It was not my intention to take the “easy way out” and make the recipe as written. This was one of those times that we had some freedom and it seems that I did not take advantage of it. The month has been a bit busy and life will be even busier until the end of August.
I made a half batch of dough before my last trip. It is now in the freezer, but I am just not sure how it is going to come out. It sat in my fridge for a few days before making it’s way to the freezer. While it rested in the fridge, it rose everyday and tried to squeeze it’s way out of the bag it was in.
I made poached quinces, thinking I was going to tuck those inside. They came out horrible. Not the quinces, the overall taste. Seems I left the vanilla beans in the package too long so they wound up with an awful plastic stench. Problem was, I had never touched a vanilla bean before and wasn’t too sure if maybe they smelled like that before they were used. Unfortunately, I just threw those out along with the awful poached quinces.
After the trip, I knew I needed to have another go at the dough. (The first batch is still in the freezer though.) I had a friend helping who got to zest an orange and knead bread dough for the very first time. I started a batch of sweet black bean paste but thought of the hour of stirring over the stove made me question if I should follow through. So, half the black beans were skinned and half remain intact in the fridge. More quinces called out to me, so I boiled them with cinnamon with the intention to make a quince jelly. All was well, but I just didn’t have the energy to blend and then cook them down again with sugar. Another recipe abandoned midway. Sure, I thought of other things…passionfruit, dulce de leche, brazil nut paste, cream cheese & jam, ham & cheese and the list could go on. But, in an effort to act quickly and truthfully without much thought, I chose to make the apple filling which was included with the recipe.
The apple filling seemed to be too liquidy for the dough and leaked a bit. I enjoyed the taste and while it cooked, I found it smelled like an apple danish. Everyone here was thrilled at the thought of eating it and I got rave reviews even though one guest is not a big bread eater and the other dislikes cooked apples. In the meantime, we thought of a list a few pages long of other filling ideas. Who knows, you may see this appear again soon with something a bit more creative and colorful.
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Apple Danish Bread is being served up for the June Daring Bakers Challenge. The Danish Bread was chosen by this months hosts, Kelly from Sass and Veracity and Ben from What’s Cookin’. Please visit the Daring Bakers Blogroll to see what other Danish Breads are being served up today!
Other Daring Baker Posts:
Passionfruit Opera Cake – May 2008
Cheesecake Pops – April 2008
Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake – March 2008
Julia Child’s French Bread – February 2008
Lime Meringue Pie Stars – January 2008
Christmas Yule Log – December 2007
Tender Potato Bread – November 2007
Perfect!!!
Your braid looks perfect! You will have to try quinces again – they are delicious!!
I can understand that you wanted your danish to be different, but if mine looked like this, I’d be in Danish heaven.
The dough looks delicious even before being baked. And the baked one – I can see why you got rave reviews!
Alexandra
Absolutely stunning braid…& brilliant spirit too! Love the layers you got…very pretty & delicious looking! WOW!!
Looks just divine! Beautiful!
even though you aren’t pleased with your filling, it looks amazing! you did a beautiful job
WOW, your braid looks AWESOME. I just love how well it rose and the braiding you did!
I basically just followed the recipe this month, too. Sometimes there is just not enough time to get creative! Your braid looks gorgeous, though!!
sorry your first batch didn’t come out well, but your final braid looks beautiful!
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I think the apple filling would have been great on ice cream. Your braid looks wonderful.
Your braid looks fantastic! Sorry to hear that your quince filling didn’t work out,
A testimony to the wonderful results of this recipe is that after making the recipe myself and looking at a dozen or so made by others, I can still get excited about how lovely yours looks.
Didn’t you just love this recipe?
Filling or no filling, what a beautiful braid! The layers look so wonderful. It’s just fantastic!
Beautiful flaky bread! Looks great.
Great braids, can’t wait to see what is on tap on your next go at it!!
That’s so beautiful – it actually doesn’t even look like it could be real
What a beautiful braid you have there. Congrats on a successful challenge.
Oh my word, that close up of the flaky pastry is serious PORN! *bow down to you*. Beautifully done
Your braids look soooo beautiful!!! and I can’t believe you didn’t use the quinces.. it must have tasted sooo nice with the quinces yum yum yum!!!
In regards of the runny filling.. after I had caramelized the apples, I took most of the liquid added about one tablespoon of cornstarch and cooked it for a little bit longer.. then re-added it to the filling and it was perfect..
Congratulations on your challenge!
Your braid looks absolutely perfect! You are right, this dough works will with so many different fillings, and what fun to try them all!
Despite the quince set-back, your braid still sounds and looks delicious!
Absolutely lovely
I wouldn’t apologize for sticking to the recipe, because you’ve done it so well! Beautiful!
Looks perfect to me! Well done. Quince sounds great, I often use it instead of apple with good results.