Danish Pastry Recipe (Homemade Wienerbrød Spandauer with Custard)
Easy-to-follow Danish pastry recipe: flaky homemade wienerbrød spandauer with buttery laminated dough, vanilla custard and icing.
This Danish pastry recipe makes real wienerbrød at home: a crisp, flaky, buttery pastry filled with sweet remonce butter and a spoon of vanilla custard, then finished with a drizzle of white icing. In Denmark these round pastries are called spandauer, and you will find them in every bakery window next to a coffee pot.
The name wienerbrød means "Vienna bread". The story Danes tell is that in the 1850s, during a wage strike, Copenhagen bakeries hired bakers from Austria. The Viennese brought their technique of folding butter into dough, and when the Danish bakers returned they added more butter, more folds and their own fillings. The rest of the world now calls the result "Danish", while Danes still credit Vienna.
The secret is lamination. A slab of cold butter is wrapped in a soft, lightly sweetened yeast dough flavoured with cardamom, then rolled and folded three times. Each fold multiplies the layers, so the finished dough has dozens of thin sheets of butter. In the hot oven the water in the butter turns to steam and pushes the layers apart, which is what makes the pastry shatter when you bite it. Keep everything cold: if the butter melts into the dough you get a bready bun instead of flaky pastry. Chill the dough whenever it feels soft or greasy.
Remonce is the classic Danish filling, simply soft butter beaten with sugar, sometimes with cinnamon or marzipan. Under the custard it melts into a caramel-like layer at the bottom of the pastry.
Swaps are easy. Use instant yeast instead of fresh yeast (one third of the weight). Replace the custard with raspberry jam or thick apple compote, or use grated marzipan mixed with butter and sugar for a richer remonce. You can make the dough a day ahead and keep it wrapped in the fridge after the last fold, then shape and bake in the morning.
Serve the pastries slightly warm with strong filter coffee, the Danish way, or set them out for a weekend brunch with fresh fruit. They are best on the day they are baked, but you can reheat them for five minutes in a hot oven to bring back the crunch.
Watch how it is made on our YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/shorts/6RBligPM174
Watch how it is made
Ingredients
- 500 g plain flour (plus extra for rolling)
- 25 g fresh yeastSubstitute: 8 g instant yeast
- 200 ml cold whole milk
- 1 egg, plus 1 egg for brushing
- 50 g sugar
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp salt
- 300 g cold unsalted butter, for the butter slab
- 75 g soft butter, for the remonce
- 75 g sugar, for the remonce
- 250 ml whole milk, for the custard
- 2 egg yolks
- 40 g sugar, for the custard
- 20 g cornstarch
- 1 tsp vanilla extractSubstitute: seeds of 1 vanilla pod
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp water, for the icing
Method
- Make the custard. Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornstarch, heat the milk, pour it over the yolks, then return everything to the pan and whisk over medium heat until thick. Stir in the vanilla, cover the surface with cling film and chill.
- Make the dough. Dissolve the yeast in the cold milk, then mix in the egg, sugar, cardamom, salt and flour. Knead briefly until smooth, flatten into a square, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Prepare the butter slab. Place the cold butter between two sheets of baking paper and beat and roll it into a 20 cm square. Keep it cold but bendable.
- Lock in the butter. Roll the dough into a 30 cm square, set the butter on it at a diagonal and fold the corners of the dough over it like an envelope, pinching the seams closed.
- Laminate the dough. Roll it into a long rectangle, fold it in three like a letter, wrap and chill for 20 minutes. Repeat to make three folds in total, chilling between each one.
- Make the remonce. Beat the soft butter and sugar together until pale and smooth.
- Shape the spandauer. Roll the dough 4 mm thick and cut 10 cm squares. Fold the four corners into the centre and press down firmly. Add a teaspoon of remonce in the middle and top with a spoon of custard.
- Proof the pastries. Leave them on lined trays at cool room temperature until puffy, about 45 minutes. Do not put them anywhere warm or the butter will leak.
- Bake. Brush with beaten egg and bake at 210°C (410°F) for 12 to 15 minutes until deep golden.
- Ice and serve. Mix the powdered sugar with the water, drizzle over the cooled pastries and serve the same day.
Work in a cool kitchen and keep the dough and butter at the same firm, bendable texture: if the butter cracks it is too cold, if it smears it is too warm. Brush off excess flour before every fold so the layers stay clean. A ruler helps you cut neat squares, and the pastries freeze well unbaked, so you can bake a few straight from the freezer, adding a few minutes to the time.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Danish name for Danish pastry?
In Denmark it is called wienerbrød, which means "Vienna bread", because the folded butter technique came from Austrian bakers working in Copenhagen in the 1800s.
What is the difference between Danish pastry and croissant dough?
Both are laminated, but Danish pastry dough is richer, with egg, more sugar and often cardamom, and it is usually filled with remonce, custard, jam or marzipan.
What is remonce?
Remonce is the traditional Danish pastry filling made by beating soft butter with sugar, sometimes flavoured with cinnamon, vanilla or marzipan.
Why did my Danish pastry leak butter in the oven?
The pastries were proofed somewhere too warm or the folds were uneven. Proof at cool room temperature and bake in a fully preheated hot oven.
Can I make Danish pastry dough ahead?
Yes. After the last fold, wrap the dough and keep it in the fridge overnight, or freeze it for up to a month and thaw it in the fridge.
Can I use store-bought puff pastry?
You can for a quick version, but it has no yeast or egg, so the result is crisper and less tender than real wienerbrød.
