Chocolate Pistachio Danish Braid

This stunning chocolate pistachio Danish braid uses an easy Danish pastry made from scratch with pistachio frangipane and chocolate glaze.

Start this recipe at least 1 day prior to serving or use puff pastry.

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Prep Time: 25

Cook Time: 25

Chilling time: 30

Total Time: 1 20

Servings: -10 slices

Calories: 425kcal

Equipment

Rolling Pin
Mixing bowls

For best results, weigh ingredients with a kitchen scale.

Ingredients

½ batch Danish pastry (notes 2)
2 tablespoons chopped pistachios for topping
1 large egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon milk or water (the egg wash)

PISTACHIO FILLING

50 g shelled and skinless pistachios or ground pistachios.
50 g unsalted butter softened
¼ white granulated sugar (50g / 1 ¾oz)
1 large egg
15 g plain flour (all-purpose flour) (½oz)
¼ teaspoon almond extract optional

CHOCOLATE GLAZE

60 g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) finely chopped (2 oz)
28 g butter (2 tablespoons / 1oz / ¼ stick)
2 teaspoons glucose syrup (or light corn syrup)

Instructions

START THE DANISH DOUGH 1-3 DAYS PRIOR or see notes #2.
FOR THE PISTACHIO FILLING (if you have ground pistachios, you can go straight to the next step. Add the pistachios to a food processor or blender and process to a fine crumb. Make sure to stop and mix regularly so the nuts don’t turn oily. If they’re getting too warm stop for a few minutes then return to it. Nuts can turn to nut butter very quickly and we don’t want that here.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment or large bowl using a hand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
One at a time, add the eggs beating on low each time until each one is fully incorporated. Add the almond extract with the last egg.
Fold in the ground pistachios and plain flour with a spatula.
ROLL OUT THE DOUGH: You only need half a batch of the Danish dough recipe for this so cut the dough into 2 squares, wrap one well and freeze it for another time.
Roll one square of dough out into a rectangle about 32.5x27.5cm (13×11 inches) keeping the sides as straight as possible. You want it to be about 4mm/⅙ inch thick – no thicker. Trim if you need.
Transfer to a sheet of baking paper or silicone baking mat.
SHAPE THE DANISH (see detailed process shots in the post above): With the longest side closest to you, measure or eyeball 11cm (4 ½ inches) in from each side and score a line down towards you, don’t cut through, just score so you can see three sections easily. So, with the longest side toward you, you should see a left side, a middle section and a right section.
On the left and right sections using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut 1 inch thick strips, starting from the scored line next to the middle section all the way in a horizontal line to the edges. You should end up with 10 or so strips (1 more or less is fine).
Spread the pistachio filling over the central portion of dough.
Take the top right strip and pull it around the topping at the top edge so that it lies over it but is also holding it in at the top. Now take the top left strip and pull that over the top so that it just overlaps the edge of the first strip - press it down against the base of the next strip on the opposite side. Now, continue taking one from the right, then from the left, each time laying the strip over the filling and pressing it down at the base of the next strip.
When you get to the last one, fold it straight around the bottom section of filling and tuck the end underneath the Danish braid on the other side to hold it in place.
Using the paper or silicone mat, lift the Danish onto a large baking sheet. Sit at room temperature, covered with a tea towel for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan forced) / 350F.
After the 45 minutes, use the paper or baking mat to lift the braid and place it on a plate or just some firm but flat in the freezer for 15 minutes (this will help it hold it’s shape better when you bake it).
BAKE THE DANISH: Brush the egg wash over the Danish braid. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and the pastry is cooked through. Let it cool before glazing.
-m If you don’t get perfect overlaps on the braid, you might find some of the filling pushes out as it bakes. You can just use a knife to push it back in as much as possible. Every so often the top might crack and cause the Danish to spread out in one spot (this is just because this is a cheats Danish pastry and the butter that’s close to the surface might crack the thin dough as it melts and creates steam inside. If this happens, once you take the Danish braid out, whilst still hot, push something (preferably with a square edge like a square bottle) up against each side as it cools to push the centre back together. As it cools and sets, it will hold a perfect shape again.
FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE: Combine the glaze ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 30 second increments, stirring well between each, until fully melted and combined. You can also do this over a bain marie if you prefer.
Drizzle the glaze over the cooled Danish braid then scatter over chopped pistachios.
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Notes

Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
Danish pastry: If you don’t feel like making it from scratch, you can use 1 sheet of puff pastry in it’s place. The texture will be a little different but it will still be lovely and quick.

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