Rhubarb and Saffron Danish Pastry
Christiaan created this dish for Great British Bake Off ™ Series 15. This saffron-roasted rhubarb Danish was his sweet entry in the Pâtisserie Week Semi-Final Signature, paired with a savoury za'atar and Gruyère swirl. On a day when most bakers' lamination collapsed, his layers held clean and the fruit was handled perfectly. Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith both praised the punchy, tart rhubarb, with Paul reading it as a confident expression of Christiaan's bold, out-the-box style.
- Time: 300 min
Source: Relaxed Recipes
Ingredients
- FOR THE DANISH DOUGH
- Strong white bread flour — 250 g , plus extra for dusting
- Caster sugar — 30 g
- Fast-action dried yeast — 7 g
- Salt — 5 g
- Whole milk, cold — 120 ml
- Large egg — 1, beaten
- Unsalted butter, softened — 25 g
- FOR THE BUTTER BLOCK
- Unsalted butter, cold — 150 g , European-style, high fat, block form
- FOR THE SAFFRON CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE
- Whole milk — 250 ml
- Saffron threads — small pinch, infused into the milk
- Large egg yolks — 3
- Caster sugar — 50 g
- Cornflour — 20 g
- Vanilla extract — 5 ml
- Unsalted butter — 15 g
- FOR THE SAFFRON-ROASTED RHUBARB
- Rhubarb — 400 g , cut into 5 cm batons
- Caster sugar — 70 g
- Saffron threads — large pinch , bloomed in 1 tbsp warm water
- Orange — 1, zest and juice
- FOR ASSEMBLY & GLAZE
- Egg — 1, beaten with a splash of milk, for the wash
- Apricot jam — 60 g , warmed and sieved
- Pistachios, chopped — to garnish
- EQUIPMENT
- Stand mixer with dough hook
- Rolling pin, ruler and bench scraper
- Two baking sheets lined with parchment
- Small heavy saucepan
- Roasting tin or shallow baking dish
- Pastry brush; fine grater or zester
- Piping bag with a plain nozzle
- Wire cooling rack