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This recipe for Gluten Free Apricot Danish Pastries came about after a follower said she was struggling to find or make decent apricot pastries. Therefore, fuelled by demand this recipe development became a must rather than a need!
I knew it was going to be a relatively straight forward recipe to work out. The main component, gluten free puff pastry, is shop bought to make life easier. Even the custard filling is ready made in this case. However, I do give you tips on how to make your own dairy free custard to make these gluten, dairy and egg free Apricot Danish Pastries.
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Skip to the good bit
- What makes a pastry Danish?
- How do you make a gluten free Danish pastry?
- How do you make this Apricot Danish dairy free too?
- What other fruits could I use to make this Danish Pastry?
- How to make a Danish Pastry shape: step-by-step
- Other gluten free recipes you’ll love
- Equipment you will need
- Ingredients you will need
- Gluten Free Apricot Danish Pastries Recipe
What makes a pastry Danish?
This is where I completely debunk this recipe as NOT being a true Danish Pastry! A traditional Danish Pastry is in fact a layered bread made with yeast, butter, eggs, cream, milk and sugar. All the no-no’s that both Bethany and I cannot eat.
A traditional custard or jam filled Danish Pastry is called a Spandauer and there is a lovely recipe here for muggles who can eat ALL the gluten, dairy and eggs by two Danish sisters Emma and Sofie.
Yet here in the UK, I think the name Danish Pastry has been expanded to include various puff pastry creations such as the cinnamon swirl, the pain aux raisin and so on.
Actually, I may have entered into a vortex that is Danish baking and I’m not sure I’m coming back for a while! I have found so many bakes I want to make gluten and dairy free since researching the humble Danish Pastry (which let’s remember, this recipe technically is not!). Thanks to this amazing website Visit Denmark I have now added Brunsviger cake and Gåsebryst to my to-do-lists.
How do you make a gluten free Danish pastry?
As I alluded to in the introduction, I am all about making things simple so let’s forget what we just learnt in the previous paragraph and for these Gluten Free Apricot Danish Pastries I use gluten free puff pastry by JusRol.
There are other gluten free puffs on the market here in the UK such as Genius Ready to Roll Puff Pastry Blocks but these just aren’t as easy to use, you have to thaw them out first then roll them out, that takes time and we don’t all have the time or the energy for such shenanigans, especially if we’re looking after little ones or carers.
How do you make this Apricot Danish dairy free too?
There are two elements that, if making normally, would have dairy in them. Firstly the puff pastry which is traditionally layer upon layer of dough and butter rolled out super thin to create the final puff pastry laminations.
The second element is the custard. In this recipe I was super-dooper lazy and used a ready made custard by Coconut Collaborative that I had knocking about in the fridge with a reduced yellow sticker on it!
That said, if you want to make your own dairy free custard you can use these recipes here. The first uses Birds Custard Powder which has a may contain for milk, the second is my homemade dairy free custard powder.
What other fruits could I use to make this Danish Pastry?
Apricot is the go-to fruit of choice for this type of Danish Pastry but you can of course get imaginative and use other fruits too.
How about thinly slicing apple and fanning slices out in the centre of the pastry. Another idea is to use pears, peaches or even tinned orange segments.
I’d love to hear from you if you do try this recipe with other fruits, please leave a comment so we can all learn of your successes!
How to make a Danish Pastry shape: step-by-step
I use this same shape in my Danish Treacle Tarts recipe. It’s a simple but effective shape that looks really professional but I promise it’s not hard to do.
Step One: make the initial square shapes you will need for this style of Danish Pastry. (This works with the JusRol GF Puff Pastry as it comes in a rectangular sheet).
Step Two: begin to build the Danish Pastry using the three ingredients; custard, apricots and apricot jam.
Use the apricot jam as a glue to ensure the pastry sticks down and the strips stay in place. The jam will also act as a delicious glaze so don’t be afraid to be liberal when brushing the final Danish shape.
Other gluten free recipes you’ll love
Equipment you will need
- set of measuring spoons
- slide off baking tray
- baking paper
- Pizza Cutter
- silicone pastry brush
- cooling rack
Ingredients you will need
- 1 packet Jus-Rol Gluten Free Puff
- ripe apricots
- dairy free custard
- apricot jam
- boiled water
Gluten Free Apricot Danish Pastries Recipe
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Gluten Free Apricot Danish Pastries
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 packet Jus~Rol Gluten Free Puff – 280g packet
- 2 ripe apricots
- 75 ml dairy free custard
- 2 tbsp apricot jam
- 1 tbsp boiled water
Instructions
- Take your ready-rolled puff pastry rectangle (ideally using Jus~Rol GF Puff Pastry) and cut into 4 equal size squares. The excess pastry will be required to decorate the pastries.
- Next halve the apricots carefully and and using your fingers twist out the apricot kernel/stone.
- Cut into your puff pastry squares into shapes as shown to create the side you will need for your criss-cross frame.
- Now add a teaspoon of the apricot jam to the centre of each apricot where the stone used to be.
- Next brush the pastry with the watered down apricot jam and place a good sized spoon of custard into the centre of each square.
- Fold the 'frame' corners diagonally and repeat the other side to overlap in the corners.
- If you have any leftover custard, now is the time you can carefully spoon it into any visible gaps within the pastry frame taking care not to get it on the frame as this will burn during baking.
- Finally glaze liberally with any leftover apricot jam to add a delicious shiny glaze.
- Pop in a preheated oven set at 220°C | 200°C fan | 400°F |Gas 7 for 15-20mins until a golden brown.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and eat once cooled to room temperature.
Nutrition
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