Do you ever start a recipe without reading through the whole procedure? Well, after being inspired by all the gorgeous variations of coffee cakes from March’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge, I wanted to make a cinnamon danish vs. a coffee cake ring. Instead of just using the delicious dough from the challenge or one of the numerous cinnamon bun doughs I had successfully baked before, I yearned for something new. Both Martha Stewart and John Barricelli had very similar danish doughs…but if I had read ahead I would have realized they were yeast versions of puff pastry. There goes my Saturday evening!
I hurried to ice this…waiting till it had cooled would have made a whiter, prettier drizzle. Bill didn’t seem to mind…he went for seconds and raved about how wonderful it tasted. In fact, terrific was the word. Guess it was worth a few extra steps! This was truly exceptional.
Cinnamon Roll Danish…inspired by recipes from Martha Stewart, John Barricelli, and Dorie Greenspan
Dough:
1/2 cup warm milk, 110º
1 envelope active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 sticks (1/2 pound) butter, at room temperature, cut into tablespoons
1egg
1 egg yolk
Filling:
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
Glaze:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2-3 tablespoons hot water
In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk. Stir and let sit about 5 minutes, till bubbles are visible. Using a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine flour, sugar, salt, cardamom and 2 tablespoons of the butter. Beat on low till the butter is incorporated and dough looks like corn meal, about 3-4 minutes. Add milk mixture and mix till dough comes together. Add egg and yolk and mix till just combined, 2-3 minutes. Don’t overmix.
Gently knead bread on a lightly floured surface till a smooth ball is formed, about 30 seconds. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 18 x 10 inch rectangle. Try to keep corners square. With the short side facing you, disperse the remaining butter over the top 2/3 of the dough. Fold the unbuttered bottom third up over half the buttered dough. Then make a second fold to seal in the butter (like folding a letter to stuff an envelope).
Roll the dough out again to a 18 x 10 inch rectangle, then fold the dough again as above. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for one hour. This folding and rolling is considered the “first turn.” Repeat the rolling and two more times, making sure to refrigerate for an hour between all turns. After the last turn, wrap well in plastic and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
When ready to bake, bring dough out to sit out at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Preheat to 350º.
Make filling by mixing softened butter, sugars and cinnamon. Roll out dough to a 18 x 10 inch rectangle. Place filling down center third of dough. Slice dough into strips from outer edge to filling at about 1/2 inch intervals. Do one side, then repeat in a similar fashion on the other side. Fold strips over filling, alternating sides to make a crosshatch pattern.
Place danish on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake about 30 minutes, till puffed and browned.
Make glaze by combining ingredients, adding hot water till desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over cooled danish.
{ 68 comments… read them below or add one }
Lizzy…this looks great…I’m not the accomplished baker you are…I don’t think I could pull this off.
Wow! What an awesome looking creation… You’ve done a really good job with the braiding… I love how neat and even it is! Thanks for sharing!
Lizzy……this looks ‘terific’ like your husband said and I’m sure tatses the same.. So neatly braided.I don’t think I could have the patience to do it. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Lizzy, your cake looked great with the braiding – I’ve never tried that. And the glaze was definitely a good idea!
Ya ya..I have been there..starting the action before reading thru the recipe and ended up in many baking disasters..the last one was macaroons..!!Sigh sigh..
The Danish looks really fluffy n yummy especially with the sinfully delicious icing!!
Liz, what a lovely roll!!! I love how it looks and definitely will love the taste too!! Great job , as always
Looks too difficult to make.. but really easy to eat
Lovely roll
That crosshatch pattern is so beautiful! I would love some of these with my coffee right now.
I know this would be a hit in our house!! This is a great combination.
Brandie
Oh that looks so gorgeous! You are such an amazing baker
I wish I can recreate this one 
Tes
http://tesathome.com
OMG. It has cardamom. How long did it take start to finish, Liz?
Gorgeous! If I close my eyes and sniff hard enough I think I can smell this beautiful Danish! I love the design….
Love how it looks, and the taste, hmmmm, the taste must be divine!
Lizzy-I can only marvel and drool over your yeast dough pastries because I know I will not be making them. I leave all of that for Lora.
So perfect, and beautiful. Would love a slice with my morning coffee:D
BTW-I would like to pay forward my award from Hungary to you. I will not be making a long list like I did in the past and linking it. (Just copy and paste) pay it forward, or just keep it for yourself. You deserve it well, my dear friend:D
Congratulations!
xoxo
I always start a recipe without reading the whole thing through
Thank you all for your sweet comments…this was truly a hit!!! You all could make this!
Kim, you need to allot about 3 hours to get the dough ready for the overnight rest, then probably less than 2 hours the next morning. You’d love this.
Lizzie, thanks so much for sharing your fabulous blogger award…I’ll come over to get it soon
I’d love to see Lora make this…she takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary!
Liz
what a wonderful danish roll!! I would just start at one end and try to eat my way through it!
i have never made this type of dough, I need to give it a try…sigh
thanks for the inspiration
Dennis
I’m so impressed by your dough braiding skills! It looks fabulous!
