Danish Pockets with cream

Sift into a mixing bowl. Add two teaspoons of salt, 80 g of sugar and 2 teaspoons of instant dry yeast.

Mixing on low speed, add two eggs, 350 ml of room temperature milk, and 60 g of soft butter. Mix on medium speed, using the hook attachment (about 4 minutes). Cover and let rise until doubled in size (about 2 hours).

Spread the dough into a rectangle, cover with plastic wrap or place in a bag and refrigerate overnight.

Roll the dough into a rectangle 1 cm thick, keeping the edges and corners straight.

Using a rolling pin, beat 500 g of cold butter and shape it into a rectangle half the size of the dough.

Place the butter on half of the dough and fold the remaining dough over. Seal the edges using the rolling pin. Turn the dough 90 degrees, and roll into a rectangle 1 cm.

Visually divide the dough into 4 parts. Fold the two ends so that they meet in the middle, than fold the dough, just like closing a book. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Turn the dough 90 degrees, and roll it into a rectangle 1 cm thick.

Visually divide the dough into 3 parts. Fold one third of the dough over the center third, then fold the remaining third over the dough. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, and repeat once more, for 2-3 folds.

For the cream, mix 300 ml of milk with 60 g of sugar in a saucepan, stir and bring to a boil.

Combine three eggs, 60 g of sugar, 30 g of starch and 150 ml of milk in a bowl. Mix well until the mixture is smooth.

Stirring with a whisk, gradually add the hot milk into the egg mixture.

Stirring with the whisk, continue cooking until the pastry cream is thick.

Remove from the heat, add 50 g of butter and stir until melted. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a crust from forming. Cool the cream.

Remove the dough from the fridge, roll into a rectangle approximately 65×25 cm.

Cut the dough into 24 squares. Pipe the pastry cream in the center of each square. Fold the corners of the dough together and seal.

Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, cover, and let rise for an hour and a half.

Brush with egg wash and bake at 180°C until golden brown (above 15-20 minutes).

To prepare the apricot glaze, mix 70 g of apricot jam and 30 ml of water. Brush the dough with the apricot glaze while it is still hot, cool to room temperature and serve.