Danish the quick way.

[MixUp]

imagine not folding the dough but just continuing to roll it out.
if you start with 1 sq foot , adding butter usually doubles the surface area to 2 sq ft.
a 3 fold triples it to 6 sq feet. A second 3 fold makes it 18 sq feet and the third time makes 54 sq feet surface area.
Thats bigger than a super king size mattress 8 feet by 7 feet. The dough/butter lamination is getting kinda thin.

You got away with 6 folds because butter was introduced at a later stage, so the butter layers were not as thin.

Only half the butter was folded 6 times. Its a slack dough, tolerant to processing.
When the rolling hits the wall and won't go any further a few minutes rest on the table is all it needs.
A smoke break and its ready to go.... Less drama makes better bakers.

Yeah, I should have chilled it at that half point and let it rest. But it was the end of the night and I was trying to get to cleanup (and prepping a bread dough to ferment before bed as well) so I brute forced through it. I figured it was going to be kind of mediocre as a result. I was surprised it turned out like nothing ever happened!

That said, baking is becoming a mess. Total madness in the world of baking. Flours are sold out everywhere, even KAF itself has none (none! How does a mill have no flour?). The Prem. yeast is gone. Normal Instant still available for now. There's a bigger run on baking supplies than on TP. How did the entire world learn to bake bread & pastry in a week? I tried to get some hi-heat milk and "clean" conditioner - all sold out since yesterday morning. I ended up buying 10# of your Reddi Sponge after all! Carcinogenic bromide sounds like a lesser evil at the moment. Never thought baking supplies would end up being a shortage item. I found 50# decent flour, but while the rest of the world is hoarding flour they're never going to actually use, I'm worried 50# isn't going to carry my past 4-5 weeks! That's my actual supply! I'd buy 50# more while it's there, but I'm afraid pests will just get to it out in the open.

Since the easter breads might be deferred I might do another pastry run. If I can get butter and eggs which seems questionable. *sigh* I had to pick now to get back into baking.

Could be worse. Could be retail....

 

[retired baker]

Yeah, I should have chilled it at that half point and let it rest. But it was the end of the night and I was trying to get to cleanup (and prepping a bread dough to ferment before bed as well) so I brute forced through it. I figured it was going to be kind of mediocre as a result. I was surprised it turned out like nothing ever happened!

That said, baking is becoming a mess. Total madness in the world of baking. Flours are sold out everywhere, even KAF itself has none (none! How does a mill have no flour?). The Prem. yeast is gone. Normal Instant still available for now. There's a bigger run on baking supplies than on TP. How did the entire world learn to bake bread & pastry in a week? I tried to get some hi-heat milk and "clean" conditioner - all sold out since yesterday morning. I ended up buying 10# of your Reddi Sponge after all! Carcinogenic bromide sounds like a lesser evil at the moment. Never thought baking supplies would end up being a shortage item. I found 50# decent flour, but while the rest of the world is hoarding flour they're never going to actually use, I'm worried 50# isn't going to carry my past 4-5 weeks! That's my actual supply! I'd buy 50# more while it's there, but I'm afraid pests will just get to it out in the open.

Since the easter breads might be deferred I might do another pastry run. If I can get butter and eggs which seems questionable. *sigh* I had to pick now to get back into baking.

Could be worse. Could be retail....

My brother is still working, he's a baker for a cafe in MA , tells me they're down to 2 days.
He fills the freezer with raw croissants, the owner proof and bakes it.

Anyway, no I wouldn't say you should have chilled it, if you get it rolled with no bleeding or turning to mush it worked.
You did perfectly fine.

I just stumbled across a very good demonstration of reverse puff dough, typical youtube chefs spend hours or days folding.
this woman did it all in one shot and did it right, this is how we do it commercially.
Personally I use less flour in the butter but she did great , whoever taught her knew exactly how its done.

 

[MixUp]

My brother is still working, he's a baker for a cafe in MA , tells me they're down to 2 days.
He fills the freezer with raw croissants, the owner proof and bakes it.

Anyway, no I wouldn't say you should have chilled it, if you get it rolled with no bleeding or turning to mush it worked.
You did perfectly fine.

I just stumbled across a very good demonstration of reverse puff dough, typical youtube chefs spend hours or days folding.
this woman did it all in one shot and did it right, this is how we do it commercially.
Personally I use less flour in the butter but she did great , whoever taught her knew exactly how its done.

They're splitting days on different steps than I am (shape & freeze then thaw & proof versus laminate and refrigerate, then shape & proof the next day. But yeah, I do like that 2 day split where possible (3 days for me just because I'm not pounding the butter when I'm laminating like you guys are. If I had a really solid table, I would do it that way and eliminate day 1...but it's not a big deal.)

I think with pastry, and bread to a lesser degree the kitchen schedule, and managing refrigerator/freezer space is probably more complicated than making the product. At home, where we're not working a schedule or products slotted in (and have to do FIFO on the oven/proofer without extra capacity, the "wait an hour" tends to be "wait an hour" more than "do something else." Better to shove it in the fridge and not wait for it, just do things on different days. And as a side benefit you actually get better tasting products that way!

I might do another batch this weekend. Assuming I can get butter & supplies. Nothing is available anywhere. There needs to be a separate line with reserved supply "No, I'm not panic buying 50lb of flour and 6 dozen eggs....this is my normal order, check my receipts."

 

[retired baker]

They're splitting days on different steps than I am (shape & freeze then thaw & proof versus laminate and refrigerate, then shape & proof the next day. But yeah, I do like that 2 day split where possible (3 days for me just because I'm not pounding the butter when I'm laminating like you guys are. If I had a really solid table, I would do it that way and eliminate day 1...but it's not a big deal.)

