Wienerbrødsdej (Vienna Bread Dough)
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Wienerbrødsdej is more commonly referred to as Danish Pastry dough. It actually translates as Vienna Bread Dough. It's a sweet, laminated dough that is enriched with butter and forms the base for many pastry-styled doughs from Danish pastries to French croissants and pain au chocolat (chocolatines) to Spandauer-style pastries filled with vanilla custard.
The possibilities are considerable. You'll find the basic pastry dough used to house jam, apricots, cherries, raisins, almonds and pecans. You'll find it with a touch of cardamon - a hint of the exotic or filled with dulce de leche and dulce de membrillo.
Danish and Danish-style pastries originated around 1850. Danish bakery workers were on strike and Austrian labour was brought in to make up the shortfall. With them, they brought Austrian pastry techniques including new baking recipes incorporating far more egg and fat than was previously used.
We're used to thinking that the croissant in France was far earlier...in fact, the crescent shape of the croissant dates back to the kipferl, which has originated in Austria, again, but way back in the 13th century. However, the kipferl was yeast leavened and very much a bread roll. the modern-day croissant, made from layers of pastry enriched with butter first made its appearance in French cuisine in 1905, but very much borrowed (or maybe hijacked) from the Austrian traditions that date five decades earlier. The same traditions had been taken to Denmark during the labour disputes.
So, the generic, Austrian, laminated dough became the basis for the French croissant and the pain au chocolat in France and the whole wealth of Danish pastries in Denmark. Migration took the pastry around the World and the rest, as they say, is history.
You'll find as many different ways to prepare laminated dough as there are styles of Danish pastries. It's a challenging dough that requires the very best ingredients and a good deal of time and patience.
Aficionados will have their own particular way of preparing the dough and there are differences between French and Danish methods.
In my library, I've several sources that concern themselves with 'the correct way to make (croissant) dough'...and they're all variations on a theme...some far more different than others.
The more you experiment with this dough, the more you'll want to learn about different techniques and the finesse that experienced bakers bring to the process.
But, that is for another day.
Today, this is about helping you to produce a good quality Danish pastry dough that is versatile enough that it can be used for a whole variety of different styles and presentations. A good quality Wienerbrødsdej.
But first, a word about ingredients.
Sugar - try to use white, caster sugar (US: superfine)
Butter - try to source a high-fat European butter. At least 82% butter fat - one that has been churned longer than other butter.
Milk - whole-fat milk.
Flour - strong white bread flour is fine. I'm using Foricher Farine de Gruau T45 French Croissant flour but if you can't source this you can use a blend of strong bread flour and plain(AP flour) Mix your flour 50:50.
Salt - sea salt or Kosher salt. (not iodised cooking or table salt)
Yeast - for this, I'm using instant dried yeast. It works well.
INGREDIENTS
For the dough (DAY ONE):
500 gms Type 45 French flour or Croissant flour or 50:50 blend of strong bread flour and plain (AP) flour
140 gms cold water
140 gms cold whole milk
55 gms caster (superfine) sugar
40 gms unsalted European butter (at least 82% milk fat)
12 gms crushed sea salt
11 gms instant active yeast
For the lamination (DAY 2) :
250 gms cold unsalted European butter (at least 82% milk fat)
For the glaze (DAY 3):
1 egg / splash of milk / pinch of salt for egg/milk wash (The very tiny pinch of salt in the egg alters the molecular structure of the egg and enables you to create a smooth egg/milk wash....only a tiny, tiny amount of salt is necessary - barely a pinch)
DAY ONE
Make the dough.
Add all the dough ingredients and bring together into a sticky dough. Knead for about 5 minutes until you have a moderate gluten dough. It's best not to over-knead at this stage.
Form the dough into a ball. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it, and place it in the refrigerator (top shelf) overnight.
DAY TWO
Take the butter out of the refrigerator. Cut it lengthways and lay the two pieces next to each other on a piece of greaseproof paper/baking parchment/food wrap
Flatten the butter until it is 1 cm thick and about 15 cm square.
Wrap the butter in the paper and return to the refrigerator.
T
P
Now, let's move on to the dough.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator and place it on a well-floured board.
Roll the dough out to be roughly twice the size of the newly-shaped butter block.
Place the butter on the dough and begin to seal in the butter.
Sealing in the dough
Fold the dough sides over to meet at the mid-point of the butter and seal the join as well as at the edges. You have now sealed in the butter and made a parcel.
Place the dough in a plastic bag and leave in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes.
First lamination - the same process
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and from the plastic bag. Position the dough so that the short sides are facing you and the longer sides are to your left and right.
Flour the worktop and keep flour handy to help stop the dough from sticking. Keep checking that the dough isn't sticking to the worktop. Don't rush, but try to work at a decent pace...you don't want the dough and the butter warming up.
Roll the dough with a rolling pin until the rectangle is at least twice the length that you had before. Try to hold the pin at the end so that the pressure on the dough is equal along the length of the pin.
If the dough is resistant at any time, wrap it in the paper and return it to the refrigerator for 10 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. Then, take it out and continue from where you left off.
Take both the short sides of the long rectangle and bring them to meet in the middle. Then fold the whole as though you were closing a book, to make a narrow rectangle.
