Almond Danish Puff

I am so far behind in my blogs. My kitchen occupied most of my weekends through March and April. I sanded and restained my cabinets and painted the walls. It was a lot of work, but it was so worth the effort. I managed to cook and bake a little bit, but sitting down and typing up the blogs for what I was making just didn't seem to happen. So, now I'm trying to catch up. This little number here is absolutely worth your time. It takes a bit from beginning to eating, but the prep itself didn't take very long, and isn't very complicated. I found the recipe on Pinterest: Almond Danish Puff. 

Base

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsps water

Topping

1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs

Creamy Almond Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsps butter, softened
1 tsp almond extract
1-2 Tbsps warm water or 1 -2 Tbsps milk
sliced almonds

Heat oven to 350ºF.

Cut 1/2 cup softened butter into 1 cup flour, using pastry blender or crisscrossing two knives, until particles are size of coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons water over mixture; mix with fork. Gather pastry into ball; divide in half or quarters. Pat each piece into a rectangle, 12x3 inches (if two) or 6x3 inches (if four), about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Heat remaining 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water to rolling boil in 2-quart saucepan; remove from heat. Quickly stir in almond extract and 1 cup flour. Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat. Add eggs; beat until smooth.

Spread half of the topping over each rectangle. This was my first attempt at making these, so here's a lesson learned: you see I did not spread the topping to the edge of the bottom pastry. You should definitely spread it to completely cover the bottom pastry!

Bake about 1 hour or until topping is crisp and brown; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely.

While pastry cools, make the almond glaze. Mix 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2-3 tbsp softened butter, 1 tsp almond extract, and 1-2 tbsp warm water or milk until smooth and spreadable. When the pastries are completely cooled, spread the glaze over them.