I made my favorite coffee cake of all time for Piper's baby shower tomorrow morning. I have no idea why it is called Danish Coffee Cake. A more appropriate name would be 'Three Cups of Butter Cake' or 'Butter & Almond Cake'.
As you can see from my grandma's recipe card, this is a recipe that was made often. It may seem like a long recipe looking at her card, but it is actually pretty fast and doesn't use many ingredients... butter and flour being the key ingredients.
I highly recommend trying this delicious pastry. You can make it a day ahead and store in the refrigerator. Let warm to room temperature before serving.
I doubled the recipe for the baby shower (24 guests) and made two longer pastries instead of one big one (one with almond slices and one without).
Danish Coffee Cake, courtesy of Charlotte Smith
1 c. flour
1/2 c. butter
2 tsp cold water
Cut butter in to flour and add water. Pat down these ingredients on cookie sheet, 1/4" thick. Set aside.
Boil 1 c. water, 1/2 c. butter. Take of stove and add 1 Tbsp almond extract and 1 c. flour. Gradually beat in 3 eggs and mix well.
Spread over dough base on cookie sheet.
Frost with:
1 3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 tsp almond extract
2 tsp milk
1 egg yolk (this is optional, as frosting is not cooked)
Sprinkle with almond slices or slivers. Toast almond lightly as another option.