Return the dough to the plastic bag and place it in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes.
Second lamination - the same process
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and from the plastic bag. Position the dough so that the short sides are facing you and the longer sides are to your left and right.
Flour the worktop and keep flour handy to help stop the dough from sticking. Keep checking that the dough isn't sticking to the worktop. Don't rush, but try to work at a decent pace...you don't want the dough and the butter warming up.
Once again, roll out the dough as you did for the first lamination. Roll it into a long rectangle, twice the length of the original.
If the dough is resistant at any time, wrap it in the paper and return it to the refrigerator for 10 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. Then, take it out and continue from where you left off.
Bring the short sides to meet in the middle and then fold the whole dough into two as though closing a book.
Return the dough to the plastic bag and to the refrigerator for 45 minutes
Third lamination - the same process
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and from the plastic bag. Position the dough so that the short sides are facing you and the longer sides are to your left and right.
Flour the worktop and keep flour handy to help stop the dough from sticking. Keep checking that the dough isn't sticking to the worktop. Don't rush, but try to work at a decent pace...you don't want the dough and the butter warming up.
Once again, roll out the dough as you did for the first lamination. Roll it into a long rectangle, twice the length of the original.
If the dough is resistant at any time, wrap it in the paper and return it to the refrigerator for 10 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. Then, take it out and continue from where you left off.
Bring the short sides to meet in the middle and then fold the whole dough into two as though closing a book.
Return the dough to the plastic bag and to the refrigerator and leave overnight.
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| After the third lamination - you can trim the edges if you wish |
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| Remember, the trimmed edges can also be rolled out and folded the same - only in miniature. |
DAY THREE
The dough is now ready for use. Below you'll find some ideas of how you can use your Wienerbrødsdej dough but the possibilities are many.
This is what I did!
I divided the dough into half.
I rolled out one half until it was about 4mm in thickness. If the dough started to be a little stubborn, I returned it to the refrigerator for 10 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. If it puts up a fight, don't fight it...allow it to rest. By rolling heavily, you run the risk of ruining your laminations.
Once I had the dough rolled out, I marked both long sides and cut out large triangles for the croissants. The temptation is to roll these out to make the triangles longer. DON'T DO THIS!! Simply gently pull the triangles until they are about 30 cm or so..or long enough to roll and be gentle. Roll from the wide end and make sure the 'point' is underneath to stop them from unravelling during proofing.
Then, place the croissants on a baking sheet, cover and allow to proof. These took over 2 hours at 26⁰C.
Finally, an egg/milk wash and they were baked at 185⁰C for about 22 minutes.
Now? What will you do?
French-style Croissants: roll out the dough into a rectangle 60 cm by 20 cm, Use a pastry cutter and cut triangles with a 12 cm base (isosceles triangles!). Roll from the wide end to the tip and place on a prepared baking sheet with the tip points underneath to stop them from opening up. Leave them in a warm place until they have proofed (about 1.5 - 2 hours). Egg wash and bake at 200⁰C (with steam) for about 15 - 20 minutes. You may need to cover them with aluminium foil at times to help them cook evenly.
French-style Pain au chocolat (chocolatines): roll out the dough into rectangle 60 cm x 20 cm. Cut ten equal rectangles. Place a stick of dark chocolate along the short edge and roll so that the chocolate is in the centre of the dough. Place seam side down and proof as above. You will know when they are ready to bake as they will jiggle when shaken gently. Bake at 200⁰C for about 15 - 20 minutes.
Spandauer: roll out the dough 35 cm x 35 cm. Cut into equal-sized squares. Place a blob of marzipan in the centre of each square. Fold each corner into the middle to lock in the marzipan. Cover and allow to proof fully. Then eggwash the tops, make an indentation in the centre and add a little jam. Bake at 200⁰C for 15 - 20 minutes. Allow them to cool completely and then drizzle sugar icing over the top.
In fact, once you have your pastry rolled out, you can shape them in any way you wish...fill them with vanilla custard or jam, go sweet or savoury....this dough is that versatile.
Another source of ideas:
Pinwheels, snails, etc..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2CSeM3Ttt0
And something I never knew?
The curved, crescent-shaped croissant is that shape because it is laminated with margarine. The straight croissant is laminated with butter....I never knew that!
Just remember the three golden rules:
1. Plan in advance so that your dough is ready to work as soon as it comes out of the refrigerator.
2. Work reasonably quickly and handle the dough as little as possible. The warmth of your fingers is not good for the dough.
3. Allow sufficient time in a warm (but not hot) environment for the dough to proof fully. It'll take longer than you think. The dough should rise and be 'jiggly'. If it's not, it's not ready.
I've used the dough for a selection of pinwheels, some French-style mini-croissants and some pain au chocolat
Here they are at the start of a 2-hour proof at 24⁰C.
At the end of the proofing, no steam is required during baking as the butter within the layers creates its own steam.
The dough is egg-washed (add a pinch of salt to the beaten egg) and baked at 180⁰C (Fan) / 200⁰C (Conventional) until golden brown. If they start to scorch, cover them with a sheet of aluminium foil.
When baked, allow to cool on a wire tray.
Happy baking...
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