Almond Danish pastries

Boots, pretending to be sweet and cuddly before terrorising Barney…

I woke up this morning at about five, thanks to Boots the kitten kneading my hair, then swiping my eyes. This happened every few minutes, and eventually it just seemed easier to get up, go downstairs, and make Almond Danish pastries.

Well, what else are you supposed to do when you can't sleep?

Pinched from Nigella Lawson's Domestic Goddess, this is spectacularly easy - the pastry is made in the Cuisinart, and the whole thing smells and tastes deliciously authentic. It is a bit fiddly, I grant you, but I made the pastry, the filling and the clear glaze yesterday, so this morning is just assembly. The perfect thing to bring out for a weekend breakfast, or, in our case, to impress someone coming to our house today for a morning meeting.

For the pastry:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk at room temperature
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups white bread flour
1 package rapid-rise yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into thin slices.

Method:

Pour water and milk into cup, add egg, beating to mix.

Put flour, yeast, salt and sugar in Cuisinart and give one quick whizz to mix. Add butter and pulse briefly so butter is cut up a little, but there are still visible chunks of at least 1/2 inch.

Empty Cuisinart in large bowl, quickly add contents of cup, and fold together but don't overdo - you should have a gooey mess pebbled with butter lumps. Cover with Saran wrap, put in fridge and leave overnight, or up to four days.

When ready to turn it into pastry, remove from fridge, let it get to room temperature, and roll to 20" square. Fold the square into thirds, like a letter, roll into a square again, and repeat this step three times.

Cut in half, and put half in fridge or freezer for later, as this recipe is for six pastries, and you have enough pastry for twelve.

For Almond Danish:

Filling:
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons blanched almonds, toasted (I dry toast in a skillet on a medium flame, turning all the time until pale golden)
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons of 1 large egg white, beaten lightly.

For egg glaze:
1 large egg beaten with 2 tablespoons milk.

For clear glaze:
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

To make the filling process the almonds and sugar until finely ground, then add rest of filling ingredients. This can be kept in the fridge for a week.

Roll the pastry into a big square, cut into thirds, then in half down the middle, giving you roughly six squares. Take each square and put a tablespoon of almond mixture in center. Bring all the corners into the centre and pinch together.

Place on baking sheet, brush with egg glaze, and leave to rise until they double in size, around 1 12/ hours, meanwhile preheat the oven to 350.

When risen, cook for 15 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown.

Remove to wire rack, make remaining glazes. To make clear glaze bring to a boil sugar and water in a small pan, then remove from heat. When pastries have cooled slightly, brush with clear glaze.

For sugar glaze add water to sugar, a little at a time, to make a runny icing, and drizzle over pastries with fork when the glazed pastries are completely cold.