The Art of Sourdough Danish Pastries: A Step-by-Step Guide

There’s something truly magical about the aroma of freshly baked pastries wafting through your kitchen, especially when you’re the one responsible for creating that delicious symphony of flavors. In this comprehensive guide, we’re diving deep into the world of Sourdough Danish Pastries, uncovering the secrets to making these heavenly treats right in your home. With a perfect blend of tradition and creativity, this recipe promises to elevate your baking skills and delight your taste buds.

Creating the Foundation: The Starter

Every great sourdough pastry begins with a lively starter. In a mixing bowl, combine 30g of starter, 60g of flour, and 60g of water. Let this mixture ferment until it’s bubbly and active. This living ingredient infuses your pastries with that distinctive tang and complex flavor profile that sets them apart from the ordinary. Patience is key here – a well-fed and active starter makes all the difference in the world.

Crafting the Perfect Dough

Once your starter is ready, it’s time to create the dough. In a large bowl, mix 450g of all-purpose flour, 50g of granulated sugar, a large egg, 100g of milk, 80g of water, your prepared starter, 1 teaspoon of salt, and optionally, ¼ teaspoon of ground cardamom for that aromatic twist. Incorporate these ingredients until you have a smooth, elastic dough. Don’t rush this step – allowing the dough to rest and rise ensures a light and airy pastry texture that melts in your mouth.

Filling and Shaping Your Pastries

Now comes the fun part – shaping and filling your Danish pastries. Roll out the dough into a rectangle and spread a luscious mixture of 113g of room-temperature cream cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, and powdered sugar. Add a handful of fresh or frozen berries for a burst of fruity goodness. Fold and layer the dough to create those iconic flaky pockets of goodness. For an extra layer of indulgence, prepare a butter packet by combining 250g of softened unsalted butter with 1 ½ tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Encase this buttery delight within your dough, creating multiple layers that will puff up beautifully in the oven.

Preheat your oven and brush the shaped pastries with a golden egg wash made by mixing a large egg with a tablespoon of water. Bake these treasures until they’re gloriously golden brown, their tempting aroma filling your kitchen. Once out of the oven, let them cool slightly before dusting with a touch of powdered sugar for that perfect finishing touch.

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A mother was advised by a pediatrician to only let the baby’s parents kiss the newborn, but her MIL had a different take on it The mother told her extended family members that no one can kiss the baby yet Image credits: ZealousidealTea5062 Image credits: Randall Hammer (not the actual photo) Image credits: ZealousidealTea5062 Seeing the mother kiss the baby before putting her to sleep, the baby’s grandmother asked if the “no kissing” rule had been changed Image credits: Polina Tankilevitch (not the actual photo) The baby’s mother responded that “no kissing” was only meant for people other than the baby’s parents and got called a hypocrite A young mother brought it to the Reddit community online after her disagreement with her mother-in-law and her sister-in-law, who called the woman a hypocrite for not letting people other than the baby’s parents kiss her until she turns at least 8-12 weeks. Despite the baby’s pediatrician recommending just that, the incident happened after the woman didn’t explicitly state that the baby’s parents are allowed to kiss their own baby and the baby’s grandmother acted surprised when she saw the baby’s mother kiss the baby before setting her to nap on her chest. In the beginning, the baby’s grandmother inquired if the pediatrician had updated the rules, and upon receiving a negative answer, she accused the baby’s mother of violating the rules, which culminated in the grandmother calling her daughter-in-law a hypocrite. While the baby’s grandmother eventually did apologize, she requested that the baby’s mother refrain from kissing her baby in front of her. To that, the mother explained that while she sympathized with the urge to kiss the baby, she wasn’t going to stop kissing the girl in front of her mother-in-law. This led to the woman’s mother-in-law as well as her sister-in-law coming back to calling the baby’s mother a hypocrite and accusing her of being disrespectful. The baby’s grandmother eventually apologized but requested that the baby’s mother not kiss her baby in front of her Image credits: Exergen Corporation (not the actual photo) The baby’s mother refused to stop kissing her baby in front of her mother-in-law and was called disrespectful The question of baby kissing might be briefly summed up as follows. On the one hand, touching and human contact are among crucial needs of a human baby in addition to newborns being very “kissable” indeed. Yet, based on recommendations of pediatricians, parents are strongly advised to ask the baby’s grandparents to wait until their little one is a little older. This is due to the newborn’s immune system being very fragile and unlearned, making any virus potentially dangerous. For this reason, it is advised to keep the lip-restraining rules for people outside an infant’s household, which might include extended family and grandparents. According to pediatrician Camile Sabella, ideally grandparents should refrain from kissing the baby for the first two-three months of the baby’s life. Naturally, asking the grandparents to not kiss the baby might lead to parents second-guessing if they are not being overprotective or causing some tension among extended family members. For this reason, Joshua Bartlett for Natural Baby Life listed tips on how to discuss boundaries of this sort with the child’s grandparents. They started by suggesting to assume the best – mostly, grandparents are coming from a place of excitement and love, rather than effort to control and undermine the baby’s parents. They advised explaining to the baby’s grandparents that these restraints are temporary and necessary due to fragile immune system of a newborn, rather than personal preferences. Natural Baby Life also advised pointing to an article on the topic and having the conversation in advance, possibly even before the baby is born, so that grandparents have time to process the request. Finally, Bartlett suggested to be clear about these boundaries, in addition to explaining that these are recommendations by the doctor. Coming back to the Redditor’s story, it gathered 10.7k upvotes on Reddit and people judged that the baby’s mother was not a jerk in this situation, as she was following the medical advice in addition to giving the necessary skin contact to her baby. Redditors shared their takes on the situation