Beautiful, Lizzy! This pastry looks like something we would find at our favorite Danish bakery in Santa Barbara, Andersen’s.
So happy to find you in the “human” category, too! LOL!
What an accomplishment. It is stunning!
I can wait to try this! I love danish and cinnamon!, but never have it together. I already printed. Thanks so much for sharing Liz!
Gorgeous!
Liz, if there was an award for braiding dough, you would win it!! This is amazing… beautiful job!
Lizzy, that is brilliant. You just cannot go wrong with puff pastry and cinnamon. You made it so pretty, too.
this is my sons favorite what a great looking bread!
This looks so impressive. This would make any breakfast super special.
Absolutely gorgeous, Lizzy. Really beautiful and very tempting!!
ButterYum
Liz, this danish is incredibly impressive looking. Your baking prowess is amazing! I will dream of this tomorrow morning when I won’t be able to eat
)
It’s absolutely beautiful!
Oh wow, stunningly gorgeous and delicious?? I am bookmarking this one to make over the weekend. It’d be the perfect Sunday morning breakfast!
This looks beautiful and delicious too! Nice job!
This looks great! So fancy! I usually forget to read through the recipe before starting, which is why i have a lot of little oops in the kitchen! But, an oops sometimes makes for more fun!
Lizzy, ths is so neatly braided, I don’t think I can do it! Is so beautiful!
Oh, I lost count to all the recipes I started before reading all the directions. Sometimes is followed by tears. But life goes on and we learn from our mistakes. After all, we are not born bakers, we become one.
The danish sounds great. I have to try this yeast puff pastry, don’t you love working with yeast? So relaxing.
Thanks for sharing Lizzy
That looks soooo yummy. There is a French managed cafe near my place where I always enjoy going to in the morning for breakfast or brunch with girl friends. And I always order the Danish roll. It looks complicated for me to make, but maybe it’ll worth a try! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Your danish is beautiful. Almost (I did say almost) too pretty to eat. Great job!
What a beautiful danish! You did an amazing job with the braiding!
And yes, I have totally started recipes without finishing reading through the ingredients or procedure. In those cases, my end result never looks quite as great as this!!
Lizzy this look amazing and delicious, look really perfect!! gloria
Delicious and beautiful! Love the braiding! What an artist you are!
This cinnamon roll danish is so gorgeous! I would so love to have a piece right now!
Wow Lizzy, this is so beautiful..and tasty at the same time..Perfect for anytime dessert especially in the morning with a coffee!
Holy Cow!! I have got to start using yeast and make me some of this goodness!
what an awesome blog! I can`t wait to see your future posts!
have a great time,
Paula
This is so beautiful!! Looks yummy too
This is lovely! I would love to give it a try…perhaps for Easter brunch?
Even if it took the better part of your evening to put this together, you did a fantastic job! It’s gorgeous and I’m sure super delicious!! It’s fun to try new things, even if it takes a bit more time, it’s so worth it.
omigoodness! what a gorgeous danish! if you hadn’t mentioned anything about the icing, i totally wouldn’t have noticed (still don’t) – the braiding is mesmerizing…
Lizzy, that is so beautiful! I’ve bookmarked this recipe and will make it for sure!!
xx,
Tammy
Wow…what a gorgeous danish! And with all that butter, it has to be amazing!!
delicious flavourful cinnamon buns looks wonderful
Ohhh I can get the aromas of cinnamon straight from the computer screen! This looks so comforting and warm and yummy! It’s breakfast time here… how I wish I could have a slice of this with my tea!!!
Thank you for visiting me at Syrup and Biscuits. This danish looks to good to be real! I hope you get a chance to make the Beach Shrimp. If you do, please let me know what you think about it!
This looks beautiful! I love the final look awesome. Great post.
this is amazing! looks soo yummmmyyy .. glad to find your blog!
http://www.sunshineandsmile.com
Hellllo beautiful! I have got to try this.
Yes! I’m that girl who’s like “…uh, I didn’t realise I needed creme fraiche” in the middle of it. Must. read. instructions.
Fantastic braid. It’s almost a shame to cut into something so pretty.
It looks so perfect I wish I had some now
amazing!
Your danish braid turned out beautifully! I had a lot of fun making my braid for the DB challenge, what a great idea to use the braid style for cinnamon rolls!
The assembly of this recipe is oh so beautiful! I don’t think I could pull it off – I don’t think I have the patients for braiding. You did it so perfectly!
This is absolutely gorgeous!
What a beautiful danish! Thanks for commenting on Claudia’s guest post!
I see your from Indianapolis – my brother has lived there the last 14 years!
This looks scrumptious!
Love cinnamon in pretty much any form, but I would be more than happy to have a slice or three of this. It looks gorgeous and I’m sure was worth that extra effort.
wow.. lizzy.. it’s drolling post.. Looks Yummy! thx for sharing
This looks amazing!
I made this and i eat it today and it is so good. Thank you for the recipe.
Ah this looks quite complicated to put together but you nailed it beautifully. Looks delish!