Caramel and Custard Danish Slices
I made these Caramel and Custard Danish slices as it is my husband’s favourite. It’s his cheat day so he gets to eat all the treats he misses on other days. He also won an award at work for “Leader of the Year”, I am so proud of him and all his hard work and dedication. Today I put in some extra effort to cook him a great meal.
Did I mention we get to go to Mauritius, his prize for winning the award…so how can I not spoil him, see I’m trying to be extra nice. By the way, he loved the Caramel and Custard Danishes, he ate 3 of them so they must’ve been good.
We often buy the Woolworths Caramel and Custard Danish Slices and it’s never enough as there are only 4 in a pack. With this recipe I at least got 10 slices. My 10-year-old never eats the one from Woolworths, he never liked them and refused to eat them. However, he ate these and he told me he loved them.
You should know me by now, I do love shortcuts. I used store-bought puff pastry, which made my job so much easier and I had these slices done in minimal time. The one Woolworths makes has a softer pastry, mine was a little more flaky. There seems to be a shortage of vanilla pods or maybe vanilla pod suppliers are also on strike. We do live in South Africa after all. I’ve looked for the past month and nobody has them so I’ve given up on my quest to find vanilla pods. Vanilla extract to the rescue.
However they are still delicious with the right balance of sweetness. I never add too much sugar to anything I bake, so these were perfect for my family. The caramel also adds to the sweetness. If you prefer a sweeter version you can add more sugar to your custard.
Caramel and Custard Danish Slices
Ingredients
- 400 gram puff pastry I used Woolworths puff pastry
- 1/2 cup/125ml fresh cream If you don't have cream you can use milk only
- 1/2 cup/125ml Full cream milk
- 1/2 tspn vanilla extract
- 2 tspn vanilla custard powder I used the Woolworths brand
- 3 tspn granulated sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 tspn milk additional
- Caramel You may need about 6 teaspoons but you can use more if you wish
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 2 tspn milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius. Cut pastry in half lengthwise and cut each half into 5 even pieces
- Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until pastry is cooked. Place on a rack to cool
- In the meantime, add the vanilla to the milk and cream and bring to a boil on medium heat. Remove from heat
- Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, custard powder and 2 teaspoons of milk. I prefer adding the extra milk so I get a smooth mixture, it does help in getting rid of the lumps
- Pour the milk into the egg mixture, a little at a time, whisking continuously. Return to a low heat and stir until the mixture becomes thick and smooth. Remove from the heat and pass it through a sieve to get rid of any lumps. Set aside to cool
- For the glaze mix 2 tablespoons icing sugar with about 2 teaspoons water or milk until it's smooth
- Once the pastry cools down, spread the caramel on the inside of every slice of pastry. Then spread custard on half of the pastry slices and use the other slice to cover them. Drizzle the sugar glaze on top and refrigerate until ready to serve
