Vínarbrauð

Viennesse bread - Icelandic Danish pastry

You can get this pastry in various versions and variants in practically every supermarket in Iceland - I had already tried one version last year, but here comes the slightly more elaborate version with real, homemade Danish pastry!

Ingredients for the dough

500 g ground flour
50 g sugar
50 g soft butter
1 egg
1 packet of dry yeast
250 ml lukewarm milk
200 g cold butter

Ingredients for the vanilla cream

250 ml milk
1 tsp ground vanilla
150 g sugar
5 egg yolks
150 g potato starch
50 g soft butter
250 ml whipping cream

Ingredients for the chocolate icing

100 g chocolate
50 g butter


Preparation - first the dough

Mix the flour and sugar, knead in the soft butter and egg.

Add the dry yeast, pour in the lukewarm milk, mix everything and work into a smooth, supple dough without cracks and let it stand for about 15 minutes.

Then roll out the dough thinly into a square between two pieces of baking paper on the work surface. Cut the cold, hard butter into thin slices, now process the first quarter of the butter:

Cover half of the dough with the butter slices (leave an approx. 2 cm wide edge!), fold the other half of the dough on top and press it closed at the edges.

Then carefully roll out the dough thinly again, fold it together again, fold it in and fold it in again. Then put the package in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

Now process the 2nd quarter of the butter in the same way - roll out the dough thinly into a square, cover half with the butter slices, leave the edge free, then fold it up, roll it out thinly and fold it, then put it in the cold again.

Repeat with the last two quarters of the butter until the dough is ready. Then chill the finished dough again in the refrigerator.

Now prepare the pudding cream:

Heat the 250 ml milk with the vanilla in a saucepan and bring to the boil briefly.

In a separate bowl, beat the 5 egg yolks with 150 g sugar and 150 g potato starch until foamy. Then pour in the warm vanilla milk in portions and stir.

Then put everything back in the pot and cook gently, stirring constantly, until the cream thickens.


Then pour the cream directly into a cold bowl and add 50 g butter.

Whip the cream (250 ml) until stiff and mix with the vanilla cream.

Finally, let the cream cool down a little in the fridge.


Prepare the finished bread dough:

Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C) upper/lower heat.

Take the finished dough out of the fridge, roll it out on a work surface lined with baking paper and cut into two long strips. Place the dough strips on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Carefully spread the vanilla cream over the middle of the dough strips. Then “fold” the dough over, but leave a little space in the middle.

(I placed molds between the two strips of dough on the baking tray so that the "loaves" didn't spread too much in width... not perfect, but it served its purpose!)

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 20 minutes until the dough has taken on a pleasant brown color.

Now melt the butter for the glaze, add the chocolate to the hot, melted butter and gently stir everything together until smooth. When the Vínarbrauð comes out of the oven, brush it right in the middle. Then cut into thin strips and let cool thoroughly.

[Translated from here.]