Cherry-Almond Danish

Every day till Christmas, we're bringing you 12 Days of Baking: 12 all-new baking recipes to lift holiday spirits -- from breakfast pastries to dinner rolls, and all the desserts you can handle.

Today: Amanda brings us her cherry-almond danish.

Once a year, at Christmas, my mother would make a morning danish. Her cherry almond twist had a buttery, downy crumb and layers of almond and cherry filling. The recipe came from a 1965 clipping in a magazine called "The American Home." It's remarkably easy to make. The dough, with its larding of butter and milk, is soft and easy to manage. And if you don't feel like kneading, then don't. Just cover the dough and let it proof overnight in the fridge.

I made a tweak to the recipe, because in the 47 years since the recipe was published, some improvements have been made to our food system -- also we've come to our senses. No longer do you need to speckle the dough with those abominable red candied cherries. We now have tart and sweet dried cherries -- and I took them and plumped them with some hot rum, and subbed them in.

When it comes time to shape the dough, don't stress. This dough is the most easy-going danish you'll ever meet. Flatten it with a rolling pin. Spread the almond filling on top, leaving an inch border on the side you want to use to seal the dough log. Dot it with the rum-cherries, and roll it up. Take your two rolls and twist them, like a twist-tie. Child's play!

In the version above, I forgot that I was supposed to make two twists with the dough, so instead I produced a mammoth loaf. It was a pretty impressive sight, the Mcmansion of danishes! It's also faster to make just one, but if you want to have a loaf for your family and a loaf to give away, then split the dough and make two twists. Do what you feel like, it's Christmas!

Cherry Almond Danish

Adapted from "The American Home," 1965

Makes 1 Large or 2 Small Danishes

Basic Yeast Dough

3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup warm water (105 degrees - 115 degrees F.)
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
5-5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

Cherry Almond Filling

1/2 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup rum (or other dark spirit)
2 egg whites
1 7-ounce tube almond paste
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sliced, blanched almonds
Sugar, for sprinkling

See the recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photos by James Ransom