Guys, I went skiing for the first time this weekend. How was it? A complete and utter disaster. Well… okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Because the problem was, I was too good on the bunny slopes. So good that I managed to convince myself that it was a good idea to try skiing down from the top of the mountain after a couple runs down the bunny slope. I’ll spare you the gory details, but let’s just say it took me equal parts of crying and crashing to get down from the top.
And on to the pastry:
Sometimes, when life is really busy and filled with things like weekend ski trips, friends visiting from out of town, major projects at work, graphic design classes, and duathlon “training”, I’m exhausted and want to throw something quick and easy in the oven. No, wait — I need to throw something quick and easy in the oven.
Something like these orange sugar danish pastries:
All you need are a few sheets of frozen puff pastry, one orange, and a half cup of sugar. Boom! One of the most buttery and delicious breakfasts in a heartbeat, especially since the orange and sugar caramelize during the baking process to create a wonderful, sugary coat. When fresh out the oven, these danishes are simplyirresistible, with its orange-sugar interior in that glorious in-between state of slightly molten, but slightly crystallized texture.
I don’t know how other food bloggers do it. Balancing this blog and, well, life, is starting to catch up to me. So allow me a reprieve for not making the puff pastry from scratch. Besides, this recipe is just as good with the frozen puff pastry. I promise.
Get the Recipe:Orange Sugar Danish Pastries
Servings: 14 pastries the size of your palm
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Ingredients
- 1 large orange
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 box frozen puff pastry, thawed
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 (F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. Set aside.
Using a cheese grater or a zester, zest the orange into a small bowl.
Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon to the small bowl with the orange zest, rubbing the sugar and orange zest together until fragrant and a pale orange-yellow.
In case the puff pastry comes in a block, roll it with a rolling pin on a floured surface, until it’s about 2-3mm thick in a long rectangular shape. If it’s already that thin, just roll it out on the table and arrange it in a longrectangularshape.
Spread the orange sugar (from the third step) in a thin layer over the pastry, using the back of your hand to spread the sugar out as evenly as you can.
Use a sharp knife to divide the rolled out puff pastry into vertical strips, each about an inch wide. In the middle of each strip, make an additional cut starting half an inch from the top and finishing about an inch from the bottom of the strip. Fold the rectangle over this inner-cut. Don’t worry if you lose some sugar! You can always sprinkle what falls out on top of the danishes.
Hold a strip of puff pastry from both ends and start twisting it,turning each hand in opposite directions until you have a tall spiral shape. Hold one end of the strip in place with a finger, and roll the rest of the spiral around it until you get a small spiral. Tuck in the last end underneath the pastry, making sure you do so tightly so it won’t uncurl during the baking process.
Repeat for the remaining pastry strips until you fill your baking sheet with pastry-spirals, setting each spiral about 3 inches apart from one another.Refrigeratefor about 20 minutes before baking in the preheated oven for 14-18 minutes, or, until the orange sugar has caramelized and the puff pastry has turned into a golden brown.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review in the form below. I appreciate your feedback, and it helps others, too!
Breakfast Pastries
posted by Michelle Lopez on January 23, 2013 (last updated Apr 9, 2020)
14 comments Leave a comment »
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14 comments on “Orange Sugar Danish Pastries”
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Adventures in Dressmaking — Reply
Those are beautiful! I love the light orange zest-ey flavor in a dessert… wonder if I could add it to coconut macaroons next time I do them!
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Kae — Reply
okay these look incredible. I would probably eat the whole batch if it's just me and the pastries, so I'd better wait for my husband to get home before making them.
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westmetromommy — Reply
Yum! I may try these for my husband!
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Unknown — Reply
These look delicious! What a great idea using premade puff pastry.
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Elena @ CDACN — Reply
Oh my gosh those look amazing! I love the idea of using premade puff pastry. I'm way to lazy to DIY that. Those look delicious! hmmm…..Adds Puff pastry to grocery list.
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Mostly Burritos — Reply
Whoa nice these look awesome.
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Unknown — Reply
They look great but instead of 4 pictures all of finished product, it would have been nice to see 1 picture of the cutting and twisting step–thats not clear to me. Thanks anyway.
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michelle lopez — Reply
Hi there,
That is a completely fair statement. I'm working on getting pictures of the baking process for all my recipes, but it's really hard with having to bake/photo/etc all at the same time. While I can get away with no pictures for the most part, this is definitely one of the recipes where a step by step guide would have been handy.
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Anonymous — Reply
It is awesome how these pastries look. Haven't thought of using orange sugar before. This sounds really good!
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La Table De Nana — Reply
I just made these and they are not only lovely..they are delicious:) Thank you..
Hope you do not mind I will share on my little blog in the upcoming weeks with reference to here and you:)
I do the rub with lemon..never thought of orange..
I think it's one of my favorites now..
And how easy are these?
Last minute..and you are done:) -
pam — Reply
Shoot, I popped over here from someone else's blog who made these and neither of you did pictures along the process. I was always stunned I did so well in college when I consider how I don't do well reading directions. Give me pictures or someone to quickly walk me through by showing me a knitting pattern and I can do anything. I guess some of us just have those kinds of brains. But these do look good. Will have to show a baking friend and see what she can tell me.
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Marysol — Reply
These look simple enough to me, not to mention, delicious!
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Abigail Mifsud — Reply
This sounds delicious! I love orange infused pastries and came across this link through pinterest. I just read your blurb on the side about being inspired by the Hummingbird Bakery. Every time I pass their store front it's hard to move on. They make such pretty cupcakes and desserts and I think it's lovely that you've created a blog devoted to the bakery that inspired you so much. <3
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Sonia — Reply
I made these pastries several times already and I love them. Thanks for the recipe!
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