I biked down to the bakers this morning to get some Danish pastries for
breakfast. Now, please note, I don’t normally shell out exorbitant amounts
of money buying fresh pastries on bog-standard Wednesday mornings – it was a
special mid-week treat because we’ve friends visiting from London. Anyway, the
bakers shelves were jam-packed with sticky/crumbly/crunchy delights in all
shapes and sizes and it struck me that – gadzooks – it’s high time that I give
you a run-down on the myriad of wonderful, wonderful Great Dane-ish pastries!
Great Dane-ish Pastries!
Now, basics first. As you may know, the Danes don’t actually call
their pastries “Danish pastries” or “Danish”. They call them
“wienerbrød” (literally “Vienna bread”). So who invented them, the
Danes or the Austrians? Who knows and, to be honest, who cares?
En spandauer
Today I’m starting off – selvfølgelig – with my own, personal
favourite, en spandauer. (Yep, you guessed right, the name comes from
Spandau, Berlin. I have no idea why.) Spandauer are individual
pastries, as opposed to the long, log ones where you cut off a slice. The shape
is basically circular, it’s fairly low in height, with a space in the middle
that contains either a yellow custard/cream or (the one I always go for) a dollop of raspberry
jam, topped with chopped nuts and drizzled with lots of white icing.
Mmmmmmm!
Make mine with jam, please!
SPANDAUER – The final verdict!
Sweetness: 5 out of 5, a full-on sugar rush
Messiness: 3 out of 5, spandauers aren’t too crumbly but they’re pretty
sticky.
Current price: approx. Dkr 12 ($2.15 or £1.37)
Join me next time for more wonderful. wonderful Dane-ish pastries!
Velbekomme! (Bon appétit!)
Diane