I think with pastry, and bread to a lesser degree the kitchen schedule, and managing refrigerator/freezer space is probably more complicated than making the product. At home, where we're not working a schedule or products slotted in (and have to do FIFO on the oven/proofer without extra capacity, the "wait an hour" tends to be "wait an hour" more than "do something else." Better to shove it in the fridge and not wait for it, just do things on different days. And as a side benefit you actually get better tasting products that way!

I might do another batch this weekend. Assuming I can get butter & supplies. Nothing is available anywhere. There needs to be a separate line with reserved supply "No, I'm not panic buying 50lb of flour and 6 dozen eggs....this is my normal order, check my receipts."

The common complaint isn't for lack of taste, its the multi day process, that should be an option, if you don't mind the wait and want that full flavor then why not. But if you want it today ,theres another option that isn't common knowledge.
I just made 1500 layer reverse puff dough, same thing , did it all in one shot with only a few minutes rest period without any chilling during the whole operation. Burned my palate eating palmiers hot from the oven.

 

[MixUp]

The common complaint isn't for lack of taste, its the multi day process, that should be an option, if you don't mind the wait and want that full flavor then why not. But if you want it today ,theres another option that isn't common knowledge.
I just made 1500 layer reverse puff dough, same thing , did it all in one shot with only a few minutes rest period without any chilling during the whole operation. Burned my palate eating palmiers hot from the oven.

Oh, yeah, laminating right after mixing, and doing the whole lamination immediately is a godsend..... That really changed the game for pastry dough. It makes me wonder why so many (commercially!) Have stuck with the chill and rest between folds so long.

Resting overnight though, sure it helps flavor and texture a lot, but mostly I just find it easier most of the time to stop at any step that requires fermentation or resting and let it go overnight. Easier than waiting for it if youre not making other things that fill that time.

Actually today i did Easter bread. That's a straight dough, no overnight, just a short bulk ferment before braiding. I took that time to make and laminate the danish dough. That's in the fridge resting and fermenting for tomorrow to shape and bake. I remembered to divide the dough this week....

1500 layers. How many folds was that unchilled?

"Keep it cold and keep it moving" was the mantra drummed into me (and everyone else) over and over on pastry. You've shattered that in a single thread!

Palmier! You need to do that video next...

 

[retired baker]

Oh, yeah, laminating right after mixing, and doing the whole lamination immediately is a godsend..... That really changed the game for pastry dough. It makes me wonder why so many (commercially!) Have stuck with the chill and rest between folds so long.

Resting overnight though, sure it helps flavor and texture a lot, but mostly I just find it easier most of the time to stop at any step that requires fermentation or resting and let it go overnight. Easier than waiting for it if youre not making other things that fill that time.

Actually today i did Easter bread. That's a straight dough, no overnight, just a short bulk ferment before braiding. I took that time to make and laminate the danish dough. That's in the fridge resting and fermenting for tomorrow to shape and bake. I remembered to divide the dough this week....

1500 layers. How many folds was that unchilled?

"Keep it cold and keep it moving" was the mantra drummed into me (and everyone else) over and over on pastry. You've shattered that in a single thread!

Palmier! You need to do that video next...

What is easter bread? like hot cross ? spicey fruity ? eggy?

I put a puff dough video up earlier today, 6 folds, first 4 go are done in one shot, then leave the dough on the table for 20 minutes and then the last 2 folds can be done. I started with stone cold butter and hammered it out.
Kitchen temp was 70F.

After it was all folded I chilled it and took a nap, 4 hrs later I made palmiers.

 

[MixUp]

What is easter bread? like hot cross ? spicey fruity ? eggy?

I put a puff dough video up earlier today, 6 folds, first 4 go are done in one shot, then leave the dough on the table for 20 minutes and then the last 2 folds can be done. I started with stone cold butter and hammered it out.
Kitchen temp was 70F.

After it was all folded I chilled it and took a nap, 4 hrs later I made palmiers.

As with most Italian specialities it's actually a dozen different things depending on region, all called "Easter bread"which causes lots of confusion for bakeries offering it! For some it's a fairly lean bread, only mildly enriched, a hint of anise, meant to go with dinner. For some it's like you describe, more like a fruit cake or hot cross bun. Some are more like the Italian Easter meat pies loaded with hard cheeses, salamis, soppressata, exceedingly rich, wrapped in a pizza like dough.

This one, however, is a very enriched sweet bread, more of a dessert bread. A lot of them are sort of sweet roll like - not too sweet. My recipe is actually very brioche-like. Less egg, more sugar and milk. A little butter. I found some hi heat milk so i didn't have to bother with scalding. It's pretty rich. The main thing is it has a good amount of anise extract (or oil... My oil is delayed a week) and anise seeds. So it's a sweet brioche like dough with a strong anise aroma and taste.

Most types of Easter breads are braided. I do traditional round wreath braids, but some do a long challah type braid, and some, mostly for savory ones are double braided as crosses.

You can do a basic egg wash and put colored eggs in the dough before baking. Or I do a powdered sugar icing with colored nonpareils to decorate.

I'll have to post a picture next batch. This batch turned out well, but I've learned the rack spacing in my oven can't handle the oven spring. The bottom pan rose into the upper pan and then expanded sideways, filling the center in. The upper pan expanded into the broiler element and if course took a chunk out of the loaf. One pan next time. I'm going to use a cake heat core next time to keep it from filling in if that happens. an Easter bread miche is amusing, but not not what i intended.


I was going to do hot cross as well this year, but with all the scarcity of things, it's too many spices to hunt down. Plus finding the dried fruit in well priced decent quantity is hard in a good year...

Oh, I'll have to watch your puff video tomorrow!

I'm curious tomorrow to see how the danish batch works out with the "proper" dough division and laminating both halves separately vs my 6 folds half butter at a time last time.