to substitute the raspberry preserves with say chocolate and maybe bananas? reduce the baking time or…?

thanks so much, can’t wait to make them 🙂
- on April 9, 2012 at 05:41 mydanishkitchen
  
  Hi C, were you thinking a chocolate paste? or mashed bananas? something like that. I would do some experimenting with the filling, but I don’t think you need to change the baking time since it’s just the filling you are changing 🙂
on December 30, 2011 at 18:48 Chi

Hey there! I was in beautiful Denmark a few years ago, where I was invited for dinner and got to taste this delicious pastry, I never forgot about it. Thank you for sharing! Will make it this week! 😀
on December 14, 2011 at 11:54 Helle

Hejsa Gitte !!!!
Jeg bor i Israel,elsker at bage,har en stor familie,der elsker at spise bagvaerk,saa det er bare fint……Og “dit” gode wienerbroed er bare lige sagen ! Det var foerste gang ,jeg laeste en “blog”,lidt nysgerrigt saadan at laese med i “dit liv”…Men en fin oplevelse for mig.Du lyder til at vaere en meget soed “pige” Tilykke med soelvbrylluppet !!!
Tusind tak for de gode opskrifter !
Venlig hilsen Helle
- on December 14, 2011 at 19:04 mydanishkitchen
  
  Helle, Tak for de søde ord. Jeg er rigtig glad for at høre du godt kan lide mit Wienerbrød og at du kan lide at følge med i bloggen. Det er jo dejligt at have lidt Dansk kontakt i daglig dagen når man er så langt væk hjemmefra 🙂
on April 24, 2011 at 11:10 Marcus

Spectacular! We should all get to eat this every week-end – even if we don’t live in Denmark! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
- on April 24, 2011 at 13:36 mydanishkitchen
  
  My pleasure 🙂
on February 10, 2011 at 23:24 Hanna

Hi! I just stumbled across your blog and I am SO happy I did! I moved to America (from Denmark) with my parents when I was little, and I grew up eating Danish food, but now that I am out on my own, I am craving all my favorite danish foods but don’t know how to make them…I can’t tell you how excited I was to see a wienerbrød and a remoulade recipe in the same place!! Thank you!!
- on February 11, 2011 at 04:24 mydanishkitchen
  
  I am so glad My little Danish Kitchen could make you happy 🙂
on January 18, 2011 at 14:10 polwig

Beautiful pastry it looks a lot better then the ones you find in the store. You are a full blown pastry chef, what a great experience you had. I need to make this one soon… LOVE IT !!
on January 16, 2011 at 17:31 Pacheco Patty

Gorgeous Danish, is that okay to say?

The class sounds so interesting, pastry is a subject I never get tired of- both making and eating!

Happy New Year, I look forward to your posts in the new year:)
on January 14, 2011 at 17:57 Sidsel

What is there about raspberry preserves, cardamon and Danes, lol. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good piece of Wienerbrød, so I guess I know what I’m making this weekend. Thanks for the recipe.
- on January 14, 2011 at 18:30 mydanishkitchen
  
  I know, what is up with that 🙂
on January 14, 2011 at 13:47 whatsfordinneracrossstatelines

Gitte, this danish is beautiful. I can only imagine how good it must of smelled baking. I love this, I bookmarked it so I can try it one day. I wish I had some right now. That class must of been fun, I love learning stuff like this. Hope you have a great weekend!
-Gina-
on January 12, 2011 at 23:46 Sommer@ASpicyPerspective

I’d give my left arm for a slice of that and a cup of coffee right now!
on January 12, 2011 at 12:31 C&C Cakery

I’m always weary of pastry – it never seems to go right when it’s in my hands. But I’ll just have to swallow my pride and try my best, because I really want to try this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
on January 11, 2011 at 20:35 Tiffany

Yah North Carolina! 😀 And yah, Danish pastries!
on January 11, 2011 at 13:28 briarrose

