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Recipe By Brynie Greisman
This recipe originated in Ireland, where everything has potatoes in it, even the Danish! The potatoes make them really light and fluffy, and at the same time, give them a chewy texture. I tested these the day I started a diet (sound familiar??!), but I had to taste them to make sure they passed my scrutiny as well. They sure did! I challenge you to have just one, fresh from the oven!
Cook the potato in small pot of boiling water until very soft, about 15 minutes. (Or use one that you have left from supper!) Drain the potato. Transfer it to a food processor and puree until smooth. (Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula in the middle.)
Add the soy milk, margarine, sugar, and salt to the processor and blend well. Mix in the egg. Add the yeast and warm water and blend it in. Mix in one to two cups of flour until the dough is smooth.
Transfer the mixture to the mixing bowl of a mixer. (I know what you’re thinking: make two machines dirty??! But it’s worth it!) Add the rest of the flour and mix the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about five minutes.
Grease a large bowl. Form the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rise until doubled, about one and a half hours.
I tested this recipe using a combination of white flour (just a little!) and regular and pastry whole wheat flour. The results were very satisfactory — light and airy.(Honestly, do they look so “brown” in the photo??!) I also tried it without raisins as well (my family doesn’t care for them in baked goods) and they were perfect. Of course you can increase the amount of raisins and/or nuts as you like.
These Danish freeze beautifully. If you double the recipe for this purpose, use only one and a half teaspoons salt and not two. That’s the usual rule of thumb — whenever doubling a recipe, don’t double the salt.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). Line two 9x13-inch pans with Gefen Parchment Paper.
Mix together the white sugar and cinnamon in small bowl.
Punch down the dough. Roll it out to a very large rectangle. Sprinkle the cinnamon mixture over the dough. Sprinkle the nuts, raisins, and brown sugar evenly over the dough. Drizzle with oil.
Starting at the long side, roll the dough up tightly, jelly-roll style. Cut into approximately 24 slices. (If you want larger Danish, slice on the diagonal.) Arrange 12 in each pan, cut side down, spacing evenly. Cover them with a towel. Let the Danish rise until puffed and almost doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool for five minutes before serving.
Put a dollop of any fruit pie filling in the center of each Danish before baking. Yum!
Combine the confectioner’s (icing) sugar and dessert whip until you reach the desired consistency. Drizzle this over the danishes. Let the glaze harden before putting the danishes away.
