Laminated butter pastry of Viennese origin but perfected in Denmark — layers of yeasted dough folded with butter dozens of times, shaped into spirals or envelopes around fruit, custard, or almond fillings.
The Vienna connection
The Danish pastry — wienerbrød (Vienna bread) in Denmark — originated when Danish bakers went on strike in 1850. The bakeries hired Viennese apprentices who introduced laminated dough (Plundergebäck) to Denmark. Danish bakers then refined the technique, adding their own yeast to make a richer, lighter pastry than the Austrian original. When the Viennese bakers returned, Danish bakers had made the pastry their own.
Lamination
The dough is laminated by enclosing a slab of cold butter in a yeasted dough, then folding and rolling repeatedly — typically 27 to 54 layers. This creates the characteristic flaky, pull-apart texture: during baking, the butter between the layers creates steam, puffing the layers apart. Unlike croissant dough, Danish dough contains eggs and more sugar, making it richer.
Classic shapes
- Spandauer — envelope shape, filled with vanilla custard or jam, glazed with icing
- Snegl — cinnamon spiral (like a large pain au raisin)
- Kringle — pretzel-shaped with remonce (almond-butter-sugar) filling
- Fransen — comb-shaped with fruit
- Æbleskive — apple-filled rounds (different technique but same pastry tradition)
Remonce
The distinctive filling used in many Danish pastries is remonce — a mixture of butter, sugar, and almonds or marzipan. It caramelises slightly during baking and gives a characteristic rich, almond-sweet flavour unique to Danish baking.