A favourite morning treat in the West, the Danish pastry is as versatile as it is popular — there are various versions of it with some combination of jams, custards, cream, chocolate, fruit and/or nuts. While the world knows the pastry as the Danish, in Denmark it is called ‘Wienerbrød’, which translates to ‘Viennese bread’, a homage to its origins.

The pastry, arguably Denmark’s most popular export, made its way from Austria, but the laminated, layered dough, which is what makes the pastry unique, was supposedly invented in France, 350 years ago by Claudius Glee. Apparently, the apprentice baker forgot to add butter to the flour when making bread and sought to fix his mistake by adding lumps of butter to the dough – the result was puff pastry.

Of course, layered pastry has a much longer history than that and can be traced to Moorish Spain — the oldest printed recipe for making laminated pastry with butter, using a technique similar to one employed by Arabs, appeared in 1607 in the book Libro del Arte de Cozina. Similar to a lot of European baked classics, the Danish pastry, too, it seems, owes its origins to the Arabs.

In 1622, Glee opened his own cafe in Paris, where he served pastries made from his invented dough — the French dubbed his creations “a thousand leaves.” From there, the pastry found its way to Italy and then Austria.

A delectable addition to tea time, the Danish pastry was invented by mistake

In 1850, a strike by Danish bakery workers led owners to hire Austrian bakers, who introduced the pastry to the Danes. From Denmark, it found its way across the Atlantic and has now become a classic, similar to its cousin, the eclair.

Peach Danish

While Danish pastry dough can be folded up to 27 times, the version of puff pastry in this recipe is a far simpler (and thus quicker) version to make. The puff pastry can be made ahead or can be store-bought (puff pastry dough should be available for purchase at your local bakery). If you’re short on time, you can also substitute canned peaches for the fresh ones and skip making the fruit filling.

Don’t like peaches or it isn’t the season for them? Feel free to substitute with any other fruit, such as apples, pears, strawberries or mangoes; the crunch of the pastry and creaminess of the filling contrasts wonderfully with most fruit. Don’t have a sweet tooth? Skip the sugar in the fruit filling.