These Danishes are shaped and baked, and then the lemon curd and fresh tropical fruit is added afterwards making them fresh and visually stunning.
ingredients
Lemon Curd
Danishes
directions
Melt the butter, sugar and lemon zest in a saucepot over medium heat until the butter melts fully (the sugar will not dissolve at this point). Whisk the eggs lemon juice and cornstarch together and whisk this into the pot. Continue to whisk the curd over medium heat until it thickens and just begins to bubble, about 7 minutes. Pour this through a strainer and cover the surface of the curd with plastic wrap. Cool the curd to room temperature, then chill completely.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the Danish dough into a rectangle 16-x-12-inches (40-x-30-cm) and trim the edges. Cut the pastry into twelve 4-inch (10 cm) squares. To make the pinwheel shape, cut a notch about 1 ½ inches (35 mm) from each corner towards the centre. Bring a point from each corner into the centre and press in firmly where all four points meet. Place the Danishes on a parchment-lined baking tray, cover with a tea towel and let the pastry rise 90 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 °F (190 °C). Press the centres of the Danishes, where the points meet, again, so that they stay in place when baking. Brush the Danish pinwheels with eggwash and bake for about 20 minutes, until a nice golden brown. Allow the Danishes to cool completely before topping.
To assemble, dollop a small spoonful of lemon curd in the centre of each Danish. Arrange small pieces of tropical fruit on top of the curd (you can play with the arrangements). Heat the apricot jam or apple jelly until bubbling (strain the apricot jam if there are fruit pieces) and brush this onto the fruit and Danish, to secure the fruit in place and add shine.