I remembered. Into the fridge every two turns. Unfortunately, because I followed the recipe (now edited) in my previous attempt, I screwed up the ratios and had to kinda wing it. I baked at 180°C, which seemed pretty good.
Things to research for next time(s):
Do I need a stronger flour? Weaker flour?
Stronger is easy – I just add some gluten flour into the dough. I will try that first.
Should the dough be less hydrated? More hydrated?
Should I try an even slightly cooler oven? Or hotter?
I failed. Again.
Which, I guess, is to be expected, because wienerbröd are notoriously difficult to do well. I also didn’t do the FIRST thing I said I was going to do differently the last time, which was to chill the dough between turns.
I do think, however, I have pretty good dough ratios. 1 egg, 200 100 ml milk, 240 g flour, 20 g sugar, 1 pinch of salt. 250g butter for rolling into the dough.
Don’t let me forget to chill the dough next time.
One of my many amazing neighbours dropped a unicycle off to us yesterday. I’ve never tried to ride a unicycle before, but it’s one of those things I’ve always wanted to learn. So – no time like the present!
I’d like to think I’ll be able to ride this thing within a month or two if I practise daily. I’m over 40 now, so I assume skill acquisition isn’t at its peak. We’ll see!
I really want to learn how to make a good Danish. Or even a great Danish. I’ve tried twice so far and while I’ve ended up with good looking and delicious tasting baked goods, they aren’t really Danishes. They’re bready and that delicious crackly crispyness. I plan on documenting my failures, and the changes I want to make, and hopefully the final success of a good (or great) Danish.
Attempt #1
I, foolishly, didn’t write down the ratios I used for Attempt #1. But I think it’s safe to say that I didn’t use enough sugar in the dough. I think it was roughly 500g flour, 2 eggs, 200ml milk, 50ml of sugar, and ~400g butter. 225°C oven.
Attempt #2 was better in flavour, because of increased level of sugar in the dough, but I didn’t bake them for long enough, I think. They’re still doughy.
Attempt #2
The lamination is still good, but because of the way that I shaped them, it doesn’t show up in the same way as in Attempt #1. This time I used:
480g flour, 2 eggs (didn’t weigh them), 200ml milk and ~400g butter. I told myself that I was going to do more turns with the dough this time than I did in Attempt #1, but because of something I saw on YouTube, I stopped at 6. 225°C oven, again, but I didn’t leave them in for long enough.
I think I’ve been rushing the dough making process, and not chilling the dough like I should.
So for Attempt #3, I will do the following:
Chill the dough for half an hour every two turns.
Record the ingredients more meticulously
Try 8 turns, because I don’t think my initial layering is perfect enough that 6 turns is enough
