Custard pastries – Spandauer
Spandauer pastries are named after Spandau, the Berlin borough, although they don’t have anything to do with Germany – this pastry is as Danish as they come. In Denmark, these are most often made with either pastry cream or raspberry jam/jelly in the middle. They’re nicknamed ‘the baker’s bad eye’. Not a very charming name, admittedly, but you can forgive it because they are so delicious. Try experimenting with different fillings such as cherries, blueberries or even apricots. At home, I often add rhubarb pieces on top of the custard.
Servings: 12 to 14
Ingredients
- 1 portion of Danish Pastry dough – recipe here
- 1 portion of Remonce filling – recipe here
- ¼ portion of pastry cream or good-quality raspberry jam/jelly – can be bought here or here
- 1 beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon single/light creme for brushing
- 2-3 tablespoons roughly chopped hazelnuts
ICING/FROSTING
- 100 grams icing/confectioners' sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons hot water
Instructions
- On a lightly floured surface, carefully roll out the dough and cut into 12–14 squares of around 10 x 10 cm each.
- Place a generous teaspoon of remonce almond paste into the middle of each pastry square, then carefully fold each of the 4 corners in to meet in the middle, using the sticky remonce to hold the corners down. Use your thumb or a fork to secure the pastry. Place the pastries on the prepared baking sheets, then cover with cling film and set aside to rise for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) Gas 6.
- Brush the tops of each pastry with a little of the beaten egg mixture. Add a teaspoon of your preferred filling (pastry cream OR jam) into the centre of each square. Lastly, add a sprinkling of chopped toasted hazelnuts to the centre as well.
- Bake in the preheated oven for around 10–15 minutes or until golden brown, then remove and allow to cool before decorating. You may need to bake these for longer – it really depends on your oven, but they need to be baked through. Please note there is likely to be some butter spillage – keep a tray to catch the spill during baking.
- To make the icing, mix the icing sugar with 1–2 tablespoons of hot water, adding more if needed. You are looking for the consistency of runny honey. Fill the piping/pastry bag and pipe a loose spiral of white icing/frosting around the edges of each cooled pastry (too soon and the icing will melt).
Tip:
- You can make one batch of pastry dough and make two kinds of pastries – simply half this recipe to 6-7 Custard crowns and use the rest of the dough for your other choice. Please note you must NOT roll up the dough and re-roll out, this will ruin the layers.
Equipment
- 2 baking sheets, greased and lined with baking parchment
- a piping/pastry bag fitted with a small plain nozzle/tip
Notes
From the book ScandiKitchen Fika & Hygge by Bronte Aurell, photo by Pete Cassidy. Book available on Amazon or ScandiKitchen.
