Yana,

Let’s start with the easy part of your question. That sweet sticky white icing used to glaze cakes, cookies and cinnamon buns is really simple to make. This quick recipe will make around 11 fl oz (325 mL). You’ll need 1 lb of sifted powdered sugar, 2 tsp of vanilla extract, 2 tsp of lemon juice and 2 tbsp of warm water. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth, cover and store at room temperature. The recipe can easily be adjusted to make a stiffer icing that can be piped around the edges of cookies or thinned to create a smooth icing good for flooding.

Now on to the Danish pastry dough. Danish pastry was accidentally created by a Danish baker over 350 years ago. While making bread he forgot to include the butter in the recipe and attempted to hide the mistake by folding softened butter into the dough afterwards. The results were the rich, flaky pastry we now call Danish pastry. It can be shaped in many different ways and is usually filled with a jam, fruit cream or marzipan filling. I love a great Danish! It has been quite sometime since my practical baking classes in culinary school, but I clearly remember making Danish pastries. It was lots of work, time and a true labour of love! I am not sure what you didn’t like about the recipes you found, but there a lot of steps involved in making Danish pastry dough with no shortcuts! I recently posted the recipe from my culinary school textbook, On Cooking, on our blog (Countertop Buzz). Check out my latest blog entry, Danish Pastries.

Happy baking!
Chef Ryan Skelton

Karen,

I can relate with you on two fronts, there is nothing better or more satisfying than freshly baked hand made bread. There is nothing more frustrating than not finding the ingredients you are looking for. I gave the Merrymeeting Sobeys store in Newfoundland a call this afternoon and spoke with Burt, the grocery manager, he walked me through the different flours they carry over the phone, and you were right they don’t have strictly white bread flour. The good news is there are options. Bread flour has a protein percentage of 12-15%, making it somewhat of a harder flour which is why it is good for breads. I know it sounds like chemistry but it is! The protein percentage relates to the gluten content, and it is the gluten that gives breads, cakes and muffins their structure and helps hold their shape. Fortunately, All Purpose flour has a protein percentage of 10-13% making it an acceptable substitute for bread flour. If I were you I would try substituting either all purpose flour, or a whole wheat and white flour blend for your bread recipe. I hope this helps!

Happy baking!
Chef Ryan Skelton