When I was growing up every year Mom would make danish rolls from scratch for Christmas. For Christmas breakfast we’d have broiled grapefruit (half a grapefruit sprinkled with brown sugar and broiled – every bit as nasty as it sounds) and danish. The danish would fill the house with a warm yeasty buttery smell, and were every bit as delicious as they smelled. Light and flaky, rich with butter and a caramel glaze.
As I grew up and had a family of my own, I started making the danish. It’s not a difficult task, but it takes most of day to complete. You start by rolling out a thin sheet of butter and chilling it. Then you roll out yeast dough, lay the butter on it, seal it and fold it in thirds. Chill and repeat at least 3 times.
My sister who lives in Texas and I call each other on Christmas Eve to see how far along we are in making the danish, then we call each other on Christmas Day to see how they turned out.
When you’re ready to bake them, slice the dough into strips and shape the danish into loose knots like this:
Let them rise for a while, then cook for just 8 minutes or so in a 350 degree oven. Top with an icing made by melting brown sugar and butter together, and the result looks like this:
and tastes, at least to me, like home.
You can’t ask for anything better than that for Christmas.
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