Beautiful. I want a slice! 😉 Very inviting pastry.
on January 11, 2011 at 12:27 Christina

How beautiful! I wish I had this for breakfast today! 🙂
on January 11, 2011 at 11:55 Danelle

Well, there goes my New Year’s resolutions. 🙂
on January 11, 2011 at 11:19 suchitra

the pictures look awesome- never tried the pastry. your description and pics makes me wanna try it out!
on January 11, 2011 at 04:00 Cakewhiz

I have always shyed away from making pastries because i can never braid them and make them look as good as yours. But, now thank god you have shared these instructions with pictures…i am not as scared of giving these a shot:)
- on January 11, 2011 at 05:24 mydanishkitchen
  
  I am a visual person as well and pictures make a big difference. I hope you do try it out. 🙂
on January 10, 2011 at 21:11 torviewtoronto

delicious bread looks good
on January 10, 2011 at 19:57 Christina

This looks so good! It’s so pretty I’d almost not want to eat it…almost! 😉 Great photos too!
on January 10, 2011 at 19:08 Monica

Yummi, I can’t wait to try this recipe out, this is going to be my first time making wienerbrød. Back in DK i just went to the “bageren” to get my wienerbrød. It’s been a while since I had some good danish:)

Thanks for sharing:))
Monica
- on January 28, 2011 at 10:36 Monica
  
  Well that didn’t work out for me… hmmm… I did something wrong!!! I’m not sure what though!!!
  - on January 28, 2011 at 19:55 mydanishkitchen
    
    Oh no, what went wrong?
on January 10, 2011 at 13:40 Rosemary

I’d love to be able to make real live “Danish” at home — and my husband would love me all the more for it, too. I’m glad you and your Joe went to the Folk School and got inspired. It sounds like a wonderful event. I hope you go back and bring back some more goodies. I’m putting this in my “save” pile for a not-so-distant-future baking session.

Thanks!
on January 10, 2011 at 10:21 Kate @ Diethood.com

When I think of Danish, this pastry is what I imagine! Oh that looks incredible…I’d love it with my coffee! 🙂
on January 10, 2011 at 07:58 Annie

That danish looks so delicious and pretty! It would be great with a nice cup of tea. The cooking class sounds like it was fun too. I wonder where there might be something like that in my area?
on January 10, 2011 at 06:58 Staci

What a wonderful experience that must have been. I’d love to do something like that. I am not ready to attempt this recipe yet…but one day I will!
- on January 10, 2011 at 07:37 mydanishkitchen
  
  Staci, it was the most fulfilling, challenging, fun, relaxing and therapeutic experience I have had. The school also offer morning songs, story telling, bird watching etc and the school is located in the beautiful mountains. Perfect.
on January 10, 2011 at 06:37 Liz

What a gorgeous danish…I’m copying your recipe to try…THANKS!!!
- on January 10, 2011 at 06:50 mydanishkitchen
  
  Thanks Liz, I know you’ll love it.
  - on February 21, 2011 at 16:44 Anne
    
    Kim,
    I am so excited to find your Danish pastry recipe!
    My grandmother (German origin) made a mouth-watering “Danish pastry” but my mom never learned to do it. Then, I married a man whose grandmother came over from Denmark and also made wonderful Danish delights…again…no recipes passed on.
    Now that I’m retired, I have the time to try my hand at it and your photos and directions don’t seem nearly as intimidating as other sources. Wish me luck!
    
    Sincerely,
    Anne Jorgensen
  - on February 22, 2011 at 05:39 mydanishkitchen
    
    I wish you the best of luck and I’m sure you’ll do just fine. Wienerbrød can seem a little intimidating but after you have made it once youll feel much more confident. By the way, I tried freezing half of the dough for later and that worked really well. Just wrap dough in cling wrap, then parchment paper and a freezer bag. When ready to use, thaw in refrigeator.