Wienerbrød

Let me tell you all about my Terrible Pastry Class.  The class took place at Terrible French Pastry School, which is owned by the chef, Frédéric Terrible.  It was excellent!

I learned how to make Wienerbrød, or "Viennese Bread," also known as Danish pastry (in America) or Viennoiserie (in France.)

Our Teacher

The class was taught in a really cool cooking studio in Frederiksberg.  There were like 6 or 8 ovens in there!  There were 8 students in my class.  We learned how to make the Spandauer (Christopher's favorite), a couple of Frøsnapper (pastry twists), and two types of Snagl (snails) which were cinnamon rolls and cranberry/matcha rolls.  

The Kanelsnagl (cinnamon roll) is my favorite Danish pastry.  It is filled with cinnamon, sugar and butter.

Cinnamon, Sugar & Butter for the Kanelsnagl

Kanel Snagl (Before)

Kanel Snagl & Cranberry Matcha Snagl (After)

Christopher's favorite Danish pastry is the Spandauer.  It's filled with Light Remonce, which is also called Lord Mayor cream.  It's basically a marzipan (almond, butter and sugar) cream.  There are different ways of folding the dough, but since the filling is the same, they are all basically Spandauers.  The Greque is folded like a picture frame.  

This pastry fold is called the Greque (Greek)

The Losange is more like a diamond twisty frame.  The Moulin is folded like a windmill.  

Losange, Moulin and Greque styles of folding 

In the end, they all look delicious.

Spandauer (After)

The Frøsnapper twists are usually covered with poppy seed and sesame seeds.  The name translates to "frog snappers," maybe because they are long like a frog's tongue.  We made two kinds, one with chocolate chips and one with seeds.  I used to eat the chocolate style in France all the time, where it was not twisted and called a Snoopy, Suisse Longue or Gourmandise (depending on the French pastry shop.). When making the traditional frøsnapper, the seeds get everywhere!

Chocolate Chip Frøsnapper (Before)

Chocolate Chip Frøsnapper (After)

Traditional Seeded Frøsnapper

We all baked our pastries together on the same trays.  To keep them from getting mixed up, we wrote our name/initials next to our pastries.  For some reason, I wrote "HD" next to mine, not "HB."  I didn't want to explain HB vs. HD to my classmates, I guess.  Not that they even know my full name.  Anyway, it felt so weird to me, so eventually I labeled my pastries "Heather."  I wanted to explain this because I know some eagle eye would notice and point this out and think that I am no longer "HB."  Rest assured, I will always be "HB!"

I am now on my way to the pastry shop to buy some of this yummy Wienerbrød!

P.S.  Just got back from Lakagehuset (the bakery) and discovered my new favorite Danish pastry!  The Kanelstang (Danish Cinnamon Twist.)

Kanelstang (My New Favorite)

På gensyn!