Puff Pastry Danish With Cherry (Chausson aux Cerises)

A Danish made from a reversed puff pastry and filled with cherry jam is a delicious treat that combines flaky pastry with a sweet and tangy filling. 

The difference between reversed puff pastry and regular puff pastry is that reversed puff pastry is made by rolling out the butter block and then layering it with dough block inside and the regular puff pastry made by folding butter block inside of the dough.

After baking in the oven until golden brown, the Danish is typically finished with a drizzle of icing or a sprinkle of powdered sugar. The combination of the buttery pastry and the sweet cherry jam creates a delightful contrast of flavors and textures in every bite. It’s a perfect pastry to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.

Ingredients

Dough  (for 9 danishes)

• 270g all purpose flour
• 90g melted butter 
• 112g water
• 3g vinegar 
• 10g salt

Butter block 

• 285g soft butter 
• 120g all purpose flour 

Filling

• cherry jam

Egg wash:

• 1 egg
• 1tbs milk

Directions

• For the dough: Mix all ingredients for the dough.
• Shape it as rectangular.
• For the butter block: Mix soft butter with flour. Spread it on parchment paper or plastic, creating rectangular twice bigger than dough block.
• Move both parts to fridge for 1 hours.

• Once the dough has chilled, you can proceed with lamination.
• Place dough block on one side of butter block, cover the dough with free part of butter block and deep the edges.
• Start rolling the dough lengthwise, about 20cm x 60cm / 7.8 inches x 23.6 inches), fold as as a book , by folding both sides to meet at the center, and then fold both sides again. Cover the dough and move to fridge for 1 hour.

• Remove dough from the fridge, roll 20cm x 60cm / 7.8 inches x 23.6 inches). Fold as a letter, by folding one part of the dough to cover 2/3 of the dough and then fold the other 1/3 of the dough over (so the dough will look as a letter).

• Cover the dough and let rest in fridge for 1 hour.
• Repeat one more of a book fold and a letter fold, with rests in the fridge for 1 hour in between.

• Roll final dough into rectangular 5 mm thin.
• Use sharp blade and pastry rings to cut 10mm circles. 

• Roll each circle into oval, the thickness should be 3 mm
• Place the filling into the middle of the oval.
• Spread water around the edges. Fold one side of the oval on top of another side.
• Use glass or something round to press and secure the filling inside the Danish.

• Make 3-4 cuts on one side of Danish, flip it over and place on parchment paper ( even uncut side up).
• Move danishes to freezer for 30 min.
• Spread 1 layer of egg wash on top, move to fridge for 20 min to dry up a little. Spread 2nd layer of egg wash.
• Using sharp knife or blade create patterns on top of each danish, make sure you don’t cut the dough all the way through ( this way the filling won’t come out).

• Preheat oven to 375F.
• Bake Danishes for 25-27 min until golden.

Enjoy!