Danish Puff

 This is a fairly easy recipe to make and looks very impressive.  Oh and it's delicious too!  I remember having this a lot growing up.  

Pastry

• 1 cup Gold Medal™ All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 tablespoons water

Topping

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 t butter extract 
• 1 cup Gold Medal™ All Purpose Flour
• 3 eggs

Creamy Vanilla Glaze

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water or milk
• Chopped nuts

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Heat oven to 350°F. Place 1 cup flour in medium bowl. Cut in 1/2 cup softened butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of coarse crumbs. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons water over mixture; toss with fork.

2. Step 2

   Gather pastry into a ball; divide in half. Pat each half into 12x3-inch rectangle, about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Step 3

   In 2-quart saucepan, heat 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water to rolling boil; remove from heat. Quickly stir in almond extract and 1 cup flour. Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat. Add the eggs one at a time; beat until smooth. Spread half of the topping over each rectangle.

4. Step 4

   Bake about 1 hour or until topping is crisp and brown; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely; about 2 hours.

5. Step 5

   In medium bowl, mix all glaze ingredients except nuts until smooth and spreadable. Spread over top of pastry; sprinkle with nuts.

Recipe Tips

1. The eggs should be added one at a time, so they have time to absorb. If all the eggs are added at once, it's harder to get the consistency needed for the topping (choux paste) to hold steam and rise properly.

2. Danish pastry originated when the Danes added sweet fillings to Austrian pastry. The result--a crispy, golden puff with a luscious, surprise filling--earned praise even from the Austrians!
3. Balance the sweet almond flavor by serving with a small bowl of lemon curd garnished with mint.