Danish Pastry

Ingredient

1 cup warm milk

14g sachet dried yeast

2 teaspoons caster sugar

4 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup caster sugar extra

2 eggs , lightly beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

500 g cold unsalted butter

1- in a small bowl , mix together the milk , yeast and sugar . cover and leave in a warm place for 5 minutes , or until the mixture is frothy .

2- sift the flour into a large bowl with the salt and stir in the extra sugar . make a well in the centre and add the yeast mixture , egg and vanilla essence all at once . mix to a firm dough. turn onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes to form a smooth , elastic dough

3- place the dough in a lightly greased bowl  , cover and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. meanwhile roll the cold butter between two sheets of baking paper to a 15 x 20 cm rectangle and then refrigerate until required 

4- punch down the dough and knead for 1 minute . roll out to a rectangle 25 x 30 cm . place the butter in the center of the dough and fold up the bottom and top of the dough over the butter to join in the center . seal the edges with a rolling pin.

5- give the dough a quarter turn clockwise then roll out to 20 x 45 cm rectangle . fold over the top third of the pastry , than the bottom third and than give another quarter turn clockwise . cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes . repeat the rolling , folding and turning four more times . wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before using.